Celebrant Services
Personal, meaningful ceremonies for life's beginnings, endings, and the thresholds in between ~ crafted and convened by Megan Sheldon.
More than a celebrant
Every life is full of moments worth marking ~ some celebrated openly, others acknowledged privately. Megan is a trained Lifecycle Celebrant, end-of-life doula, grief educator and circle facilitator. She brings over a decade of experience to the humanist ceremonies she co-creates with you, using your words, your symbols and your stories.
She walks with you and your loved ones through the whole process, holding space for the many emotions and experiences in the room ~ joy alongside grief, tenderness alongside laughter ~ inviting everyone to become participants in the ceremony, not just witnesses.
We are so glad we chose you to lead us through our preparation and the ceremony for Aileen. It was a day I was fearful of, wanting it to be so special. With your help, I believe we achieved more than a special day.
Ceremonies for every threshold
Beginnings
Mother blessings, baby welcomings, adoption ceremonies, house warmings, alternative weddings, and new chapters of every kind.
Transitions
Vow renewals, coming of age, milestone birthdays, graduations, career changes, and seasonal ceremonies that mark the turning of the year.
Endings
Memorials, celebrations of life, living funerals, ash scatterings, moving houses, divorces, retirement, and ceremonies that honour when things end.
Silent Thresholds
The transitions we rarely gather for, including pregnancy loss, health challenges, job loss, eldering and grief anniversaries. These moments deserve ceremony too.
Ways to work together
Small Gathering ~ $1,500
An intimate ceremony.
An initial planning conversation and a deeper story session with you, where Megan listens for what matters most. From there, she designs a ceremony shaped around your words and symbols, and is there on the day to hold it, so you can simply be present. A simpler path for moments that call for intimacy rather than scale. Ideal for baby welcomings, house blessings, ash scatterings, vow renewals, grief anniversaries, milestone birthdays, and ceremonies for those silent thresholds.
A Full Ceremony ~ $2,800
Our most requested.
Two to three planning conversations, and story-gathering sessions with the people shaping the day. One-to-one support for speakers and storytellers as they prepare what they want to say and how they'll say it. A fully customized ceremony shaped through drafts, coordination with anyone else taking part, and a rehearsal if you'd like one. Megan leads the ceremony on the day, follows up with you afterward, and gives you a keepsake copy to keep. Ideal for small weddings, memorials, celebrations of life and living funerals.
See how a Full Ceremony unfolds below.
A Ceremony Arc ~ $4,500+
A season of life.
For a passage that unfolds in stages rather than on a single day. Three ceremonies designed as one arc ~ a mother blessing, a baby welcoming and a matrescence ceremony; or a living funeral, a memorial and a celebration of life. Each is shaped knowing what came before and what is still to come, so the threads carry through and no one has to start again. Megan walks with you across the whole season, not just a single day. Arcs that include a larger ceremony are quoted from there.
There is a reason she is often my first call: I know that the family I'm working with is in great hands, as is the story and legacy of the person we are honouring. Megan has this magical way of understanding the community of the honouree and getting to the core of the care they need.
Planning a celebration of life? We often work alongside Christina Andreola of New Narrative Memorials, and recommend her to families looking for an event planner.
A Full Ceremony, step by step
Here's how our most requested offering unfolds. A Small Gathering follows a simpler path: one planning conversation and one story session with you, without the interviews. With a Ceremony Arc, each ceremony in the arc moves through all three stages.
1 ~ Before
Every ceremony begins with listening. Megan starts with a conversation about the moment you want to mark, who will be in the room, and anything that feels tender or complicated. She then interviews the people closest to its heart, gathering stories and memories you might not have known to ask for.
She co-creates the ceremony with you and those people, gently navigating any differing wishes and weaving their voices into each draft so it speaks true for everyone. She also meets with anyone who will speak, helping them find their words and feel steady saying them.
2 ~ During
On the day, Megan holds the space so you don't have to. She arrives early, settles speakers and participants, and quietly attends to both the details and the people: the nervous speaker, the child who needs a role, the moment that needs an extra breath.
She guides everyone through the rituals with care, keeps an eye on pacing and emotion, and adapts gently if something unexpected happens. She carries the shape of the ceremony from beginning to end, so you can set down the planning and be fully present with the people you love.
3 ~ After
A ceremony doesn't end when everyone goes home. You'll receive a keepsake copy of the ceremony as it was held, including the words, the readings and the rituals. It's yours to keep, to share with those who couldn't come, or to return to on an anniversary.
Megan also checks in afterward to reflect with you on how it felt and what comes next. After a loss, she can suggest simple rituals for anniversaries, ash scatterings or the hard first weeks, so you aren't left alone with what the ceremony opened.
Facing a death, or planning ahead for one? End-of-Life Doula Support may be the better starting point ~ accompaniment through the dying time, rather than a single ceremony.
Would you rather hold the ceremony yourself? Ceremony Coaching gives you the guidance to design and convene it on your own, from $250.
Words from families
Thank you again for your fantastic services for Rhedia's celebration of life. I am still getting compliments from everyone who attended that it was the best celebration of life they had ever been to. I have hung Rhedia's Memory Canvas in my office, and I will recommend your services to anyone I know.
Just a quick note to express my thanks and appreciation for your guidance and insights regarding the celebration of life for our friend and colleague. Thank you for capturing the stories and sharing them so beautifully.
I couldn't have done the service without you. You were so calm and kind, never rushed. My Devin was so like you ~ no sense of urgency, unless he was on a zodiac getting ice cream.
It was a really special day, thanks to you and Christina. All the feedback I received from those who attended was overwhelmingly positive. I truly appreciate all your help, your support and your kind words.
So many people spoke to me at the ceremony about how meaningful and well done it was. They gave us a lot of credit, but so much of the credit is due to you. The ceremony materials were shared with our whole extended family, and even friends who weren't there heard about it and reached out. It captured him in a way that is meaningful to so many people, including us.
We are so glad we chose you to lead us through our preparation and the ceremony for Aileen. You captured the essence of her and how we feel about her, and shared that with everyone there. It was a day I was fearful of, wanting it to be so special. With your help, I believe we achieved more than a special day. The feedback we have heard has been outstanding.
Let's mark what matters
Reach out to share what you're navigating, and Megan will help you shape it into ceremony.
Keep reading
Education ·
What Is A Humanist Ceremony?
What makes a ceremony humanist, how it differs from a secular one, and why ritual still matters when you're not religious. By celebrant Megan Sheldon.
Education ·
Why One Ceremony Is Rarely Enough
A birth doesn't happen in a day. Neither does a death. Why some passages ask to be marked as an arc of ceremonies rather than a single gathering.
Education ·
What Does a Celebrant Actually Cost?
An honest look at celebrant fees in Metro Vancouver ~ what the range is, what you are actually paying for, and what to ask whoever you hire.