Welcome to Jane Paley Celebrant Services
Cover Suffolk and South Norfolk
Together - Creating a service to reflect the absolute best.
Planning Services
I will work with you to plan the best tribute, as your loved one would have wanted. I guarantee to make you and your loved one my priority, spending time with you. I can have any element of religious content you may want, or none, entirely up to you. I offer a wide range of experiences from working in the Children's Hospices sector to being a Dementia Friend. Please do call me to see if you would like to work together.
Whether we are saying goodbye to someone very young or old. I will endeavor to make you feel comfortable sharing your stories, paying attention to detail and guiding as much as you want or need.
Together we will plan the service, we will meet to discuss music, readings and the eulogy. We will talk about who might want to be part of the service. We can add personal family touches. Apart from a possible time constraint, there is no absolute rule.
I can also be involved in the internment of ashes to be there for you throughout the journey.
With the increasing trend of Direct Cremations, I can also work with you to create the perfect tribute for yourself, or a loved one, as a Memorial.
I can also help you to plan a ceremony following the loss of a beloved pet. Giving you the space to grieve and remember, particularly if children are having their first experience of grief and loss. There are local Pet Ceremonies or we can meet somewhere special to you and your pet, your garden or favourite spot, The bond between people and their pets is incredibly important and precious.
I have added a page All About Me should you want to read more to get to know more about your Celebrant before making your final choice.
Thinking Ahead
A Final Message of Love
Services
Supporting You as You Say Goodbye
Funeral and Memorial Services
Support in making the decisions
Meeting family and friends - For me to learn as much as possible about your loved one, face-to-face, telephone or online.
Guidance throughout - From the very first meeting right until the end of the service, I will be available to answer queries and help you plan. I will send you drafts of the eulogy and Order of Service to ensure you feel you never feel out of control.
The Service Planning - I will make sure the timings are correct.
Decisions:
Readings
Choice of Music
If there is any religious element or not
Family and Friends involvement
Personal Touches
If you want a themed ceremony
Photographic Tribute (Slideshow)
Bearers
Supporting You Through Grief
The death of someone you love is among life’s most painful events, I want you to know that you are not alone. I have empathy and can listen as you need and have a knowledge of support services
What can I say about Jane? Well she's kind, caring, thoughtful and helpful. She can talk to you in a way that draws out your memories you had forgotten, happy and not so happy, if you want. She makes you feel totally at ease. Jane will talk to family and friends for their fond memories, what music, hobbies and pastimes your loved one took pleasure in, they or both of you enjoyed. Then Jane will put all this into a happy, joyful memory of the special person you have lost, the story is up to you.
I cannot praise or thank Jane enough on behalf of myself, family and friends who attended my loving wife, Anne's, funeral service. Jane also has a presence and voice you like to listen to. It reminded me of an English Teacher I once had, reading Wind in the Willows, with your head on the desk, bringing the characters to life in your minds eye, fantastic, amazing and kind that's Jane.
Once again, a very big thank you on behalf of us all.
Tony Norman - Service for Anne on 23rd December 2021
"This is a Testimonial. Let your customers tell the world how great you are."
About Me
So you feel comfortable choosing me as your Celebrant
About Me:
I believe you need to feel comfortable with the person you will entrust to take a funeral service for you, or be involved in internment of ashes, or write and conduct a memorial. These are very important occasions, all totally unique and vital you feel you have chosen someone to suit you and your family.
Please do give me a call to see if you would like to allow me to become part of your journey, My mobile number is 07739 081602, if I don’t answer, perhaps working, please do text me a short message asking me to call you back or leave a voice message.
I will commit to being beside you and your family and friends as much or as little as you need or want. It is important to get to know the person, the service or memorial is for, and you as we arrange the occasion. Working alongside the Funeral Director or Arranger, we will help with music, readings, reflective opportunities to achieve the best possible service or memorial.
I want you to walk away afterward saying “He/She (the deceased) would have loved that!” – Then my job is done.
I am married with three grown-up children and six grandchildren. I live in Stanton, near Bury St Edmunds, having lived in Suffolk for most of my life, although born in London. I cover Risby (West Suffolk) Ipswich, Beccles, Thetford, Breckland, Norwich, and Cambridge City Crematoriums and Burial Grounds in Suffolk and Norfolk.
My working life has been very varied, in between bringing up my family and looking after my Grandmother who lived with us until her death at 94.
My original training was as a Nursery Nurse (NNEB) where I worked in a Nursery School, Children’s Home, and as a private Nanny. I also did further training in Special Baby Care (SBC) where I obviously, sadly, worked with very ill babies, some recovering and some not managing to beat their condition or immaturity.
I have worked in the private sector, mainly for Bounty in Diss, the marketing company.
I have also worked in the public sector for the NHS, both in the Neonatal Unit at St Johns in Chelmsford and for many years as a Night Nurse in the Hartismere Maternity Unit in Eye. Those were the days when babies were delivered there, and Mothers stayed in about a week to get acquainted with their newborn baby. There were only 2 of us on at night so establishing a rapport, being part of the birth process, and helping with feeding was so rewarding.
I have also been self-employed, with Avon, developing a large sales team. My husband who patented his own invention also set up our own business.
However, my work in the charitable sector has been the largest (and best) part of my working life. I have been Norfolk Community Fundraiser for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) where obviously getting to know the children and their families was such a privilege and so rewarding. Presenting to a wide variety of groups to raise awareness and funds was always an interesting challenge. I have also worked for a Homeless Charity, as the first worker when it was a tiny charity, Campaign for Single Housing, COSH (now SOLO Housing), also as a Volunteer Officer for Age UK Suffolk, sadly not in existence now.
My last job for 5 years was as Volunteer Support for Our Special Friends (OSF) a human-animal bond charity, all about people and their pets. One reason I reluctantly gave that up in March 2021, to become a Carer for my 96-year-old Mother. Sadly, she died in May 2021. I am also currently working part-time as a Ceremony Officer, conducting and registering weddings (mostly weekends) and occasional Citizenship ceremonies.
Presenting and public speaking has been a main feature in most of my occupations. I am very comfortable speaking to large numbers or small intimate groups. I enjoy writing the tributes, after gaining as much information as possible from the family and friends. I pride myself on my ability to draw out from everyone the stories that will truly reflect the person we are remembering. I have a wealth of experience working with babies and children offering an understanding of the grief that overwhelms after the death of a baby, infant or child. At the opposite end of life, my experience with my Grandmother and Mother, both in their nineties and the years of working with older people as clients and volunteers mean I am aware of the challenges of encompassing a very long full life in one service. I also have Dementia Awareness/Communication training.
My hobbies are walking with my rescue dog, Orbi, singing with my benefice choir, cinema, reading and my latest passion, diamond painting, and of course, being a Grandmother.
Please do look at the comments left by families on my Trust Pilot page
Trust Pilot Jane Paley Celebrant Services
