Coffins
Members of:
 |
 |
CO2 offsetting on
all cremation coffins by:
Customer stories
We are delighted to be able to share the experiences of some of Colourful Coffins customers below and are extremely grateful to each for allowing us to tell their stories.
If you would like to share your own experiences and tell the story of your Colourful Coffin then please email: mary@colourfulcoffins.com
Jill Byrne
Eric Thornton was a lifelong model tram enthusiast and when he died in 2007, daughter Jill Byrne wanted to find a way to incorporate his hobby into his funeral.
She set her husband the task of trawling the Internet to find "something to do with trams" and when he discovered Colourful Coffins, she knew she had found what she was looking for.
Having made the decision, she asked her local funeral director to get in touch with Colourful Coffins and says he was "brilliant", even though he hadn't dealt with the company before and helped to get everything organised.
"Dad died on the Sunday, we got in touch with Colourful Coffins on the Monday to talk through ideas of doing a tram design, I sent some photos of a model tram Dad had made himself, and by the Tuesday we had a proof on email and I was smiling and showing everyone," said Jill.
"It was incredible, the model tram was a single decker so it was the right proportions, we had Terminus written on one end as the destination and it was absolutely perfect, it couldn't have been better."
Jill says at only around £50 more than the 'normal' price of a coffin, the investment was well worth it and in terms of quality, both she and the funeral director were full of praise for the way it was made.
With the coffin safely delivered a few days later, Jill took lots of pictures and when the day of the funeral came, she topped the coffin off with her father's flat cap and white roses from Yorkshire, where he was born and bred.
"Dad was quite well known in the tram world because of the modelmaking, he had been a member of the Model Tramway Society all his life. Lots of people came to the funeral to say goodbye and everyone wanted to take a closer look at the coffin and to take pictures," she said.
"It made such a difference to our family, it was exactly right and a really fitting celebration of everything that was him."
Jill's Colourful Coffin was supplied through Harold F Miles, South Cadbury, Somerset.
Karen Chappell
For Karen Chappell, who lost both her partner and her mother within a short space of time, having a Colourful Coffin for each of them helped brighten her day as she said her final goodbyes.
Her partner of 20 years, Sue Ford, lost her battle with cancer in 2007, and it was on the recommendation of a friend that Karen heard about the idea of having a bespoke and personalised coffin as a tribute.
"A friend came with me to register Sue's death and she asked me what sort of coffin I was going to have," she said. "I told her I thought they were all boring, and that's when she mentioned Colourful Coffins, which she'd been told about by her Minister".
"I thought it was a wonderful idea, so I called Mary and we talked through some ideas. She was brilliant, asking me about Sue's favourite colours and what she liked, it just sounded so good."
Karen's choice of personalised coffin included a rainbow on a soft sky blue background with clouds and, because the couple had always been cat lovers, Colourful Coffins also created a design featuring cats in a basket.
In a final special touch, Karen also ensured her nickname for her partner was printed on the coffin, as well as her name.
"It was so apt for Sue, I felt the last thing I could do for her was to give her a happy send off," said Karen. "We wanted to celebrate her life instead of being morbid and, when the undertaker brought the coffin in, it lifted the mood and stopped any sadness and tears. It helped make the day go with a smile."
When she lost her mother, Sheila Harris, only a short while later, Karen and her sister turned again to the Colourful Coffins team.
This time they chose a Spring flower design, featuring their mother's favourite flowers of iris and freesias, intertwined with two doves, representing their mother and late father being together again.
"Once again, everybody said how beautiful the coffin was and how it brightened the occasion," said Karen.
"Mary really went out of her way to do a wonderful job, even down to finding a special lilac lining which we wanted for mum's coffin. They were so patient and the end result was just beautiful."
Karen's Colourful Coffin was supplied through J Wagstaff, Peacehaven, East Sussex.
Lucinda Wightman
When Lucinda Wightman's father Brian died, she wanted a funeral that would reflect his love of life and personality.
Aware of Colourful Coffins because she had previously attended another funeral where one was used, she asked her funeral director to help track them down and got in touch by email.
"All I had to do was send some favourite photos in and they emailed me back with a design, which was wonderful," said Lucinda, a primary school teacher.
Her father especially loved the Greek Islands and used to spend the summer holidays going island hopping. The night he died he was due to head off there again and Lucinda felt by choosing some of the best photographs to be reproduced on the coffin, it would help ensure his final journey was an extra special one.
As a finishing touch, she even chose a bouquet of bougainvillea to complement the Greek Island theme.
"When the coffin came into the church it did make people smile and everyone spent time looking at it and several took photographs," she said. "I did worry in case some people felt it was a bit tasteless, but most of them just thought it was amazing and it was such a talking point."
"I didn't want Dad's funeral to be miserable because he was a bright and colourful character. Having a Colourful Coffin totally changed it from being a sad and miserable day into a much more cheery and uplifting event. Dad would have definitely enjoyed it."
Lucinda's Colourful Coffin was supplied through a funeral director in Finchley, London.
