Funeral Celebrant

What is a Funeral Celebrant?

AA funeral celebrant is trained and certified to meet the needs of families during their time of loss by organizing and conducting personalized funeral services. They offer families a service that strongly reflects the individual's life who has died.

Funeral celebrants are not clergy, but religion need not be absent from services they perform. They lead family members in a service intended to be a personalization, deep, and loving remembrance and tribute to your loved one.

What does our Certified Funeral Celebrant Offer?

  • An alternative for families who are not affiliated with a church or who do not wish to have a traditional religious funeral service.
  • An extension of a religious service to provide a personalized tribute or memorial for family and friends.
  • Time for your family to share memories and anecdotes so that the service will be based on remembrances.
  • A specially designed service that best reflects and memorializes the life of your loved one and based on consultation with your family.

​Our funeral celebrant has been specifically trained to design a personalized funeral service, incorporating the stories, songs, experiences, and essence that defines your loved one. She adheres to a Code of Ethics & Practices which includes maintaining the confidentiality of the family.

Sandra Bell-Buttars
Certified Celebrant

Sandra Bell-Buttars was trained by Doug Manning of In-Sight Books, who has pioneered funeral celebrant training in the United States and Canada. As a Certified Funeral Celebrant, she has been trained in the value of the funeral, how to conduct family visits, understanding the importance of personalization of the funeral, elements of funeral service planning, understands the basic outlines of various types of funeral services and the options available, and a code of funeral celebrant practices and ethics.

Sandra has the ability to be flexible and creative in helping families incorporate important components in personalizing the funeral. She understands the grief process and respects that everyone grieves differently. She works with the family to ensure that the funeral service, celebration of life or memorial is personalized to reflect the personality and lifestyle of the deceased.

Sandra is a graduate of King's University College at the University of Western Ontario with training in Thanatology and Palliative Care and a certificate in Grief and Bereavement Studies. She has training in hospice and pastoral care.

With twenty five years of experience  Sandra brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding combined with compassion and empathy to her calling as a Certified Celebrant- Life Tribute Professional, supporting over six hundred families on their grief journey.