Kent

Dear Andy

Thank you for all you did in helping give Dad the send off we wanted.

Thank you for your your time and kindness through organising the service.

My biggest Thank you for taking care of our Dad when he was with you.

It was a great comfort to know he was being looked after with the greatest respect and love from you.

Best wishes to you both,

Louise x

East Sussex

Dear Andy, your family and team, and Poppy of course. 

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the invaluable service you provided for Mum, and us, during this most difficult time.  I really appreciated the love and sensitivity you showed to Mum and the support you gave us as a family.

It was a beautiful day which really helped me come to terms with what happened, It will always stay in my memories as a loving farewell to my mum.

You are an amazing group of people and I'm so very very grateful we found you.

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With much love, Vanessa

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Kent

I just wanted to thank you all again for all your help and kind words over the most stressful time of my life.  I’ve been thinking a lot about how we chose to say goodbye to dad and it was perfect.  He definitely would’ve approved.  The bbq and fireworks we arranged for the next day were again the perfect send off.  I assembled a little display of pictures which summed him up perfectly 😊 I’ve attached it to show you how crazy he was!


Once again, thank you

Kirsty

Kent

Andy and all.

I do not think the day could of gone any better, Holly's Funerals were just perfect right from our first meeting through to the day itself even with a tight timescale and short notice, the team made a difficult time easier for us as a family with explaining and organising the ‘service/family gathering’ and running the day itself was a great weight off of our shoulders.

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The family and friends were all commenting on how they liked the style and flow of the service so a big thanks to you and the team for the way you brought it all together in a natural informal but structured way.

Thanks to you we were able hold the service at London Beach which did indeed help in bringing the family together in such a nice way, London Beach were also outstanding  in their willing and helpfulness and hopefully you are able to use them for future services too.

Many thanks and with a great appreciation for your help, guidance and advice.

Speak soon.

Martin.

West Sussex

Thank you so much for all your sensitive support and wise holding of us all, especially our dear mum. Its been quite a journey and I know I will look back on it with feelings of tenderness as well as sorrow, especially in being able to lay out mum. That was life changing for me to be able to do that and be with her right to the end. I also felt that I said my farewells to her then.

Please extend my thanks and appreciation to Andy, Abby and those lovely lads of yours who came in to do the honours at the end. 

Lots of love Elizabeth xxx

Kent

Dear Andy,

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Again we so all appreciate the understanding and help you all at Holly's showed us

I've no doubt that others will be of the same opinion as to the compassion and care Holly yourself and Ellie provided us

Rest assured that it will be remembered 

We are grateful

Jon 

Kent

Hi Andy

Thank you for your email,  the day went just as we wanted and actually it was quite nice for us to lead it. 

You gave us such special moments with our dad we didn’t think we would get and without you we never would have even thought a day like Friday was possible and would have just done a crematorium service. It was a very special day my Dad would have been so happy with so that’s the most important thing.

Thanks again for everything.

Elise, Chris and Ellie x 

Kent

Hi Andy

Thanks so much to all of you for making the whole process so lovely. I found the coffin-decoration and saying goodbye process much more personal and moving than any crematorium service I have been part of. And I know my Mum would have really liked that send-off too. 

We will have a memorial event for her at home too, and are in the process of digging a plot for a tree and bulbs in her memory. 

Thanks again. 

Amelia 

Kent

Dear Holly and Andrew and your wonderful team,

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Words are not enough to express how you made my dear daughters Celebration of Life all that she had wished for......and more. She was very specific in what she wanted, as you are aware. Everyone was amazed, sad, happy and commented on everything that was before their eyes.

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As you have seen by the amount of people who attended, my gorgeous daughter was loved so much. They found the whole Celebration very moving from the moment my darling daughters dear brother's made a very loud entrance on their Harley Davidson Bikes and her friend  truck until her very gentle and serene carrying out to "We'll meet again".

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As for you walking in to that pub and seeing that marvellous and magical sight before you, well that was my beautiful daughter letting you know that she was so very happy with everything.

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Once again, it has been an honour and pleasure to meet such wonderful people. I can hear my daughter saying right now "They are my Angels Mum" and you are.

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Love from Lesley xxx A big kiss from my daughter xxx

Kent

Hi Holly & Andrew....

Thank you so very much for listening to ******** & explaining your concept & how she could have her vision for what she thought best for her children.

You both helped us, especially when we were rather demanding of your time. Your empathy & compassion at such a fragile time guided us through the smiles & tears- Thank you will never be enough.

Holly,Andrew, Ellie & the team...

I will be forever grateful & indebted to you.

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Love 

Lisa

East Sussex

Dear Holly and Andrew,

Thank you for taking care of mum for us.  Mum's Celebration was a beautiful and special day and we are grateful for all you did to help us honour her so perfectly.

Thank you, the natural and deeply kind way you treated us helped us through an extremely difficult part of this journey.

With gratitude and affection.

Rebecca

Kent

Thank you again for everything you both did. I will always think of my Dads passing with such fond memories and a huge part of that is down to the support and kindness you both showed me. Nothing but gratitude. 

Kent

Hi Holly

Just a note to thank you, Andrew, Ellie and all your team for the lovely service you gave for mum. 

If we could have told you exactly what we wanted,  that was what you arranged for us.

The Memorial Hall was dressed beautifully and the little finishing touches were so mum it all looked lovely.  

You made, what could have been a very sombre occasion,  into a calm, intimate and dignified farewell to mum which we are sure she would have enjoyed.

Everybody felt the same way and thought it was a lovely way to say goodbye.

​

Please would you also thank your florist.  The flowers were, and still are, beautiful (I've brought one of the arrangements home with me).

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Thank you for your kindness and for taking such good care of mum.

Kindest regards

Karen

Kent

I have been reflecting on just what a precious time this was with my Mum and I feel so blessed to have been able to honour her in this way, with your incredible, gentle and trusting support. So blessed.

For me, the precious ritual of washing and dressing my Mum with you was not really about my mother’s physical body, which was distorted by old age and the effects of osteoporosis and her last terrible year. You were there and so gently held me through that difficult physical reality, which enabled it to became about honouring her and meeting with her in a beautiful space, where the concerns of the everyday were completely forgotten. A space for grief and loss but also for memories and stories too and remembering how she had been.  It was a timeless and precious space, almost beyond the physical realm, where I could just be with her and carry out that final respectful act of love and farewell.

It’s profound effect is so difficult to put into words and as time passes the physical reality of it fades and a different understanding, in another dimension, grows.  The impact for me of washing and dressing my Mum with you has changed - it was a beautiful and tender ritual to honour my Mum and greatly helped in accepting and understanding her death and knowing that she was now gone and alright, but there has been a longer term, more spiritual, dimension too.  A space of light has opened up around her passing amidst the darkness and it centres on that precious act of love.

Sending much love and thanks Holly

Alison xx

East Sussex

Dear Holly and Andy,

Many, many thanks for all that you did for John and me. I couldn’t have got through this awful time without you.

​

Your advice was appreciated as I had never been through this before.

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Everything was perfect and way above my expectations.

​

With your help we managed to achieve all Johns wishes plus much more....Flossy was brilliant and so unexpected.

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I have had lots of letters and phone calls asking for details of the service you provided as it seemed to empress everyone.

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I am glad they have all seen that there is an alternative to the usual funeral.

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Thank you once again, you were both fantastic from start to finish.

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Best Wishes

Debbie

Kent

Dear Holly

What a splendid send-off you helped us to give my mother at Deerton Burial Ground yesterday. I cannot thank you, Andy and your colleagues enough.

I am so grateful for all the care and kindness you personally have shown over the past month to me and, more importantly, my lovely Mum. Every little detail has been thought about and the advice you offered was appropriate, gentle and wholly supportive.

You should consider life-coaching as another branch to your business – perhaps you already do that?!

I hope to hear from you soon.

With renewed and whole-hearted thanks,

Heather X

London

Dear Holly and Andy,

Thank you so much for making yesterday such an incredible success! Everyone was bowled over with the venue, the concept and the organisation of the funeral, which they felt was novel, inventive and attractive. 

Ken would have enjoyed it and that's what we wanted.

Thanks again for your help and support in making this happen.

Best wishes,

John

East Sussex

Dear Holly and Andy

Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience, we were all so touched by the way we were all  treated, it was so personal and lovely.

I feel that Ben had a worthy Goodbye Tribute and am sure he would be more than flattered by the thoughts that friends and family shared with us all. 

​

I thought the whole ceremony was just as we wanted, the venue,  the tribute, the catering, Kate T  captured the essence of Ben to a tee. Above all, the way you respected Bens body was of great comfort to me and the boys, thank you so much.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Love Kate xx

Kent

Dear Holly and Andrew,

Many thanks for sending the link to the photos, which are much appreciated, as I only took one (which was not very good either).

The guests were all astonished at how lovely the funeral looked and at the environment, which was just what Mum would have wanted. The birds singing was really lovely. Everything came together really well. So I wanted to thank you very much for making it so beautiful and for all the help and support in the preparation. We felt that we were in good hands and everyone who was there now wants this kind of funeral!! - so much more hopeful and encouraging than the usual sort.

Many thanks for all your kindness and humanistic professionalism.

Best wishes,

Sancha

Kent

Dear Holly and Andy,

I just wanted to add to Sancha's email to say a massive thank you to you both for making my mum's special day such a lovely and moving one.

The coffin was stunning and I am positive my mum would adore the touch of her beloved blue and white willow pattern being included.

I thought the cut flowers being given out for everyone to say their own goodbyes was a wonderful touch as everyone then felt they had a part to play in the day.

I think it was not just beautiful and went fantastically smoothly but hit the exact right note between natural and celebrating my mum's life.

Thank you also for taking us through the whole procedure in such a kind sensitive way and especially for allowing myself  to come to wash mum's body, which I still feel was the most cathartic experience and something I would never imagined I would be doing in a million years. I have to say it was that one thing that I think gave the me the strength to get through everything else this month while actually feeling pretty grounded.

I have to say though that from yesterday for me the piece de resistance was the out of this world sight of the magnificent horses Lincoln and Leeroy and the beautifully decorated cart which looked exactly as I hoped it would with my mum's pretty coffin trundling through the cemetery and the wonderful sound of the horses hooves echoing all around us.

My friend who was waiting in the cemetery said she thought it was the most moving sight she had ever seen at a funeral. I could not agree more it set the tone to perfection.

Once more thank you for your guidance and professionalism and the loving way you helped us at such an emotional time.

Love from Louise xx

London

The funeral was exactly what I imagined, actually, better.

Thank you both so much for caring, for taking your time and getting to know us.

You did my family a great service and we'll always be grateful for how easy you made such a sad time.

​

You really didn't have to cover the extra costs! I'm so very grateful again. Please take care of yourselves, you're both wonderful.

​

Grace and Demi

London

Everyone has commented on how uplifting the occasion was and that it was a fitting tribute to Lesley.

If I can offer any endorsement of your services please let me know.

Both you and Holly have been immensely supportive over what has been the most difficult time of my life.

I shall be eternally grateful for the support and guidance you offered.

Kent

"Hello Holly and Andrew

​

I just wanted say thank you so much for all your help and support over the past few weeks.

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Your love and kindness has made this difficult time some much easier to bare.

​

Thank you for caring for Dad so beautifully and helping him in so many ways and me too.

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Yesterday was so beautiful and quite peaceful, your words were so appreciated Holly I'm glad we did have that time with Dad as a family.

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We have that lovely lasting memory to treasure, Thanks to you.

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We can't thank you both enough.

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With much love

Terrie, Lee and my lovely mum."

Xx
 

Kent

"I am still talking about Mummy's funeral and tell everyone what an extraordinary job you did - quite lovely, Mummy would have LOVED it.

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lots of love"

Kent

​

"Thank you both so much for all your excellent and supportive help and guidance (and for putting us in touch with Hannah, who is brilliant). I will recommend you as the best funeral directors imaginable from now on. 

Thank you again, it's been really nice to be supported at this time by two such lovely people and thank you for looking after our lovely mum so carefully. 

Best wishes and big love"

Kent

"Hello Holly,
 

I just wanted to thank you and Andy and all your staff for making my husband's send-off a truly memorable experience.  I was approached several times during the afternoon by people who said it was the best funeral ceremony they have ever attended. Everyone was very impressed.  I will also be contacting Kate separately to thank her for being a wonderful celebrant."

Kent

"I’ve never written a testimonial before but wanted to warmly thank and highly recommend Holly’s funerals.  

Following the sad loss of both my parents in quick succession I engaged Holly’s funerals. Both Holly and Andrew are two of the kindest people you will ever meet.  

They are kind and caring, informative and efficient - you could not want for more at such a difficult time.

They spent time with me and my family, supporting us not just with the logistics and preparations, but let us talk through and think about what we wanted, and handled all the practicalities with the minimum of fuss.

They looked after both my parents following their passing with great care, respect and integrity and found us a lovely celebrant to hold our service. Holly and Andrews personal approach allows you to be as involved as you wish to be in the preparations and in a warm and supportive space(with lots of tea!)

Holly painted my mum's Curve coffin with me and I was then confident enough to do my fathers on my own - It was a beautiful gift to be able to prepare their final resting place, whilst recounting memories and make the coffins personal to both of them - thank you Holly for this opportunity, and thank you both for seamlessly and with great care making my parents' funeral unique to them, which was so important to me.

Also to let you know that a lot of mum and dad’s friends commented that they were the loveliest funerals they had been too and wanted the same! - Can’t thank you both enough."

Kent

"Dear Holly,

​

I just wanted to say thank you again for such wonderful funeral arrangements for our father. My mum and sister said you were fantastic today and so supportive through the cleansing/anointing process. 

The funeral was everything we dreamed of!"

Kent

Dear Holly and Andy 

Would like to thank you both very much for yesterday ,

Taking the time out on a Sunday so i could come see mum.

It was lovely meeting you both and the dogs. 

And I’m so pleased i said my goodbyes to mum, so nice to know how well you cared for her. I've come away knowing she was looked after.

Again can’t thank you both enough both lovely people put me at ease.

And the cuddles from the dog help loads ..
Regards 
Nickki 

Kent

Hello Holly,

Thank you so much for your lovely email.  I apologise for not contacting you sooner to thank you again for all you did to make our day truly memorable and exactly how we wanted it.  We have had so many wonderful comments about it which have been quite overwhelming.  For us it really couldn't have gone any better and that was because of your calmness and reassuring demeanour throughout.

Kent

Hello Andy, Holly

Many thanks for the absolute first class service you have provided for our family, Jay and Grandma. 

We were overwhelmed with the turn out for Jay yesterday and feel that as far as funerals go, it was up there :)

Many thanks once again, you both do a remarkable and very special job, which I know our family have appreciated very much.

​

Louise, Jane and Frankie

Kent

"Dear Andy & Holly 

Thank you so much for the way you handled Mums Funeral.I will certainly be recommending you to anyone that asks.

​

Thanks again for your professionalism"

​

Kent

"Dear Holly,

Thank you so much for your wonderful photos...they perfectly capture my mother's funeral. It was exactly as we hoped...even the weather was perfect!

Could you please thank Rebecca for the beautiful flower arrangement, and also pass on our thanks to everyone in your team, all of whom made the day go so smoothly

Our especial thanks go to you, for your sensitivity and the loving way you provided all your services. My mother could not have been in better hands!

With very warm appreciation" 

Kent

"I found that Holly provided such a supportive and personal service which was tailored to my individual wishes and needs. She was modestly priced and made lots of personal visits to ensure everything was in hand both in the run up to the funeral and on the day itself. And
indeed following the event.

She has a very modern approach and supported my wish to have my husband at home until the funeral; she came and made arrangements for this to happen and encouraged me to follow my outlook. She collected my husband from the hospital and brought him home. She was swift to act as I wanted him back at home as soon as possible and for as long as possible. She provided the necessary hygiene attention that was required and I found her to be sensitive and gentle both with myself and my husband's body.

There were plenty of eco friendly options, we had the choice of a banana leaf coffin which we wanted and the burial in the woodland cemetary with a tree planted instead of a traditional headstone. She used eco friendly products when washing and annointing my husbands
body which was important to me.

I found Holly to be a fantastic support both professionally and personally"

Kent

"Holly’s Funerals opened in our area – Kent – 2016, offering an alternative approach to the traditional undertaker model.  Her approach is warm, compassionate and different to the approach taken by more traditional undertakers with their price lists and catalogues of wooden coffins in oak, pine with a choice of brass fittings, dark close and sombre demeanour.  Death is another step in life and she makes every effort to help the living face that fact and find a way to accommodate it and plan for it, rather than fear it.  She holds workshops and attends group meetings to talk about dying, what exists out there to help the dying, their loved ones etc., their choices post death (e.g. traditional, natural burial) – it is a very modern, inclusive/open approach where she listens to the wishes that the deceased loved ones’ express about how they want to remember his/her passing (conventional or unconventional – there is very little that is impossible to achieve).  Her family room is homely, comfortable and contemporary and not remotely ‘morgue like’ which makes it a very sympathetic environment to plan a suitable send-off for a loved one and/or to paint a coffin with a personal design.  With unique hand-made ‘curved’ coffins (made by her husband) as part of her offering (she also offers a range of other caskets – whatever is required), which can be custom decorated by Holly herself (who is a very accomplished artist) or the loved ones of the deceased,  it makes the whole event a very personal affair, which can be tailored to reflect the deceased’s life or whatever his/her loved ones choose to commemorate his passing.  Holly’s Funerals is a great addition to the range of choice available to families and friends in Kent and East Sussex and further afield as required."

Kent

"Thank you for your kind words. That short event certainly felt much more personal than any cremation I have been to. Thank you for your support and help.  We would not have been able to achieve any of it without your help.  I hope my husband would have approved, and felt proud of us.

With our love  Rosemary" 

Kent

"A belated thank you for all you did to make my father's funeral run so smoothly & beautifully.  Everyone has commented on the lovely touches, many came from you.

The crematorium are absolutely right to be recommending you so warmly.  I hope you get the success you deserve."

Kent

" Thank you, just two little words to express so much sincere gratitude and appreciation. You really are so very kind and it means so much...Thank you to you both for all the support and comfort you have shown us at our saddest time, you made it so much easier for our family" 

Kent

"Hollys funerals is the best place to go. I lost both of my grandparents within a week of each other and holly took them and care for them together and ensured they left the world together. She went above and beyond what she was required to do. It made the transition for my family easier as we had peace of mind that they were being cared for gently and with genuine passion. When I visit to say goodbye it was like walking in a living room. It was so comforting. I'm so glad I can now review the service we received so people can truly know how amazing holly and her crew are. Thank you to you all!"

Kent

"The Family Room, in Cranbrook, has a lovely caring and calming atmosphere to it.
Having worked alongside Holly and Andy, I have seen first-hand how incredibly caring, compassionate and empathic they both are; nothing is too much trouble."

Kent

"Holly and Andy looked after my Mum after she died last November, and organised everything for her funeral in December. They made it easy for myself and my two brothers. Their caring approach at a time when we were struggling to come to terms with what had happened was faultless. It cheered us up enormously as we realised that, with their help, we could really do our Mother proud. The funeral itself was a real celebration of her life and not at all the sad occasion that these events can be. I cannot recommend Holly's Funerals highly enough."

London

"I would love to recommend Holly's Funerals because when we sadly lost my lovely dad, from the first phone call to Holly asking her about her services to present day, we have had nothing but care and compassion from them. 

So I called Holly and she came out to the house with her lovely husband Andrew and between them they listened to exactly what we wanted for my dad, they talked us through everything letting us know our options, we hadn't had any experience with this kind of funeral before but knew that we didn't want the 'normal' run of the mill funeral for my dad, dad had talked to my mum about what he wanted and Holly made sure that we got exactly that. They even met us at the hospital to take dad and look after him for us until the day of the funeral. 

We visited him in a beautiful funeral home which was nothing like anything i have ever seen before, so personal, they truly looked after him in this lovely place. 

Holly has been in touch constantly ever since and has visited mum and I to make sure we are ok, she also brought dads ashes to us at home to save us having to go and collect them and has made sure she and Andrew are there for us whenever we need a chat.

Basically they go above and beyond for the families they are helping to say goodbye to their loved ones and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them." 

Kent

"I can't recommend Holly's funerals enough. Amazing personal service throughout. We couldn't have asked for more, such a friendly, caring service provided at such a difficult time for our family."