Funerals

Sarah Tolmie
Marriage Therapist – Holistic Celebrant – End-of-Life Consultant – Funeral Director & Planner with Picaluna Funerals

Sarah is a fully resourced Funeral Director and can arrange and deliver a complete funeral experience with her funeral partner, Picaluna Funerals.

Sarah can arrange cremations and burials, funeral services at chapel venues as well as religious services in churches.

Sarah also specialises in bespoke funeral solutions, enabling families to have a full coffin-present funeral experience at significant and beautiful locations which can include – at home, gardens, parks, surfclubs, clubs, beaches – the options are only limited by our imagination and availability.

Other funeral options include:

  • Direct Cremations (No Service/No Attendance Cremation)
  • Cremation + Memorial Service
  • Home Vigils & At-Home Viewings (supporting at-home dying and after-death care at home with cooling bed, death doula support and intimate family-led and at home rituals)
  • Pre-Paid Funeral Planning

Ceremonial Services

As a bespoke and holistic celebrant for 17+ years, as well as a trained hospital chaplain (non-religious) and grief & bereavement specialist therapist, Sarah brings a deep experience and care approach to working with families to not only create an authentic ceremony of honouring, remembrance and celebration, but she does so in a way that can bring profound healing, family connection, deep intimacy and even joyful transformation.

Sarah can work with you as BOTH funeral director + celebrant, OR can be engaged as an independent celebrant for memorial service or is happy to also work as celebrant with a different funeral director with whom you may already have a connection and history.

End of Life Consulting

Sarah’s end-of-life consulting practice offers a broad suite of services to support individuals and their families as they navigate through the practical, emotional and spiritual journey of illness, dying, death and grief. Sarah is trained in death doula skills and basic body care mortuary assisting, spiritual & clinical chaplaincy, plus grief & bereavement specialist care.

Sarah often works with families well before a death occurs, helping individuals and families navigate the practical, emotional, relational and spiritual challenges when faced with life limiting illness and terminal diagnoses.  She can help families as they move through different stages of need and change; and support them through the challenging conversations to plan and prepare for death.

Sarah has also put together a FREE RESOURCE – a series of shore 5 x videos that discuss death, dying and grief – how to begin to think about it, talk about it and plan for it.  Check out Landscapes of Life & Love and Loss: Traversing the pathyways of death, dying and grief.

Summary of Sarah’s Consulting, Funeral and Doula services

  • Emotional, relational and spiritual ‘pastoral’ care and personal coaching through illness, dying and death (as well as grief & bereavement specialist counselling);
  • Development of support plans and facilitating the conversations at difficult times of treatment/or end of treatment, palliative care and final living pathways;
  • Presence and guidance for the family during the active phase of death;
  • After death care (including body rituals such as home vigils, washing/dressing, anointing, shrouding and funeral rites);
  • Complete & Holistic Funeral Directorial Service – funeral planning & arrangements, funeral conducting and bespoke ceremonial services.

Working with Picaluna Funerals

Picaluna Funerals partners with an independent team of community established celebrants and funeral arranger specialists to offer a better way for family and friends to say goodbye to the people they love, through funerals, memorials and authentic life celebrations.

Together with their celebrant/arrangers, who are part of their local community and work with local suppliers, venues and specialists, Picaluna can create inspirational, affordable and authentic farewells that pay tribute to a life lived. With Sarah and Picaluna working together, they can tailor everything to suit a families’ need, rather than force them to conform to the rigid practices of an industry that’s slow to evolve.

Picaluna offer a completely transparent pricing approach, sharing with you the actual costs of each item/service you need to deliver the funeral of your choice. Picaluna then simply add a 35% service fee on the total amount.  Picaluna is also a ‘for-profit’ social enterprise, donating 5% of its profit to a charity or medical organization of your choice on your beloveds behalf.

Click here to learn a little more about myself and the Picaluna approach https://sarahtolmie.com.au/community-funerals-with-picaluna/