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Danette O'Brien - Funeral Celebrant

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Australia
Adelaide, SA
Danette O'Brien - Funeral Celebrant

Creating beautiful ceremonies to celebrate life while nourishing the hearts of those who are grieving We live and learn! Thank you for visiting my page.

Many years ago my Gran's funeral left me feeling more than a little underwhelmed. I battled with the reality that such a beautiful, much loved woman wasn't honoured and farewelled as she should have been. I felt a calling to enter the funeral industry then, but it was put on hold for many years. In 2021 this calling was re-ignited during my Dad's transition, and one thing led to another and I am n

ow working as a Funeral/Memorial Celebrant for both humans and pets, a eulogy writer and facilitating conversations in the community around death both online and in person. I can also assist you with the planning of a Living Funeral/Living Wake and with writing your Emotional Will. I write both traditional and contemporary ceremonies that begin with a blank page on which I build a life story. The uniqueness of each life is what makes my job so interesting. It is a great honour to learn about people as I weave their life story together. Funerals and memorial services have evolved more recently and there are so many more options available for you to explore when deciding how you will celebrate and honour the life of your person. The average duration of a funeral or memorial service in Australia is 45 minutes. It is therefore incredibly important that each minute of such sacred time is significant. In essence, I'd describe myself as a space-holder for death and grief. I work exclusively in the funeral space and am well versed in working with people who are experiencing grief and/or trauma. It is my intention to train as an end of life doula (or death doula) in the future. In the meantime I will happily refer you to recommended doulas on request. You can book me to be your chosen Celebrant through the Funeral Director or engage me directly to work with you. You will find more details of the offerings of Farewelled with Love on my website.

18/04/2026

The new look of funerals! So very Chelsea. Love it 💗

17/04/2026

So you've decided to forego a funeral service and hold a memorial service. The fact that you are doing something to honour remember and celebrate someone you've loved is heartwarming. 💗

The sky is the limit with memorials - all you need is a bit of creativity and a plan, and hopefully you're engaging a celebrant to guide you through the process and support you on the day.

My mind is full of ideas of how to make a memorial service meaningful and memorable for all the right reasons, sometimes the little touches make a profound difference without costing a fortune.

Families will sometimes say to me, "we don't want the ashes there" and that's fair enough. I worked with a family from interstate as I often do on a beautiful service where they did want the urn present, and thanks to the florist I recommended, this loved woman's ashes were very much a centrepiece. Perched on a wine barrel that was part of the venue's decor, the ashes, custom designed flowers and candle looked absolutely stunning in this beachside location.

If you say no to a funeral, you won't regret saying yes to a memorial service. Each life is so deserving of acknowledgement. 💗💗💗

Photo shared with family's permission.

08/04/2026

Another 5 star review that I'm incredibly grateful for. It was an absolute honour to work with this beautiful family recently to help design and deliver a celebration of life memorial service that felt right for them. Friends and family shared in a beautiful afternoon in a pub that was the family's go-to, remembering the antics of this cheeky man and the love that was felt by those he loved. Every part of this Sunday afternoon was so full of emotion but there was a lot of laughter too. 💗

11/03/2026

At a funeral or memorial service a person’s life story (Eulogy) brings together a mix of facts, chapters, memories and provides a platform for their character to shine through and if your person’s service is taking place in a time-restricted environment it puts even more pressure on you to honour a life within a short timeframe.

I write eulogies, LOTS of them and if I’m not writing one for a family I’m working with, they know I’m happy to take a look at their draft and offer constructive feedback.

In doing this I imagine I’m listening to the eulogy being read - what’s repetitive, superfluous, is there extra detail that would add to a story? There’s a big difference between the written and spoken word.

I want your person to be honoured in the best way possible on the day, and even if I’m not involved in the service, I’m here for you if you’re writing a eulogy and would appreciate a professional set of eyes having a read through it for you.

Recently I worked with someone from interstate on a time limited eulogy. This person didn’t want AI (good move!), but needed their word count cut down significantly. With a a bit of subtle tweaking, including re-ordering the closing paragraphs to link statements and heartfelt feelings into a beautiful quote they had selected for greater impact, it was emailed back.

This happy client rang me with words of gratitude. “It’s shorter, but it still sounds like me and the detail isn’t lost”. …. Mission accomplished.

Ideally we all write our eulogies while we are still capable of placing our fingers onto a keyboard or for some, pen into paper, but if you find yourself as the one responsible for writing someone’s life story, in the midst of brain fog and grief, I’m here to help…. Reach out via the contact form on my website. You won’t get AI, you’ll get me! 😊

24/12/2025

To the families I’ve had the privilege of working with and am currently working with this year, those I’ve assisted as a Funeral and Memorial Celebrant over the last four years, the FD’s I work alongside, celebrants, my mentors, my mentorees, friends who support me and my Insta followers, my little sidekick Rainbow and I hope your Christmas Day flows with ease, grace and an authentic honouring of exactly where you’re at tomorrow. 🌲🥰💗🌲🥰🌲

21/12/2025

It’s a tough time of year especially when you’re approaching your first festive season feeling the absence of someone who you loved who has departed the earthly plane.

This afternoon I’ve immersed myself in baking my mum’s signature Christmas bake. It’s now tradition for me as I took over doing this for her as her Alzheimer’s gained momentum. She was the best cook and her delicious panforte was something she loved to gift to people. It took me 3 days to be in the right headspace to bake it. “This is in memory of you mum” flowed from my mouth as I started the process. Weighing, measuring, melting, mixing… oh the joy of licking a wooden spoon drenched in couverture chocolate, butter, apricot jam and brandy as the panforte went into the oven and the aroma of my home since it’s come out of the oven is one of familiarity and comfort.

How will you remember your special departed people? Tell their favourite joke, cook a signature dish, set them a place at a Christmas gathering, wear their favourite colour, enjoy a glass of their favourite tipple, make a toast at Christmas lunch, show up late if that’s what they did? The ideas are endless, but what’s important is that it’s meaningful to you and if that means staying at home with your grief and having a couch day, so be it.

Go gently as you navigate this new normal. 💗

28/11/2025

There’s something that doesn’t get talked about openly, but it’s a conversation I have with a lot of people I’ve met in my role. It’s about the way our place in the world changes with the loss of our second parent and sometimes that realisation hits during our meetings. I know first hand how it feels and if you find yourself now an “orphan” in this world, I encourage you to have that conversation. There are so many of us out there and it needs to be talked about. 💗

18/11/2025

Pets grieve too 😢

14/11/2025

It is National Celebrants Week!!! and it was lovely to be part of a funeral celebrant gathering hosted by Simplicity Funerals last week. We are like ships that pass in the night, mostly working solo, meeting families, delivering a service on the day and seldom crossing paths so it was great to mingle and chat while enjoying Simplicity’s wonderful hospitality and to feel appreciated. Thank you to Irene, Bec, Catherine, Brett and Lyn for hosting us.🌻

12/11/2025

Contd:…. “Many guests commented afterwards on how moving and comforting the service was. Honouring someone’s life is never easy, but Danette made the day one we will remember with gratitude. We couldn’t have asked for a more caring or professional celebrant and would wholeheartedly recommend Danette to anyone seeking someone to lead such an occasion.”

05/09/2025

Some people have an affinity with butterflies through their spiritual meanings, but a woman I farewelled recently loved them because they are beautiful and one of her wishes for her funeral service was for those present to stick a butterfly on her coffin. As I was handing mourners their butterfly, I watched as this work of art and love and significance came to life. As she embarked on her final journey to the crematorium she did so surrounded by something that was so very special to her. 💗🦋💗

26/08/2025

This email touched my heart when it arrived recently. I will always remember this service - they are all special but this one was off the charts beautiful 💗💗💗

“Below I have written a short piece on my experience with yourself and your business Farewelled with Love. I would be very happy for you to use this to share with other families preparing to farewell a loved one.

Danette was recommended to me as a ‘perfect fit’ by our funeral home.
We wanted to plan a ‘Celebration of Life’ Service for our Mum, who was a very gentle caring Mum but a very private person.
Danette came to my home and her calm and sincere nature had me feeling at ease immediately.

We talked openly and with many tears, or ‘droplets of love’ as Danette calls them, and I shared precious photos of Mum.

I wanted to involve all the family members Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.
And it was to be only 40 guests, small and personal to our Mum.

Danette encouraged us to celebrate all the things we loved about Mum, some humorous!!

From that Danette wrote the most beautiful service order in which reflected the gentle person Mum was, who was dearly loved by so many.

I loved how personal her words were as if she had known Mum.

Grandchildren lit candles gifted to us by Danette, and then two sang ‘Wind beneath your Wings’.

Family wrote personal tributes and Great Grandchildren handed out GG’s favourite lollies afterwards.

We all made paper flowers together to place on the coffin, such simple expressions of our love for Mum.

I wanted to read my Eulogy but didn’t think I could, this was very important to me. Danette encouraged me to try and with the help of my son we did read it together, I will be forever grateful for this support.

Danette’s care and encouragement ensured Mum’s farewell was so beautiful and showed our deep love for her and overwhelmingly this was the feedback we received from everyone there.

Sincere thanks Danette, we cannot thank you enough💕

Address

Adelaide, SA
5000

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 9pm
Tuesday	8am - 9pm
Wednesday	8am - 9pm
Thursday	8am - 9pm
Friday	8am - 9pm
Saturday	8am - 9pm

Website

https://www.farewelledwithlove.com.au/

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