Gary Erskine Independent Celebrant Reviews

Our family, friends and I were blown away by Gary's compassion, attention to important details, and excellent communication in the planning and delivery of the funeral service of my husband. Following the service, he was praised highly by many who, like myself, felt he brought a wonderful light and warmth to an otherwise painful experience. He did my husband proud.

A excellent service conducted by Gary

Gary delivered my mums funeral service beautifully and eloquently with the balance of warmth, humour and sensitivity. From our first contact with Gary he put us at ease tentatively listening to create a wonderful eulogy. His words flowed and he created a wonderful eulogy truly capturing the character of my mum. He also took time to add a lovely poem he had personally written. Family and friends were complimentary of the service all commenting on Gary’s words and that he is clearly gifted. Thank you Gary for delivering such a loving tribute to my mum.

Gary's gentle manner, great communication, attention to detail and talent for writing made for a unique and special funeral service to say farewell to my dad at Holmsford Bridge last month. So many people commented afterwards on what a lovely service it was, I would not hesitate to recommend Gary and I thank him for all his help at a difficult time for my family

Gary recently done a service for my late Dad’s funeral on the 05/09/2024. I knew from the very first phone call and thereafter to personally meeting he was going to do it exactly how we wanted. We requested it to be lighthearted as my dad was like that himself he never took life too seriously. Honestly can say Gary delivered just that.The way he spoke about my dad you would have thought he knew him personally. It truly was a beautiful tribute to my Dad. Gary always kept in contact wether it be by phone, emails and text messages and made sure we were happy with everything. His professionalism throughout was outstanding. I had a good few people say it was the best service they had been to and also asking for his details as they would like to use him in the future if need be. Once Again Gary from the bottom of my heart, Thank You.

Gary did a fantastic job at mum's funeral. Beginning with his initial visit, he listened carefully to our requirements and soaked in all of our stories before blending them into a heartwarming reading. There was nothing in his first draft we needed to change such was his attention to detail. He was always available to contact, and on the day of mum's funeral delivered a fantastic celebration of mum's life and her personality. Everyone left with a smile on their face and a warm memory of mum's time on this planet. I would highly recommend Gary as a safe pair of hands to celebrate your loved ones life.

My family and friends were impressed by Gary’s professionalism and attention to detail at my mother’s funeral. He really captured her spirit, personality and character in his celebration of mum. Laughter, nods of agreement, smiles and tears. It is with heartfelt thanks that I post this 5 star review.

Without a doubt, Gary was the best choice we made in the lead up to our wedding. We had several meetings with him both online and in person to ensure we were all on the same page in regards to the feel and style of the ceremony and what we asked for, Gary delivered and more! He conducted our wedding with genuine care, humour and a light hearted nature which is what we requested. He made us feel completely at ease and allowed us to relax and enjoy the experience without nerves or panics. His written ceremony blew us away and his own touches he added in created a service better than we ever thought possible. It was so clear that he had put in huge amounts of effort and thought as well as spending time getting to know both of us which is something we are so appreciative of. We have had so many compliments on how great Gary was in both the moments before the ceremony with our guests as well as delivering the ceremony itself. Gary found and included exerts which he felt matched the style of our ceremony, liased with both the hotel and one of our guests regarding a surprise reading and guided us into picking our own traditional wedding rituals and vows. Nothing was too much hassle or bother for Gary and we would 1000% recommend him to anybody considering it!

Hi there, This is just to say a massive thank you to Gary for doing our wee Dad's service at Holmsford Bridge Crematorium on Monday 29th July 2024. From our first meeting with Gary (my brother and myself), he made us feel completely at ease, there was no pressure to answer questions, he gave us suggestions about things we were unsure about and was totally confident in the job he was doing. Up until the day of my Dad's funeral, Gary was regularly in touch with me, making a few changes etc and reassuring me. On the day, Gary was there,had a wee chat with me before the service started, which was a lovely touch. From start to finish, he covered the Celebration of our Dad's Life with such professionalism, empathy and care. I'm so pleased that Gary was recommended for us because I truly couldn't have wished for a better Celebrant, this guy is a natural !! He has such a lovely speaking voice, not too loud, not too quiet that we couldn't hear what he was saying, just perfect. Gary wasn't able to come to the tea after the Service because of work commitments, but he was still in touch to make sure we were alright. The work Gary put into Dad's Celebration of Life was above and beyond, he even added a little poem that he thought of himself which was so befitting for our Dad. We can't thank him enough for what he's done for us, he is one lovely, kind,caring fella who totally deserves to go far in his career, I would recommend him to anyone in a heartbeat, and I will, he will indeed go far and be so successful, of that I have no doubt! So thank you so much Gary, I will remember that day forever, you made it so special for our dad. Rosie & Billy

Gary was fantastic and catched the essence of my wonderful wee mum. Despite being very busy , he pulled everything together very well.

We instantly knew we were in safe hands with Gary and we would like to thank him for his support and guidance throughout the whole process. The service delivered by Gary was perfect and lots of people commented what a great tribute it was. We'll always be grateful to Gary for his help Thanks again from Debbie Fraser and family

Gary is a fantastic celebrant. He told my Dad's story perfectly at his recent cremation. From the moment me & my family met him we just knew he would do a great job and that we had the right man . He was compassionate & understanding and I would have trust in recommending Gary to anyone and should we require a celebrant in the future we couldn't look past Gary

Gary conducted my Dad’s funeral service and at a time when we were in shock and grieving he was able to put us at ease when talking about our memories of Dad which then enabled him to create a tribute to Dad on the day of the funeral that was perfect and exactly how we wanted Dad to be remembered, with tears, but also smiles from all in attendance. Gary was warm, caring and compassionate throughout and made a very difficult time just that bit easier for us as a family.

Our cousin Robert Lawrence passed away , we contacted Wilson & Drury Funeral Directors to organise his funeral, they suggested that we engage Gary Erskine Independent Celebrant to carry out the sevice, Gary came to our home at 9.00 am to collect information about Robert’s life, he left at 11.50am with the details about Robert’s life, at 7.00pm that evening he sent us a draft copy of the funeral services for our approval. The service he provided was perfect , we told him that it was approved. The came for Robert’s funeral and Gary Erskine narrated the services in a caring professional manner. We have feed back from family and friends since the funeral stating that Gary gave a perfect description of Robert’s life. I can on behalf of my wife and I recommend Gary Erskine Independent Celebrant to anyone who requires an honest description of their loved one’s life. He is so caring in his work and he speaks from the heart.

Gary Erskine is truly exceptional caring and understanding. He captured the life of Hugh with such compassion and at times humour, delivering the most perfect story touching the hearts of everyone. The room was filled with tears and laughter simultaneously. Gary takes the time to build a unique relationship with the family, not only in the days or weeks prior to the service but also in the weeks following. Gary, believe me when I say how proud Hugh would have been as we said farewell.

Gary done a fantastic job for my dad's funeral. I can't recommend him highly enough. Really down to earth and puts in alot of work to to get the service just wright and made the experience as easy as possible for me which am extremely grateful for. Family and friends commented on the lovely service he did and how fitting it was for my dad. I highly recommend Gary.

I’ve never heard so many people at a funeral saying how good the celebrant was, Gary did a fantastic job making it sound as if he knew my husband, everything he said was said with feeling. Even when he came to the house before the funeral, he was lovely.

Couldn't have asked for a better celebrant. Gary was kind, down to earth, respectful, informative. Everything you would ask for. He took time to sit down with my mum and myself to listen to stories about my dad. He wrote a wonderful speech including some personalise poems. Other family and friends mentioned how good he was and very engaging. We are luck to have been matched up with Gary and would recommend to anyone.

Gary was such a great celebrant. Prior to the funeral we talked through my late Mother's life which I was dreading doing to be honest, but he put myself and my brother at ease and I actually found it a pleasure talking about my Mum with Gary. He showed compassion and understanding during the run up to the ceremony. On the day of the funeral ceremony he was outstanding. Many of my relatives commented what a great speaker Gary was. He was very professional throughout and would not hesitate to recommend him and his services to anyone. Made a very hard day a whole lot easier, thanks Gary!

Gary was the celebrant at my mums funeral and I cant praise his compassion and professionalism highly enough . From the initial call with him to him visiting myself and wife at our home address and even breaking his family holiday to conduct my mums funeral then returning to his own family . As Gary knew my mum there was a perfect balance of his own personal memories and our memories. This was only too visible as everyone I spoke with after the service stated that it showed that Gary knew and loved my mum aswell . I will always be thankful that he helped us in the saddest of times