A CELEBRANT is defined as a person who conducts formal ceremonies in the community, particularly weddings, baby naming and funerals. But they have not been around for long, as the first one was in Australia as recently as 1973.
However, the ‘movement’ has grown – so much so that just one organisation, the Association of Independent Celebrants, has 141 UK-based celebrants to choose from. Overall, there are thousands of celebrants in the UK working locally, nationally and internationally. And that makes the success of a Derbyshire woman even more remarkable. For Rachel Snowball has become the Best Independent Bespoke Funeral Celebrant in England in the 2020 UK Enterprise Awards, run by SME News. She set up her business, Rachel’s Eulogies, eight years ago after many years in the caring profession, training with the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants UK and then tackling three years ‘distance learning’ with the Australian-based International College of Celebrancy…