As the Baby Boomers age and shuffle up the front of the church, there are fewer people electing for old school black tie and top hat affairs for funerals.

Jeans are fine. Casual outdoor is fine. Colourful clothing is fine. Speaking your own words. Walking your own path.

Carrying the coffin is an act of honouring our dead – and something women can do just as well as men.

Ceremony planners tend to be a bit like ‘event planners’ and this is very much an emerging role. They can help plan the whole event then work with funeral directors – who can help take care of the body, transport and arrangements for the cremation or burial – and the Humanist or celebrant who will write and deliver the ceremony. They may even do that bit themselves.

Look for a ceremony planner in our Marketplace.

We have links with a number of artists and creative organisations who have an interest within their work with rites of passage and if you are looking for a different approach, it would be worth connecting. See more and contact us for help.