How much does a funeral celebrant cost?

$750 for a full funeral or celebration of life, and $450 for a graveside or ashes committal on its own. Both include the family meeting, the writing and the PA. Across the Tweed and the Gold Coast the range is $550 to $770, and only four of the twelve celebrants offering funerals publish a price at all.

How quickly can a funeral be arranged?

Within a few days, and often sooner. There is no notice period for a funeral the way there is for a marriage. Most families call once the funeral director has a date; a same-day call is normal and there is no extra charge for short notice or for a weekend.

What is the difference between a funeral and a celebration of life?

Mostly tone and timing. A funeral is usually held within a week, with the person present. A celebration of life is often later, sometimes months later, sometimes after a cremation, and is built around stories rather than a formal order of service. Both are written the same way, from a meeting with the family.

Do you work with our funeral director?

Yes, and liaison is included rather than charged. Most of the arrangements — the chapel time, the music, the slideshow, the order of service printing — sit with the director, and the celebrant's job is to fit the words to what they have booked, not to add another set of phone calls for the family.

What is a living funeral?

A celebration held while the person is still here, planned with them, so that the things people would have said about them are said to them instead. It runs about ninety minutes and costs $750. They are becoming more common with palliative and hospice care, and they are the same service run in a different order.

Funerals & celebrations of life

A funeral or celebration of life is $750, including a family meeting, the eulogy and full script, liaison with your funeral director, and a PA at the chapel or graveside. A graveside or ashes committal on its own is $450. There is no notice period — most services are arranged within a few days, and a call the same day is normal.

What it costs

What you get	Mon–Thu	Fri–Sun
Funeral or celebration of life A family meeting, the eulogy and full script, liaison with your funeral director, chapel or graveside, and a PA.	$750	same
Graveside or ashes committal A 30-minute committal, written and led, for families holding the service separately or later.	$450	same
Living celebration A 90-minute celebration held while the person is still here, planned with them, so the things people would have said are said to them.	$750	same

Australian dollars, GST included. Travel within 30 km is included and $1 per kilometre round trip beyond it. Booking fee $250, which comes off the total. Witnesses supplied at $60 each. Council permits for beach and park ceremonies are passed through at cost.

How far ahead to book

There is no notice period. Most services are arranged within a few days, and a call the same day is normal.

How it works when someone has died

Most families call once the funeral director has a chapel time, which is usually two or three days out. That is a normal amount of notice rather than an emergency, and there is no short-notice charge and no weekend loading — a Sunday service costs what a Tuesday one costs.

There is one meeting, at home or wherever suits, usually an hour. It is where the eulogy comes from, and the job in that hour is mostly to listen: the stories people tell about somebody in the week after they die are better than anything that can be written from a list of dates. The draft comes back to you before the day, and it is yours to change.

Working with a funeral director

Liaison with your funeral director is included rather than charged. Most of the arrangements — the chapel time, the music, the slideshow, the order of service printing — sit with them, and the celebrant's job is to fit the words to what they have already booked rather than to add a second set of phone calls for a family that has enough of them.

Where there is no funeral director, which happens more often with celebrations of life held weeks later and with graveside committals, the run sheet and the PA are handled directly.

Where

Funeral celebrant in the Tweed Valley — NSW, home
Funeral celebrant on the Gold Coast — QLD, about 40 minutes away

Everywhere else covered from Murwillumbah.

Questions people ask

How much does a funeral celebrant cost?: $750 for a full funeral or celebration of life, and $450 for a graveside or ashes committal on its own. Both include the family meeting, the writing and the PA. Across the Tweed and the Gold Coast the range is $550 to $770, and only four of the twelve celebrants offering funerals publish a price at all.
How quickly can a funeral be arranged?: Within a few days, and often sooner. There is no notice period for a funeral the way there is for a marriage. Most families call once the funeral director has a date; a same-day call is normal and there is no extra charge for short notice or for a weekend.
What is the difference between a funeral and a celebration of life?: Mostly tone and timing. A funeral is usually held within a week, with the person present. A celebration of life is often later, sometimes months later, sometimes after a cremation, and is built around stories rather than a formal order of service. Both are written the same way, from a meeting with the family.
Do you work with our funeral director?: Yes, and liaison is included rather than charged. Most of the arrangements — the chapel time, the music, the slideshow, the order of service printing — sit with the director, and the celebrant's job is to fit the words to what they have booked, not to add another set of phone calls for the family.
What is a living funeral?: A celebration held while the person is still here, planned with them, so that the things people would have said about them are said to them instead. It runs about ninety minutes and costs $750. They are becoming more common with palliative and hospice care, and they are the same service run in a different order.

Not yet taking enquiries here

This site is being built. The phone number, the Google listing and the entry on the Attorney-General's register of marriage celebrants will be published together, as one identical set — which is what a search engine needs in order to be sure they all describe the same business.

Prices, inclusions and paperwork on this site are complete and current. Only the contact details are outstanding.