Ceremony Choices

In death as in life, we have an opportunity to express ourselves authentically. For some of us, the comfort of conventional funeral care helps us come to terms with our loss. For others, it is important to be personally and intimately involved in the care of the person we have loved and accordingly, we are looking for more choice and empowerment in death and funeral care. We are honoured to support you in whatever form of care you choose to honour the person who has died and to respect the needs of the living.

Secular & Community

Secular or community funeral ceremonies vary in style from informal gatherings where stories are told and food and wine shared to full funeral ceremonies with eulogies, photo presentations and secular readings. Some community funerals even bring in elements of religious or spiritual practice where the person’s faith needs to be acknowledged without needing to go to church. Community ceremonies can be family led or a Celebrant can be engaged. They can be held at home, a local hall, golf club, function centre, surf club or garden, in fact just about anywhere! You can mix-and-match the elements that your community want to provide and bring in services where there may not be expertise such as filming and live-streaming.

At Natural Grace we understand and respect your choice to follow any religious, cultural, or spiritual practice or not to follow any. Whether you are neutral, indifferent to, or reject religion and religious considerations, non-religious farewells are fully embraced at Natural Grace.

Religious & Spiritual

We respect all religious and spiritual beliefs and can support families and communities with the practices or rituals you find meaningful. As we live in a multi-faith society, we endeavour to promote and uphold beliefs that provide meaning and life-values. Some religions cremate their dead, while others prefer burial.

Over the years, we’ve held services that are based on beliefs by various religions including Christian (Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Orthodox and Baptist), Australian Indigenous, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Wicca and more.

If you are not religious but are of a spiritual belief, you may have practices that bring you peace and purpose.

And it may be that you are lapsed in your faith, but still hold close some of its beliefs or traditions, and combine these with spiritual elements.

There is no right or wrong in how you cope with death, and beliefs can help to carry individuals, families and communities through the grief, loss and uncertainty.

Holding Vigil

Many families and communities honour their dead by holding a three-day vigil in the home after a death. This sacred opportunity allows the family to take the time and space needed to honour their specific prayers, practices and customs. With reverence, these families tenderly release the earthly form of the one they have loved over a period of a few days and gently begin the work of saying goodbye.

These sacred traditions are integral to many spiritual communities, yet our modern day funeral services have not made it easy to legally and comfortably keep a deceased person at home or lying in state in a sacred environment. Natural Grace are pioneers in providing funeral services to make this type of vigil possible. With our legal and practical assistance and our respectful and gentle understanding, we can help individuals or communities to legally and beautifully hold home-based family-led vigils and funerals.

Our assistance can be invaluable at this fragile time as it frees those involved to focus their attention on the spiritual support of the deceased and their community, rather than logistical concerns.

A vigil may be held for two hours at one of our Sanctuaries, or at home for a timeframe that suits your needs – perhaps a day, perhaps three.

We also work with the cemeteries and crematoriums to ensure that spiritual prayers, practice, or rituals can be accomplished during the final disposition.

Home-based family led after death and funeral care is a legal, possible and beautiful choice for anyone wishing to do this. It is not the sole domain of spiritual communities and in fact meets the deep psychological needs of many people irrespective of beliefs.

Family-Led Funerals

You may choose to arrange the funeral yourself. This choice is legal and very beautiful. At Natural Grace we are passionately committed to supporting families who make this choice and are pleased to offer any assistance you may require. We are here to walk along side you as much or as little as you need.

Funerals may be held by a community of your people – this can be comprised of various groups of family and friends. A local hall or garden or other place of choice can be used to hold a funeral service that does not require the attendance of funeral staff, nor outside catering or florists. You can mix-and-match the elements that your community want to provide and bring in services where there may not be expertise, such as filming and livestreaming.

Special Requests

Do you have your heart set on an alternative or unusual funeral?

You should be able to have your wishes fulfilled even if they don’t fit into the normal funeral offerings.

We have:

Successfully transported people interstate for burial in their homeland;
Transported people home straight from the hospital;
Facilitated the return of ashes of a child following miscarriage for burial at home;
Taken a plaster cast of a father’s hand so his baby can one day ‘hold his daddy’s hand;
Held sacred dressings of the dead with bespoke shrouds;
Held meditation rituals to help a lost soul cross the threshold, and
Even brought in a psychic to help a sudden death victim who was still holding on.
We can facilitate anything as long as it is legal.

Please feel free to call us with your ideas and we will do our very best to creatively and carefully assist you to fulfil your wish.

Natural Grace is dedicated to researching every possibility to be authentic to you or your loved one.

Venue Ideas

We don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach, so we will work with you to suggest or find a venue that fits with your location, is meaningful (or ‘ticks all your boxes’) and caters for attendee numbers.

Talk with us about planning a farewell that suits your needs.

There are a multitude of places where a funeral or memorial can be held …