Celebrations of life, pet memorials and vow renewals: the growth areas celebrants are missing

Interest in celebrations of life, commitment ceremonies, pet funerals and vow renewals is rising fast, according to The UK Celebrant Industry: State of Play Report 2026/27 from the Academy of Modern Celebrancy (AMC). The sharpest rises have come in the last year, on top of growth that goes back more than a decade. Yet when we read every celebrant profile on The Celebrant Directory, almost none mentioned pet memorials or commitment ceremonies, and nearly half of funeral celebrants never used the words ‘celebration of life’.

The disconnect between what couples and families are searching for and how celebrants describe their services could mean the difference between a fully booked schedule and hearing crickets! A family planning a celebration of life, or a couple looking for a commitment ceremony, can only book a celebrant who tells them they offer it.

This article sets out where interest is growing, which ceremonies celebrants are leaving off their profiles, and what you can do this month to be found for them.

Which ceremonies are people asking for more often?

Pet funerals have seen the sharpest rise so far in 2026, with UK search interest more than doubling on the same months of 2025. The Celebrant Industry State of Play Report tracked relative Google search interest for five ceremony types over three periods: the first eight months of 2026 against the same months of 2025, 2025 against 2024, and 2025 against 2014.

Source: AMC analysis of Google Trends data, UK, in the State of Play report 2026/27. Relative search interest shows how interest has changed; it is not a count of searches or ceremonies.

• Celebrations of life and vow renewals grew in all three periods, which makes them the steadiest risers. Commitment ceremonies dipped slightly in 2025 before rising again in 2026.
• The longer-term rises are larger still. Since 2014, interest in commitment ceremonies has grown more than fivefold, celebrations of life more than fourfold and pet funerals roughly threefold, although commitment ceremonies started from a low base. Handfasting remains well above its 2014 level, even though interest has dipped slightly so far in 2026.

Celebrations of life have more than search data behind them. In Sun Life's Cost of Dying Report 2026, the insurer found that 58% of people who organised a funeral described it as a celebration of life, up from 51% the year before, and 70% of funeral directors said they had seen an increase in celebration-of-life services.

Direct cremation is also changing how families commemorate a death. SunLife found that 21% of funeral organisers had arranged a direct cremation, a cremation without a service, compared with 3% in 2019. Of those, 86% still held a small gathering, wake, memorial service or a combination of these. The cremation and the ceremony are increasingly becoming two separate decisions, and a family may go on to organise a celebration of life somewhere meaningful to them.

Search interest in pet ceremonies is lower but rising quickly. People looking for a way to remember an animal mostly use memorial language: ‘dog memorial’ draws an estimated 1,600 UK searches a month, against 260 for ‘dog funeral’. Reliable national data on how many pet ceremonies take place is still lacking, so treat these figures as an early sign of interest rather than a measure of bookings.

Why are so many celebrants missing these enquiries?

Pet memorials and commitment ceremonies are missing from almost every celebrant profile, and nearly half of funeral celebrants’ profiles miss celebrations of life. Every celebrant on The Celebrant Directory is a Guild member, and in October 2026 we read all 458 public profiles to count which ceremonies each celebrant names in their own words. The UK figures are below.

Source: count of all public celebrant profiles on The Celebrant Directory, 26 October 2026. Page headings and the ceremony list the directory adds to each profile automatically were excluded, so the figures reflect each celebrant’s own words.

Vow renewals are the exception: most wedding celebrants already name them, and 91% are tagged for them. The gaps are in pet memorials, commitment ceremonies and, for funeral celebrants, celebrations of life.

Across the entire directory, only nine profiles mention pet funerals, farewells or memorials. While many celebrants will lead a celebration of life or a commitment ceremony when asked, a family searching for one has no way of knowing.

The directory’s search filters cover four ceremony types: weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies and renewal of vows. There is no filter for celebrations of life, commitment ceremonies, or pet memorials, so the words in your profile are the only way they can be found on the directory or online. The 29 wedding celebrants who have not ticked Renewal of Vows are missing from that search altogether.

Is there enough demand to build part of your diary on it?

There is enough interest to make these ceremonies worth adding, but search interest is an early indicator, not proof of bookings, and demand varies from one area to the next. The State of Play report recommends testing demand and clearly stating each service’s purpose, rather than assuming national interest will fill your diary.

There is also little to lose by trying. A few lines on your profile take minutes, and a service page takes an afternoon; leaving them out makes it harder for families and couples seeking these ceremonies to find you. Start with the ceremony that suits you best, make it visible, and watch what enquiries it brings.

Celebrations of life offer the clearest opening for funeral celebrants. As more families choose direct cremation, some will go on to arrange a celebration of life themselves, away from the crematorium. That gives you the chance to speak directly to families, alongside your referral work, and to create a ceremony that reflects the person they have lost.

Some venues are noticing the shift too. Miranda Ash, a celebrant for 13 years and an AMC mentor, described it on AMC’s Beyond The Ceremony podcast: “I have been doing a lot of work with wedding venues who now want to host celebrations of life.”

How do you add a new ceremony type to what you already offer?

Adding a new ceremony type is more about marketing than training. Most of the skills these ceremonies require are ones you already use: listening to a family or couple, understanding what matters to them, writing a ceremony that reflects them, and holding space on the day.

A pet funeral is a good example. It is usually shorter and smaller than a funeral for a person, but the ritual of honouring a loved one and saying goodbye does not diminish just because that loved one had four legs.

A commitment ceremony lets a couple celebrate their relationship without entering a legal marriage or civil partnership, so it draws on the same skills you use for a wedding, with the same freedom over wording, rituals and location.

Once you have decided which ceremony to offer, make it easy to find and easy to understand:

• Create a service page on your website for each ceremony. Explain what it is, who it is for, the area you cover and what to expect.
• Add supporting content such as blog posts, YouTube videos or Instagram Reels that explain the ceremony and show how you approach it.
• Update your bios and social media profiles, and talk about the ceremony in the same places you talk about your other work.

If you want to build your confidence first, the Guild’s monthly training sessions and library of past workshops are open to every member.

How do you make sure families and couples can find you for it?

Name each ceremony you offer, in plain words, on your listing and your website. Families and couples cannot book a ceremony they do not know you offer.

Use the words people search with. For pet ceremonies, lead with ‘pet memorial’, which people search for far more often, and keep ‘pet funeral’ alongside it for those who use that phrase. Write ‘celebration of life’ in full rather than relying on ‘funeral’ to cover it.

Then check the details:

• Tick every ceremony tag that applies on your Celebrant Directory listing, including Renewal of Vows.
• Give each ceremony its own section or page so it isn't lost in a list of everything you do.
• Say what is included, such as meetings, writing, rehearsal and travel, so people can compare your offer fairly. This is one of the State of Play report’s recommendations for the whole profession.

Where else can these enquiries come from?

New referral partners can widen where your work comes from. The State of Play report recommends that celebrants avoid relying on one source of work, and the newer ceremony types open several routes alongside the ones you already have:

• Vets for pet memorials and pet funerals.
• Non-traditional venues, such as pubs, village halls and wedding venues, for celebrations of life.
• Community groups serving the people you most want to work with.
• Natural burial grounds, some of which welcome pets.
• Funeral directors, when you tell them clearly which kinds of ceremony you lead.

Being specific helps every partner on that list. As Miranda Ash put it on the same podcast, “you can’t be all things to all people”; the clearer you are about the ceremonies you offer, the easier it is for a venue or funeral director to recommend you to the right family.

What should you do first?

1. Read your own listing as a stranger would. Does it name every ceremony you are happy to lead?
2. Tick the right tags on your Celebrant Directory listing.
3. Add the missing ceremonies in your own words, using the language people search with.
4. Create a service page for the ceremony you most want to grow.
5. Introduce yourself to one new referral partner, such as a vet, a village hall or a venue.
6. Note where each new enquiry comes from, so you can see what is working.

Frequently asked questions

Should I offer every ceremony type?

No. A focused offer usually works better than a long list. Pick the ceremonies that suit you and describe each one properly, so families and couples can see that it is something you do with care rather than an extra on a list.

Is a pet memorial the same as a pet funeral?

The two overlap, but far more people search for ‘pet memorial’ than ‘pet funeral’. The State of Play report suggests leading with language such as ‘pet memorial’ and ‘celebration of life for a pet’, and keeping ‘pet funeral’ as supporting language for people who use it.

Where can a celebration of life take place?

Almost anywhere meaningful to the family: a hotel, pub, garden, woodland or the family home. When a celebration of life follows a direct cremation, it does not have the time limits of a crematorium service, and relatives travelling from different places have more time to prepare.

What do funeral celebrants usually charge?

AMC research in the State of Play report puts typical funeral celebrant fees at about £200 to £600 per ceremony, with work through funeral-director referrals often towards the lower end. Direct bookings from families can give you more freedom over pricing and ceremony format, although you need to create your own visibility to win them.

Read the full report and update your listing

The growth figures in this article come from the Academy of Modern Celebrancy’s UK Celebrant Industry State of Play Report 2026/27. Read the full State of Play report for the evidence behind each trend.

Then take ten minutes to update your Celebrant Directory listing. Name every ceremony you offer, tick every tag that applies, and make sure the families and couples looking for you can find you.