Meet Sonia Beverley

Sonia Beverley is a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant™ trained by the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, New Jersey. Her celebrant business is a second career built on 40 successful years as a chief executive, business leader, social entrepreneur and advocate in health care and the not-for-profit sector. She has long been an agent of change for individuals, families, companies and social systems – and now focuses on celebrating their life transitions and significant accomplishments through Ceremonies By Sonia Beverley.

A note from Sonia...

I am a Life-cycle Celebrant because I believe in celebrating the important choices and events in our lives that transform us in some way. Big decisions, successes and life events deserve to be enacted in a mindful and special way. One way is through a ceremony that is carefully crafted to recognize, praise, appreciate and honour significant accomplishments. I love to create and preside at such ceremonies.

I believe in recognizing and revering the sacred – in pausing to acknowledge it and appreciate it. By “sacred” I mean that which touches us deeply and inspires awe. With each End of Life or Memorial ceremony I create, I attend to what the honoree and his or her loved ones consider sacred or important.

I love nature and its power to remove us from the busy aspects of life that reduce our capacity to be present and mindful. I am happy to perform ceremonies in a natural setting. I also enjoy children and teens, so happily include them in ceremonies.

I was called to be a celebrant after sharing in my father's last months of life and organizing his funeral with a celebration of his life. I experienced first hand the power of ceremony and ritual in helping me and my family accept his pending death and in helping us grieve.

Loss and grief is tough on us all. When a family and community loses a member, it changes. A carefully crafted ceremony can ease this transition and provide a way for family and community to be part of it. Rituals and symbolic elements in a memorable funeral service or celebration of life remain in our consciousness and bolster us emotionally and spiritually as we grieve and adapt. As a former mental health professional, I know the value of attending mindfully to the loss of a loved one.

I bring decades of experience working with people to the art of designing individually unique and culturally relevant ceremonies, being always respectful cultural and faith traditions. In addition to remembrance and end of living ones, I do weddings and life partner commitments, personal life and workplace ceremonies.

With the mix of values, experience and skills born of my evolution from a professional social worker, therapist, health service leader and successful parent to my current role as life-cycle celebrant and marriage officiant, you may count on my complete attention to who you are, my perseverance to discover and deliver what is right for your ceremony, and my commitment to the highest standards of practice.