Richard Spedding, Humanist Wedding & Funeral Celebrant

I couldn't have asked for a better celebrant at my brother's funeral than Richard. He was helpful and caring from the very beginning and went to a good deal of trouble to find details of my brothers life from me. He organised those details into a thoughtful and meaningful reflection on my brother's life and conducted the ceremony with sensitivity and in a well organised way. A number of people in attendance spoke to me afterwards and said how impressed the that they were with the ceremony, something that was in no small part was due to Richard.

Richard did an amazing job conducting our wedding and made the day very special and personalised to us. Richard took the time to get to know our story and made sure the script reflected our relationship. Richard brought the right amount of humour to the service and all our guests were commenting on what a fantastic job he did. Thank you Richard for working so hard to make our day so special, we couldn't have asked for a better person to have put our trust in

Richard was absolutely brilliant to work with on my Mother’s funeral - in a short space of time we were able to put together a service which truly reflected my Mother, her beliefs, her passions and her personality - an authentic celebration of her life.Richard’s attention to detail, approachability and warmth made the whole process easy and despite the sad circumstances, a service which will live long in the memories of all who attended.One attendee commented to me - “The best funeral I’ve ever been to”. Thank you so much Richard for all your support with this brilliant send off for my Mother.

Richard is professional, warm and caring. From our first phone contact to the final email we found him to be an attentive listener and good communicator. He made the process of creating an unexpected Celebration of Life feel manageable and inspired confidence that all would be well. We had a long family consultation with him to give details of our fathers life and to share our thoughts and memories. We all wondered how on earth he would manage to pull all the pieces of the puzzle together to provide a private family cremation followed by a Celebration of Life for a large gathering of friends, colleagues and extended family. We also set Richard the daunting task of managing five people asked to speak words in tribute and to weave these together with all the information he had gathered from the close family. Quite a challenge in such a short space of time.On reading Richards final script with Mum we had a few tears here and there and some giggles too. Our overriding feeling was that it was a truly fitting and lovely tribute. On the day Richard ensured everything flowed so well. He made great efforts to introduce himself to those he had not yet met but knew would be referred to in the tribute. Richard was sensitive to ensuring the pace of various speakers. He ensured space for quiet moments of reflection and moments where it was important to keep the pace going. We feel sure Dad would have been really pleased with how the day went and so proud of everyone's efforts, not least Richards, in bringing things together to help everyone to celebrate his extraordinary life of many parts.

Richard helped us with our unusual request of conducting our surprise Wedding Ceremony.I had contacted a few Celebrants but not all of them understood what we were trying to do.Richard responded quickly to my enquiry and got it straight away.We had a subsequent video call and then home visit for a chat from which Richard wrote a ceremony totally befitting what we wanted to achieve and our personalities.I couldn't of asked for anyone better to deliver what was a truly fantastic evening and surprise to our family and friends and I have received many comments on how great he was.Thank you Richard :)

Richard carried out the ceremony for my mum’s funeral on 8th of August 2022.From start to finish Richard was very professional, approachable and personable.During our initial meeting he listened carefully as we discussed mum’s life and he asked the right questions to get stories and anecdotes about mum.He looked after us during the ceremony and delivered a wonderful eulogy which had everybody engaged and laughing. It was perfect.After the ceremony Richard gave the family a typed presentation of the eulogy as a keepsake which was a very pleasant surprise.I would highly recommend him.

After attending a friends dads funeral & commented on how well the service was conducted, it became my turn where I had to do the same for my dad as well. I could honestly say that I would highly recommend Richard, he has a professional & caring service, & brings out the best of people. He did a brilliant job for my dad's service & on behalf of my family we cannot thank him enough for his caring & professional manner.If you want a service with a smile, Richard is most certainly the right guy!Thank you x

Would highly recommend Richard.He presented a naming ceremony for us wonderfully.He took his time and it was not rushed.Everything that was spoken about at the home visit was then put into a draft for us to read over and ensure we was happy before the day.The day was lovely and Richard kept everyone’s attention easily.From the first phone call and home visit, Richard puts you at ease and speaks to you like you’ve know him for a while.After the ceremony we was presented with all of the paperwork with words on, lovely for a keepsake.Also a shoutout to his wife for helping our balloon situation.

Richard delivered an outstanding well deserved send off for my partner Kevin. The attention and empathy he put into this made the service a very memorable as well as emotional service. I cannot thank him enough. Would highly recommend Richard and will be spreading the word regarding himself and his professionalism.

Very pleased with everything Richard did for my Mums funeral service yesterday. Totally thorough & professional in his preparations and delivered the ideal service that Mum would have wanted. The family would have no hesitation in recommending Richard to conduct a funeral service. He made a traumatic day a bit more bearable. The transcript of the service is a lovely touch and gives us something to reminisce whenever we wish. Thank you Richard. It is much appreciated.