Find an IoCF Celebrant

When you choose a funeral celebrant who is a member of the IoCF, you are choosing someone who will help you create the most beautiful ceremony possible for the person you have lost.

Why choose an IoCF celebrant?

Each of our members:

understands that the funeral is your final gift to your loved one - a special day to remember and mourn;
will work with you to make the ceremony unique and memorable - a true reflection of how important that person is to you;
has achieved the highest celebrancy qualification and undergoes continuous professional development to ensure they are always working towards the standards of excellence;
is regularly reviewed to ensure that they are working with you and with all families professionally and compassionately.

We are confident that all of our members give you the best possible caring and professional service. We have a rigorous complaints process if you have any concerns.

This is what you can expect from an institute member

Prompt response to your enquiries.
Meetings at your convenience, including evenings and weekends where necessary (for your safety, all meetings for the duration of the pandemic are by phone or video call).
an open and understanding discussion about how the funeral ceremony should best remember your loved one.
Suggestions, if needed, on tributes, music, readings, ritual and symbolic actions.
A full draft of a ceremony, completely unique to your loved one, submitted for your approval or amendments before the funeral.
A printed keepsake copy after the ceremony.
Guidance throughout on all aspects of funeral procedures and information about the crematorium, cemetery or chapel chosen for the ceremony.

All members adhere to the Institute’s Code of Practice

*We welcome your feedback at any time. Please use the button at the top of page to provide comments on your chosen celebrant.

Alison Vallance

Harrow 07850 010735 alison@thoughtfulceremonies.co.uk www.thoughtfulceremonies.co.uk

My name is Alison Vallance and I am based in Harrow, Middlesex. The death of my father, grandmother and father-in-law within six months of each other in 2013 opened my eyes to the variety of funerals that are now available. All three were very different but all brought comfort to the family and friends both on the day and in the time afterwards. My aim is to make sure every funeral ceremony I conduct brings the same sense of love and peace for the families I support. Since qualifying in 2016 I have delivered funerals in a wide variety of places, including the crematoria at Breakspear, Mortlake, Hanworth, Islington, Golders Green, New Southgate and Hendon. I have also delivered traditional and woodland burials as well as scattering of ashes and interring of ashes ceremonies. The variety of ceremonies is hugely rewarding for me and enables me to advise families on different ideas to make sure that the funeral they are planning is personal and meaningful for their loved one. I sit on the council of management for the IoCF because I believe passionately that all celebrants should be supported to offer the highest possible quality of service.; and that there should be some monitoring of celebrants to ensure those standards are maintained.

I just wanted to thank you so very much for the lovely service for my dad, as my dad would say it was marvellous. So many commented to me how beautiful the service was, and that was all down to you.

Alison was absolutely brilliant. She was totally committed to making sure that everything was the way we wanted it. She offered support and guidance and I would have no hesitation in recommending her.

We found Alison Vallance to be caring, thoughtful and well organised. She took a lot of time making sure her address captured my mother’s character and was accurate. She timed the ceremony perfectly, managing to get in all we wanted. She also inspired confidence which meant that members of the family felt able to stand up and contribute with their tributes. All the people who attended told us it had been a lovely ceremony and a wonderful tribute to our mother.

I wanted to express my gratitude for yesterday’s ceremony. Your hard work and style led to the ceremony going better than I had possibly hoped for. It absolutely hit the spot and everyone without exception commented on how appropriate and lovely the whole event was.

We would like to thank you for the service you did for our Dad, it was wonderful. Everyone said that you spoke as if you’d known him yourself and that it was a lovely celebration of his life.

I would like to thank you for your caring but at the same time very professional approach to the meeting you had with my mum and I before hand to discuss the event and gather information; the prompt way you responded to any emails we sent you but above all how you ran his service. Many people commented to us about how smoothly it ran, how personal it was and how great and professional you were.

Alison was fantastic and delivered a ceremony that we simply could not have bettered. It drew praise from a great deal of people in what turned out to be a large congregation. She made the whole thing a true and accurate celebration of my Father and something that was memorable.