Bespoke ceremonies for people who feel a spiritual connection with nature.

Ceremonies

As an independent celebrant, my aim is to collaborate with you to create a deeply meaningful, heartfelt, and inclusive ceremony that feels right for your family or community.By providing a bespoke ceremonial service, I can integrate respect, compassion, and love for nature as a humanist celebrant would do, and I can also include blessings, music, symbols, and references to deity from any faith or cultural tradition if you wish. I can also create an interfaith ceremony.Your ceremony can be as simple or complex as you would like, and held in almost any location. I will use my skills, experience, and creativity to help you make it whatever you want it to be.Please use the buttons below to find out about the different services I offer and my pricing. I hope to offer weddings and handfastings soon, so please do contact me if you are interested.

• Naming & Welcoming
• Home Blessings
• Memorials & Funerals
• Eulogy & Ceremony Writing

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Photo © Emily Porth

Memorial Services & Funerals

Grief is another word for love. As such, grief never really leaves us, but a memorial service or funeral that is done well can be a support and a healing experience. It should be a profoundly personal celebration of a life that leaves space for you, as well as for the person who has died, and provides a sense of peace.Beginning with a family meeting, I will listen to the stories you share with compassion, respect, and care. Whether we are creating a funeral or a memorial service, I will use the information you provide to guide you to create a personal and inclusive ceremony that honours the person you have lost and feels right for your family. I can include spiritual/religious elements if you would like, and connect the life of your loved one to the cycles of nature.You are welcome contact me directly about your funeral or memorial service. If you are working with a funeral director, you can ask them to contact me on your behalf.Memorial Services
A memorial service is held for a person's family and wider community after their mortal remains have been cared for. It is a ceremony to celebrate the life of a loved one who has chosen to have an unattended funeral/direct cremation, or who has donated their body to science. A memorial service can also provide healing and closure for families who lost loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic and were unable to hold a funeral at that time. Memorial services are very common where I come from in Canada, and are becoming more common in the UK as an alternative to a funeral. Regardless of when someone dies, it is never too late to celebrate their life, and it would be my honour to help you to do so. Unlike a funeral, a memorial service can take any format and be held in nearly any location. You can also make the service as long or as short as you would like to say goodbye and celebrate the life of your loved one, rather than the 30 minute time slot that is standard at many crematorium chapels.Pet Funerals
All life is sacred, and for some of us, the non-human companions we share our lives with are as much our family as our human companions. The unconditional love that they offer us can touch us deeply and last for our whole lives. A pet's death can also be a child's first experience of loss and mourning. For these reasons, I offer pet funerals. Whether you choose to bury or cremate your pet, I will meet with you to listen to the story of your pet’s life and help you to create a personal ceremony that honours the profound impact they had on your life, gives expression to your grief, and helps you to say a final farewell.

Funerals from £200
Ashes Ceremonies from £100 (or £50 if I was your funeral celebrant)
Memorial Services from £350
Pet Funerals from £150

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Naming & Welcoming Ceremonies

Welcoming a new person – or a person's new identity – into a community is a joyful occasion.Naming Ceremonies
Many parents today want an alternative to a christening or baptism for their baby. A naming ceremony can be exactly that. Through the ceremony, we will formally introduce your child to their community and share your love and hope with them. There are many practices that can be included in the ceremony, from introducing guide-parents, to pledging how you will help your child to grow, to blessing your baby with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Some Pagan parents call this a Wiccaning ceremony, and it may also include invoking protection for a child or asking for them to be blessed by specific deities.Welcoming Ceremonies
A welcoming ceremony can be used to bring step-children and adoptive children into a family, to show them how much they are loved and part of your future. It can include the same practices as a naming ceremony, but is used to welcome children of any age. Pet parents can also hold a welcoming ceremony to mark the addition of a new nonhuman member of their family.Introduction Ceremonies
An introduction ceremony can be a heartfelt rite of passage for people who have transitioned to another gender and/or have chosen to change their name. We will celebrate leaving your past behind and embrace your new, unique identity with your community.

Prices from £300

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• Photo from my daughter's naming ceremony by Rachel Hein.

Emily Porth, PhD

Hello! My name is Emily (she/her) and I am a celebrant in the greater Edinburgh area, Scotland.Originally from Canada, I grew up where the prairies meet the Rocky Mountains. I completed undergraduate and master's degrees in anthropology and went on to earn a doctorate in Environmental Studies from York University in Toronto. I moved to the UK for love in 2015.Meeting new people, hearing their stories, and finding ways to bring heartfelt magic into their rite of passage truly brings me joy. In my work as a celebrant, I use the listening, writing, and presenting skills I have honed throughout my career as an anthropologist, and combine them with my significant experience of writing, leading, and holding sacred space for group ceremony in my own Earth-based spiritual tradition.Much of my work in higher education focused on engagement and inclusion, and I am committed to making my ceremonies as inclusive as possible: we need to be able to bring our whole selves to the important moments in our lives, in order to create ritual that is truly sacred. I also aim for those attending the ceremony to feel included and for the content and format to be as accessible as possible. Most of my published writing is about human-animal-environment relationships, and so as part of my offerings I am delighted to include ceremonies for the pets and companion animals who are important members of our families.I am an associate member of the Scottish Independent Celebrants' Association (SICA) and am committed to excellence and continuing professional development. I completed my training as a funeral celebrant with the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants and have also completed a short course in 'Dementia-Friendly Funerals' with Rosalie Kuyvenhoven. I have trained in ceremony as a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) and in storytelling through various classes at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. I am insured and PVG checked.Beyond my working life, we live near the countryside in beautiful Midlothian and I love nothing better than walking in the woods with my husband and young daughter. I am a keen gardener and sewist, and also a pet-mum to our cat, George, and two budgies, Kiwi and Sprite.

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• Top photo by Rachel Hein.

• Bottom photo by Davinia Diaz as part of her 'Scotland's Spiritual Voices' photography project.

Contact Details

Please get in touch by email ([email protected])
or through the form below if you would like to discuss your ceremony ideas.I am happy to talk through your query in a free video call, with no obligation to book.If you provide your mobile number, I will text you to arrange a time to speak.Thank you!

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Thank you

Thank you for your message.
I will be in touch with you soon.
Emily x

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