Poetic Endings

04/03/2026

"A funeral ceremony is a ritual event where life meets death. It provides a structure, time and space to say farewell to someone who has died and to pay tribute to their life. Through words, music, silence and ritual acts people share grief, love and special memories that help mark the transition from a life with a person to a life without them.

As a celebrant, I create and conduct non-religious funerals. There is no fixed framework or belief system that defines how the ceremony takes shape. Instead, I am guided by what the people who are arranging the funeral share with me about the person who has died, and their ideas for the ceremony. By careful listening, tuning in to their spoken and unspoken messages and gentle guidance I help them find the elements that make the funeral meaningful to them.

In this article I share five ways to personalise a funeral ceremony. They are aimed to spark your imagination and help you think about options that may work for you."

By Rosalie Kuyvenhoven Funerals and End-of-Life Services

A funeral ceremony is a ritual event where life meets death. It provides a structure, time and space to say farewell to someone who has died and to pay tribute to their life. Through words, music, silence and ritual acts people share grief, love and special memories that help mark the transition fro

25/02/2026

As funeral directors with a more progressive approach, people often assume we only arrange non-religious funerals, but that’s not the case. Over the years we’ve arranged funerals for people from all sorts of backgrounds, from all sorts of faiths and religions, and in a variety of locations.

Today we’re at an iconic Catholic church that’s at the heart of the community in North West London

05/02/2026

It was a very sad day today - attending the funeral of our colleague and friend, Alan Curtis.

We’ve worked with since the very beginning of Poetic Endings, and Alan was one of our favourite members of their team. We described him as one of the A team, and we were always thrilled when he was our hearse driver.

Whether he was driving a hearse in the snow or instructing pallbearers with respect and kindness, Alan always felt like part of our team. It was lovely to hear that when Alan left the legal professional, he really felt he’d found his vocation in the world of funerals.

Alan’s colleagues from the funeral industry came out in force today to say goodbye to him. They lined both sides of the driveway at Bluebell Crematorium and gave him a round of applause as the hearse passed through.

Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues. We’re going to miss him. 💔

(Alan is shown here at various poetic funerals over the years and at our anniversary party a few years ago with other members of the A team!)

10/12/2025

“I’m so sorry. There’s no heartbeat.”

Sometimes baby and pregnancy loss is acknowledged; sometimes it isn’t. It’s different for everyone - a highly nuanced kind of grief. Older generations dismiss it as ‘one of those things’, a private event that happens to so many women and is met with silence. But the data is brutal - one in four women will experience miscarriage at some point in their lives.

As my friend described, ‘It’s too messy, too emotional, too unbearable.”

But through my work, what I know is this - the power of holding collective space to acknowledge such a universal yet personal experience, can carry us through the messy, emotional unbearableness and hopefully out the other side.

It’s why I held a funeral to acknowledge the loss of my baby. It’s why I asked friends to show up to support me and to acknowledge their own losses in doing so. And it’s why I’m sharing this post now.

Thank you so much to who so sensitively photographed the ceremony as part of her project documenting rituals around funerals. And to all the people who supported me in putting together a heartbreaking yet beautiful ceremony for my baby.

Louise x

13/11/2025

Thank you so much to Frances and Alison for taking the time to write a testimonial of their experience with Poetic Endings.

Sometimes funerals are small and intimate, sometimes they’re huge and more like a west end musical!

It was such an honour for us to be involved in the funeral for the extraordinary Sylvia Young OBE and to witness all the love and admiration the world has for her.

Thank you for trusting us ♥️

05/09/2025

One of my favourite things about being a celebrant is our friendly local network, where we get a chance to take a step back from our day-to-day work to learn more about our industry and build relationships with our brilliant partners.

This week a group of us went to visit the wonderful to learn about their unique approach to funerals and to go behind the scenes in their beautiful funeral home.

Thank you so much to the team for taking the time to host us and for the thought-provoking conversation.

We’d love to meet with more partners in future - do drop me a message if you’d like to host us!

21/07/2025

This afternoon we’re taking a moment to enjoy these delicious ginger flapjacks and energy balls made for us by and her daughter Sofia, in the newly refreshed poetic garden (courtesy of ).

Sofia joined us for work experience last week. She helped out in the mortuary, attended a funeral and asked us lots of questions about life as a funeral director.

We’d like the recipe for your ginger flapjack please!

04/07/2025

We’re admiring this beauty (a Jaguar E type) which has appeared outside Poetic Endings in Forest Hill today. It looks beautiful against our pollinator party front garden flowers!

🚗 & 🌷

03/07/2025

🌿 We’re opening a second branch of Poetic Endings! 🍃

We’re thrilled to share that our second funeral home will soon be opening at 161 Kirkdale, right in the heart of Sydenham’s historic high street.

Since moving to Forest Hill in 2021, we’ve felt truly welcomed by the South East London community. Now, we’re honoured to extend our presence and care into Sydenham.

Kirkdale has been a high street since the 1820s, and we’re proud to be joining a vibrant community of independent shops and cafes including , , , , , , and many more.

There’s lots of work ahead to transform the space into a beautiful new funeral home — but we can’t wait to welcome you to our launch very soon. ✨

22/05/2025

I wanted to share this beautiful review we just received. It really encapsulates everything we try to do to support people through their grief and their trauma.

No other words from us needed 🥹

17/04/2025

We're so excited to be attending this inspiring conference organised by our friends Natural Endings. If you're interested in helping to progress the modern funeral movement, we'd love to see you there!

Funerals and rituals can be powerful in supporting bereaved people to begin to adjust to a new way of living with loss and love. They are often inhabiting a liminal place, so are amazing to work with due to their openness in their personal meaning making processes. This creative one-day conference will explore how we can co-create meaningful events that support and build upon this meaning making, and includes workshops from some of our favourite practitioners - Rosalie Kuyvenhoven Funerals and End-of-Life Services, Alexandra Derwen, Dead Good Legacies.

Funerals and rituals can be powerful in supporting bereaved people to begin to adjust to a new way of living with loss and love. They are often inhabiting a liminal place, so are amazing to work with due to their openness in their personal meaning making processes. This creative one-day conference e...

15/04/2025

We rarely share the lovely things clients say to us after the funeral, but J’s words really touched us. 🫶