A helping hand when you want, a shoulder to lean on when you need. Our Funeral Directors provide the highest standards of care and support for every one of our clients and attendees – before, during and after every funeral. This is why we consider ourselves the best funeral directors in Bristol.
To discuss your requirements with us, please feel free to get in touch.
Call 01454 414 999 or email us.
Arranging a funeral
When it comes to making your choices, we will never rush you. We prioritise our clients and allow them to have as much time as needed for them to make their decisions. Arranging a service for a loved one can be very difficult, that’s why it’s so important that each and every one of us has vast amounts of patience and empathy with our clients. While we have a great deal of experience in arranging funerals, our role isn’t to hurry or make decisions for you. Instead, we listen carefully to your wishes and provide you with the support and expertise you require to make them a reality. Making sure our services match the exact needs of our customers is something that we take seriously and will always put our all into doing.
Of course, if you would prefer for us to step in and play a more active role in planning, you’ll find our diligence and professionalism second to none. Every one of us at Memorial Woodlands has the knowledge and experience to ensure that the funeral service you are planning is as settled as possible for the attendees. Even if you require our professionalism, we will still do our best to suit the service for the attendees.
To find out more about planning a funeral at Memorial Woodlands, please visit our Funeral Plans page.
Or telephone a member of our friendly, professional and compassionate team on 01454 414 999
Managing your Event
We provide every single one of our clients with all the facilities they may need to hold their service, burial or ashes interment and reception within the grounds of the woodlands. It is so important at such a sensitive time to allow our clients to use the facilities they need to allow the service to run smoothly and keep the attendees in comfort.
Some of our clients prefer to incorporate a crematorium or other location into your day. If so, we can provide a hearse (and limousines if necessary) to transport close relatives or friends. Our team will be in attendance throughout your event to make sure that the funeral goes as planned and keeps with the needs of the clients.
During the service, our team will remain empathetic and will allow the attendees to have their service with no unwanted involvement. Support and nothing but that is what our team will offer during our funeral services. Do feel free to ask us any questions about our team’s involvement on the day of the service.
Telephone a member of our friendly, professional and compassionate team on 01454 414 999
On the day
At Memorial Woodlands, we emphasise completely that saying goodbye to a loved one is a time that’s naturally fraught with complex emotions. But from our experience, we’ve found the overriding sentiment behind funerals at Memorial Woodlands is the celebration of life, rather than the mourning of a loss. Celebrating life brings more positivity for our attendees and helps the funeral to be easier to get through. We assure that the knowledge of our Funeral Directors can not be topped by any others in the Bristol area. With us, we focus on nothing else but the emotions and experience for our clients.
As funeral directors, it’s our role to help you set the tone for a positive, perhaps even uplifting, occasion. That’s why you’ll always find our friendly, professional staff by your side: ready and willing to lend a hand, an ear, or a shoulder; all you have to do is ask. Our directors will always put themselves in the shoes of our clients and attendees to make sure each service is perfectly suited to their needs. Even though funerals may not be the most uplifting service, our goal is to keep all of our attendees as positive and content as we can. If you require a funeral service for a loved one, do feel free to contact us here at Woodland Memorials. Our team will give you all the support you need and will find a solution that’s right for you.
Telephone a member of our friendly, professional and compassionate team on 01454 414 999
Funeral cars
At Memorial Woodlands we consider that each family will wish to have options in planning every part of a funeral which is why we offer a range of choice ranging from the highly prestigious to the truly rustic:
Our fleet includes a 2018 model Mercedes Hearse from the nationally renowned coachbuilders Coleman Milne. In support, we have a five seater Mercedes limousine, two four-seater Mercedes S Class Limousines and a seven-seater Ford Dorchester limousine, also from Coleman Milne.
Many of our funerals involve a short journey from our chapel, following a service, to our burial grounds, a distance of a few hundred yards and families often choose to follow as their loved one is transported on one of our Victorian hand pulled Bier’s.
We can also offer the use of a horse and carriage or cart and even a motorbike and sidecar.
The pride of our fleet, a 1964 Austin Princess van den Plas Hearse, the one used to carry Sir Winston Churchill at his funeral, is nearing the end of a two-year restoration programme being undertaken by a specialist in the field in rural Suffolk. We hope to be able to offer the use of this hearse by the end of the summer of 2019. Prior to going to Suffolk this hearse had been the favourite for many, many families for services here over the years
Funeral notices
When helping each family to craft a funeral or memorial service our Funeral Directors will take steps to discuss with you the need to let your wider community know of your loss and the details of your upcoming service. This is not easy, families are often challenged by whom they should contact in person and just how many people need to be informed, this can be time-consuming and, at times, emotionally taxing. The team will help you to compose messages and find the most appropriate places to place each announcement. Increasingly announcements are made online, even social media is popular but most often the local papers are selected.
The team will take your composed announcements and have them placed on your behalf as part of the arrangement process. In the case of persons of note, they may help you in informing obituary writers, ensuring the right family member or executor is a part of managing the content where appropriate.
Donations
Families often choose to take the opportunity of a funeral or memorial service to raise funds for their, or the deceased, chosen charity or cause. This might be anything from a Hospice or a medical research institute to a sport or educational establishment with whom the deceased was involved or from whose work they benefitted. Sometimes families ask those attending or wishing to remember the deceased, for donations instead of flowers.
The team can certainly arrange for a collection to be a simple matter with collection plates at the chapel or in the reception rooms so that family members can pass the donations along to the beneficiaries, this is somehow more personal too and when donations arrive with the beneficiary a note from a family member with a little background will add purpose to the gift.
We prefer not to be responsible for the donations made and will ask that a family member takes responsibility for the removal of any collection. If funds are left at Memorial Woodlands we will ask a family member to call for them and acknowledge their safe receipt. It is considered a good idea to make a charitable collection part of the announcements that you may elect to make and the team will be pleased to help you make this part of any notices.
A few kind words
The feedback we receive most often comes from people who were fearful about attending a funeral but came away feeling grateful for the experience. We believe this is because we genuinely care about what we do: helping people say farewell in a personal and unhurried way.
Here are some kind words we have received from people who have previously attended funerals at Memorial Woodlands.
“I would like to thank you all for making Nick’s funeral not a sad occasion but a very lovely one. So many people have said what a wonderful ‘send-off’ Nick had and what a beautiful place Woodlands is. It is a very beautiful place but it is you, the team, who make it so special.”
S.
“During the day you were available and able to help me when needed. A sad occasion was turned into the celebration of a happy life that Hazel so wanted. I know she, too, would have been delighted.”
RD
“You made sure the day was worry-free for us, stepping in to help where needed and being completely behind the scenes otherwise. You left us to fully concentrate on the occasion which was splendid – the guests thought so, too.”
CA-M and PM
