Testimonials and Stories

Terry was always laughing and playing jokes on people and that’s why I wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life and this meant I could look at nice pictures of him laughing and making other people laugh, which is how he would have wanted to be remembered.

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Alex Arter

Although they both were born and bred in Scotland, my parents went out to Africa to work in the 1950s and my brother and I grew up there. We had a wonderful life in what is now Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Mum only returned to the UK to live near us after my father died in 1999.

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Craig Dewar

When Mum made her mind up about something, she never gave in. That’s how I will always remember her. One of the many things I loved and admired about my Mum was no matter how down or how much pain she was in, she could always laugh and see the fun in life.

Her sense of humour really got her through her life and she retained it right up to the end. She loved her family, adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and I know she loved living with us, all four generations together.

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Mary Tomes

Dave was always there for me, he was my only sibling and we were very close. His attitude was to live life to the full and he did so many wonderful things.

Together, we had been through his funeral wishes so I knew what he wanted for the service, although when it came down to the finishing touches for his coffin he said he would leave it to me. I must have changed it about 10 times before I was completely happy with it.

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Mary Tomes

Dad took up painting when he retired and this picture was especially precious because he painted it for me as a birthday present after we had all been together on canal boat for a day during a lovely trip to France.

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Alison Blythe

Our attitude to life was that you never knew what was going to happen, death wasn’t a taboo subject for us. Just a few days before we went away, Laura was listening to music on her phone. She asked if I remembered when she had sung the song at a music festival with her church youth group and won an award, and then she asked if I thought it was ‘too happy’ to have at a funeral.

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Carol Main

The daffodil coffin was absolutely beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off it in the church.

My mother in law's favourite colour was sky blue and her favourite flower was the daffodil.

She didn't choose it, we did, but I know she would have loved it.

Corinne Haywood

Mum always loved to paint throughout her life, her little summerhouse at the bottom of the garden was a real joy for her, where she would sit in the sun and paint. She loved to do personal cards for all her friends and family, they gave her such pleasure and even when she was bedridden, it was something she could do.

I hadn’t realised the snowdrops and aconites painting was her favourite one until she told me, but mum described to me how she wanted a carboard picture coffin with her painting on it. It made such a difference, she wrote down her wishes and I really believe there is nothing people can do which is kinder for their family than telling them what they would like at their funeral.

When mum died, I collected the original painting off her wall and my daughter Gemma, who’s a graphic designer, took it to the Colourful Coffins office. I managed to get inside Gemma’s head with the design that mum had talked to me about and she sat down with them to talk about it.

Mum died on the Wednesday, and by the Friday afternoon Gemma was in the office with Mary Tomes at Colourful Coffins and they were emailing me photographs of what the coffin would look like. The result was amazing.

It was such a difficult day, but when the coffin arrived, it was absolutely perfect – exactly what she would have wanted. People came forward to say they were astonished by how beautiful it was and how it really captured the essence of her. Knowing we had fulfilled mum’s wishes made it a little easier for us and we were eternally grateful to Colourful Coffins for all the help they gave us, and especially Gemma when she visited.

Anne Barber

It’s with great pleasure that we would like to say that the Bread and Wine American Casket we ordered for our Mother was absolutely stunning, it took our breath away and it was admired by everyone, we lost count of how many people came to us to comment on the amazing beauty of it. The colours were out of this world, certainly it was incredibly beautiful, words really cannot do it enough justice. As we followed the hearse, people stopped along the pavements and stared at the casket, literally with their mouths open. It was very satisfying and we were immensely proud. It was so gratifying to be behind the hearse watching them.

We added a couple of extra touches as our Mother was a religious lady. If our Mother could see the casket she would have been so honoured and incredibly proud of what Colourful Coffins designed for her. Our Mother deserved the best and Colourful Coffins definitely came up trumps. In the church I personally could not take my eyes off it, it was incredibly the most stunning casket I have ever seen.

May I say that your brochure does not do your caskets any justice, as we had only seen the design on a coffin. We took a massive gamble on ordering it but that gamble most certainly paid off. Seeing it for the first time was an incredibly emotional experience, it was truly amazing. It brought tears to my eyes and a great relief to finally see the finished casket in its glory. I cannot emphasise enough how proud we felt.

Thank you so very much in making our Mother’s funeral a memorable occasion and an unforgettable experience.

Respectfully yours.

Sotera Damianou

My son Steven died tragically on 4th June 2014……until 3 weeks ago I had no idea that Colourful Coffins existed.

With the help of his partner and his best friend we “designed” his coffin. Black with images of his beloved Silver Skyline over and around it. We were absolutely amazed when we saw the finished coffin. It was stunning. Steven’s family and friends were also stunned when they saw the coffin at the service. Like me they did not know coffins could be made to look like that and they said “it was just so Steven” and that we could not have chosen anything better for him.

I no longer think of Steven lying in a coffin…..to me he will now always be in his car.

Thank you so much to all your staff (and for liasing with Colin from Ashtons) for creating such a stunning coffin. It helped to make one of the most difficult days of my life just a little more bearable.

Jean Murphy

We would like to thank you for the bespoke Motor Bike coffin you created for our beloved Father and Pa as his Granddaughters called him. It was a very fitting tribute to him as he loved his Motor Bikes and when out and about he would always stop and chat to the owners. We had a Motor Cycle Hearse to compliment the coffin and you can imagine what a talking point; it looked absolutely amazing. As we were travelling along bystanders just stopped and looked.

It helped in a strange way to lift what was a very depressing day for us. Dad was certainly given a memorable send off which he thoroughly deserved.

Lynn and Family

I just wanted to write to you to thank you for your efforts to ensure that my father got the white cardboard coffin that he had requested. Our family were really impressed with your company's service from our first enquiry phone call. We were very pleased that you took the time and had the courtesy to replace the first coffin without fuss or hesitation.

It is a difficult time for families but it is made easier by sympathetic and professional services like yours. We would have no hesitation in recommending your cardboard coffins to anyone - both my brother and I have decided that we also want them at our own funerals!

Becky Vipond