TESTIMONIALS

Jeni Bern acted as Civil Celebrant on the occasion of my Father’s funeral at Amersham Crematorium on 18 December 2019. I have no reservation in recommending Jeni Bern as a Funeral Celebrant. At an initial meeting, Jeni took us through a number of questions, to gather information about my Father, who died at the age of 97 and who wanted no fuss.. The process was handled with compassion, warmth and a pleasing degree of humour. Jeni was extremely well organised and guided us expertly. She listened, retained detailed information and created a draft ceremony very quickly, which we then edited numerous times. At every stage Jeni was accommodating and welcomed my input and my requests. It is clear that Jeni committed a considerable amount of time to preparing the ceremony. She demonstrated a huge degree of skill, incorporating every element we had discussed. I was impressed by Jeni’s meticulous planning. I know that Jeni visited the Crematorium prior to the ceremony. She had prepared all copies of the service in duplicate and, mindful of the time constraints at a crematorium, Jeni was adept at timing all of the music and other speakers’ contributions. Jeni conducted the ceremony with expert professionalism. Her delivery was calm and reassuring. She engaged those who were present warmly. It is worth saying that her voice was beautiful to listen to. Many of the mourners as well as the funeral directors, congratulated me on choosing Jeni, saying how perfect she had been and that they had very much valued the experience. 

- Christopher Ovenden

 

If you are thinking of hiring Jeni, DO SO!!  She is everything you want at a potentially distressing and difficult time.

I wanted a well organised. Efficient but human service for my dearest friend of over 40 years. Jeni and I discussed music, readings, timings and the ‘mood’ of the day. She was the perfect Master of Ceremonies/celebrant, and sensitively judged the fine balance between humour, (which I wanted) and mature sincerity. I immediately recommended her to a friend, whose mother had just died, and once again, she was sensitive to the needs and desires of the family, instinctively tailoring her words and degree of involvement to match their wishes. As well as having an attractive warm personality, she also, very importantly has a beautiful, clear speaking voice, and her words and readings are crystal clear.

 - Harry Nicoll

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Jeni, I was overwhelmed by how you played your part at my son’s service. You were so gentle and kind with your words. You don’t know what a comfort it was to me in my grief, over losing my dear son. You were like a friend and not a stranger. 

It made such a difference, as I was dreading the day saying goodbye to my Kevin, but you gave me the courage to finish to the end of my eulogy for my son. Bless Him.

 - Laura Scheide

 

Jeni Bern was such a comfort to me during this difficult period taking on the most difficult problem of putting together my mum’s life story and words from the family. I could not have done this without her help. The way she delivered the service was nothing short of perfect.

– Stephen Green

 

From start to finish you have been incredible and so thoughtful and patient. Jeni the service was absolutely perfect, every last detail was perfect. I want to thank you for being so kind and thoughtful with my little boy and providing him with a colour book and pencils to keep him occupied in such a difficult time.  Everything from start to finish was beautiful and everyone commented and said what a beautiful service it was and very personalised. 

- Nicky Hodgson

 

Thank you so much for all the guidance and support you gave to us through our terrible loss. Your love and kindness shone through from our first meeting. We will be forever grateful, you are a truly wonderful person.

- The McGoldrick family.

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Jeni, thank you for being amazing today, the words were a perfect reflection of grandad, the tone so uplifting and joyous to hear all the memories, you really are amazing!!.......if grandad was here he would be thanking you himself as everything was him to a T

- Julie Wilcox

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I wanted to thank you very much for the most beautiful service, you really did do us proud. You are so good at what you do, and very professional. Everyone commented at how lovely your words were and how clearly spoken you were, as I know there were a lot of people hard of hearing. I would really recommend you and the service you offered. Thank you so much.

- Christina Kearns

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The days leading up to the service for my wife and the day itself were the hardest I’ve ever experienced. Jeni dealt with everything in such an amazing way managing to make things just that little bit more bearable. She took a lot of time to get to know how special my wife is and expressed everything during the service in the perfect way. She was easy to get hold of at all times and went to great lengths to make any amendments that I or others wanted to the service. The service itself was as we had wanted it to be and this was in large part thanks to what Jeni did for us.

- Michael Albone

 

She was very comforting and calming, kept everything on time and scheduled but never felt rushed. She did an amazing job and it  was a beautiful service thank you.

- Lesley Carter

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Jeni was very kind, understanding, sympathetic and professional at a what was a devastating time for all of us ie me and my three daughters. It was my husband of 51 years , funeral. She gave us (the family) time, excellent advice and some lovely ideas to help us put together two wonderful order of services. Jeni conducted the morning service beautifully and gave us so much support. We all thought she was really excellent and a great asset to your membership. We were very lucky to have her to help us through a very difficult and sad time in our lives. I can't thank her enough.

- Barbara Adams

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Jeni, just to say a proper thank you, rather than a text, for all you did for Mum’s funeral. All the time you gave to arranging what I wanted, and your reading of the eulogy was perfect. It was a lovely service thanks to you!!

- Suzanne Loftus Thomas

 

Thank you for the beautiful little service you held for interring grandad’s ashes and for choosing the perfect words and poem to read. If I’m honest, I was dreading it because I feared it would bring up the whole funeral sadness and that raw loss all over again, but it turned out to be the total opposite of that and things now feel more complete. We now have a beautiful spot to lay flowers and indeed, eat his favourite ice cream.

- Sarah Wells

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We just wanted to say a big thank you for all the help and support you gave us during the planning of dad's funeral. It's never an easy time but you were always so kind and supportive, which was such a help. We all agree that the service was lovely and exactly what dad would have wanted.

- Emma de Vise -Lewis

 

My sincere thanks to you for such a wonderful Tribute to Ivor at his funeral on Monday. I am lost for words as to how you managed to get the very essence of him as a person after an hour talking to us. It is a wonderful skill, and I am sure many more people will appreciate your tributes in future. I had so many friends who had never been to this type of service before, they all said how refreshing it was and how lovely you were, You really are both professional and caring.

- Yvonne Earl

 

Jeni came to my mother’s home promptly. As soon as she entered, she put us all at ease with her manner and tone of voice. She spoke to us all and especially to my mum with such kindness and understanding. She listened to us when we spoke of my dad with sincere feelings. When she left us after a considerable time, we felt that she really did know him. Jeni kept in touch with me on a very regular basis as she did have to sort out and change a few things. nothing was too much trouble. She made the very sad day bearable.

- Jane Lowe