Ines Okafor Ceremonies

How I began

I spent nine years as a hospital chaplain on the West Side, and kept meeting families who wanted a real ceremony and did not want a religious one, with nowhere to go for it. I trained as a celebrant in 2021 and have worked at it full time since.

Why families choose me

I write the service before I lead it, and I write it after listening to you — usually for a couple of hours, usually with more people in the room than you expected to invite. What comes out of that is a ceremony in your family's own words rather than a template with a name dropped into it. I work with families who are religious, families who are not, and families who are both in the same room. I have led services in funeral homes, in back gardens, in a union hall and twice on a boat. If you are not sure what you want yet, that is the ordinary place to start; the first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.