Tapestry Funerals

20/01/2023

Thank you so much Justine Coombs for this lovely prize from the Simple SEO for Weddings and Funerals challenge week - such a nice start to the weekend! Really looking forward to the start of the spring training course.

17/01/2023

A lovely reminder from Leedam Natural Burials that natural burial grounds are open to people of all faiths and beliefs - they provide truly inclusive resting places.

What type of service can I have at a natural burial ground?​​​​​​​​
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This is a question we often get asked as we have people with and without religious belief who are interested in natural burial. As it is , a day which promotes understanding between different beliefs, we thought it would be the perfect time to answer this. ​​​​​​​​
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Our natural burial grounds are open to all who wish to have a natural burial, including those with faith and without. It offers an alternative for people who don’t align themselves with any particular religion and provides a place for partners with different religions or beliefs to be at rest together. For those who have a religious belief graves can also be blessed. ​​​​​
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17/01/2023

A really useful summary guide from Poppy's Funerals answering some commonly raised questions.

How quickly can you arrange a funeral, burial or cremation? Factors like venue, celebrant and how the person has died all affect how long it can take.

14/01/2023

As we start the new year, I thought it would be a good time to reintroduce myself and say what I would like to be able to offer families this year.

My aim is to create personal funeral services for the families of Herts, Beds and Bucks that are bespoke to each family’s wishes. To date, my focus has been on tailoring the content of each ceremony. As an independent celebrant, I do not represent a particular religion or school of thought; my ceremonies centre on the person who has died and can either be secular or contain religious elements. I carefully weave together memories, readings and music to create a truly personal tribute - hence, ‘Tapestry Funerals’.

Now, I hope to build on this and, in addition to taking services at crematoria and cemeteries, I would like to offer to lead ceremonies at alternative venues such as woodland and meadow burial grounds. Alternatively, some families may like the idea of a direct cremation or private burial accompanied by a memorial service for wider family and friends in a garden, wake venue or family home - the choice of setting being another way in which the service can be personalized.

If you would like to find out more, please visit my website www.tapestryfunerals.co.uk or drop me a line clare@tapestryfunerals.co.uk. I would love to hear from you!

14/01/2023

Such a good idea - the Good Grief Trust is an invaluable first point of call for anyone who is grieving.

Good morning everyone,

One month today we launch ! ☂️🧡

We created this campaign 3 years ago to highlight the hundreds of charities & bereavement support services under our umbrella.

Thankyou to our Patron, Dame Penelope Wilton for her support for our work again this year.

It is vital that anyone grieving, anywhere in the UK, knows where to turn when they are struggling, from day one.

Please order one of our umbrellas & open it on the 10th February to support our charity and help those grieving find the support they need. Thankyou 🧡☂️

Order here: https://www.thegoodgrieftrust.org/good-grief-shop/

10/01/2023

Welcome to Tapestry Funerals. I am a funeral celebrant based in St Albans serving Herts, Beds and Bucks. I will help you create a service where each memory, reading and piece of music is carefully selected to reflect the life of the person who has died. Through honouring their beliefs about life and death, and by listening carefully to your wishes, I will weave their personality through each element of the ceremony - like a tapestry. To find out more, please visit my website,

Clare Oldfield - an independent funeral celebrant serving Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

09/01/2023

I'm very grateful for this lovely feedback to start off the new year.

02/01/2023

This is a lovely poem for anyone contemplating a woodland burial. I also really like 'Woodland Burial' by Pam Ayres.

01/01/2023

As we move into the new year, I particularly liked the words of this poem by What's Your Grief posted by Cruse.

27/12/2022

The final suggestions in this sequence of ideas to bring comfort when grieving are memory boxes and online digital tributes. Through collecting photos, letters and objects of personal significance, memory boxes facilitate curating and storing the memories you want to keep hold of. Online digital tribute services offer a similar facility but virtually, providing a home for the collation of thoughts, stories, anecdotes, pictures, videos and music. Some digital tribute services are designed to be managed by the family eg MuchLoved. Others are created and managed professionally and offer options such us QR codes for sharing with family and friends and embedding on gravestones or memorial plaques e.g. https://yourlovingmemory.co.uk

Photo courtesy of Roman Kraft, unsplash.com

19/12/2022

A third idea of an activity which might bring comfort when grieving is the memory walk. When lockdown restrictions forbade indoor gatherings but allowed people to meet outdoors, going for a walk allowed them to draw support from each other. Moving forward, arranging a memorial walk during the months following the funeral, or on the anniversary of death, provides another opportunity to commemorate a life with friends and family. The website ‘Enjoy St Albans’ has suggestions of walks with refreshment stops such as this one through Heartwood Forest.
https://www.enjoystalbans.com/the-alban-ways-top-walking-routes-in-and-around-st-albans/

15/12/2022

On to the second suggestion for bringing comfort to those who are grieving explored during our Grief Awareness event last Sunday. Sharisse, (quiltsbysharisse@gmail.com) brought along a selection of her beautiful patchwork quilts. Her memory quilts are custom-made from material with emotional significance, enabling you to literally wrap yourself in memories whenever you feel in need of a hug! Similarly, Tracy, of Tracy’s Treasured Keepsakes makes delightful patchwork keepsake bears and animals, again from material that has personal relevance, and again creating beautiful visual tributes in the form of something synonymous with comfort.