Honoring A Life By Telling Their Story
Funeral, memorial, celebration-of-life, and graveside ceremonies in central Michigan - shaped around the life being honored.
If you're a family facing a loss, the end-of-life ceremonies page is where to begin. It explains what celebrants do, what kinds of ceremonies are possible, and what working together looks like.
If you're a funeral director, hospice professional, or other partner in this work click here to learn how we can partner and what working together looks like.
A Ceremony Shaped By Their Life
Most of us have sat through a funeral that didn't sound like the person who died. Generic prayers, a eulogy that could have been about anyone, a ceremony that handled the schedule but not the loss. We leave knowing something was missing.
It doesn't have to be that way.
I'm Michelle Sponseller, a Certified Master Celebrant and Certified Funeral Celebrant based in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. I create personalized ceremonies that honor who your loved one truly was. As your funeral officiant, I work closely with your family to craft a service that feels true, not a template, not a script, but something that genuinely reflects the person you're honoring.
What I Do
End-of-Life
Ceremonies Services
Funeral services, memorial services, celebrations of life, and graveside services.
Each one is shaped to the family and the person being remembered, religious, non-religious, interfaith, or anything in between.
Whether the ceremony happens in a funeral home, a church, a forest, or a backyard, the goal is the same: a service that genuinely reflects the person who lived.
Other End-of-Life
Services
Some families come to me for the ceremony itself. Others come for a specific piece, eulogy writing, obituary writing, a consultation for a family planning their own service, or headstone cleaning.
Whether I'm leading the ceremony or supporting it from the edges, the goal is the same: to honor a life well.
If you need assistance beyond the ceremony reach out, I'm happy to offer assistance where I can.
Training
and Speaking
I'm available to speak with organizations, community groups, and professional audiences on the changing landscape of end-of-life work.
Additionally, I serve as End-of-Life Instructor at the Celebrant Academy, training aspiring celebrants in the craft of meaningful ceremony.
Why Choose A Celebrant
End-of-life ceremonies in America are changing. A growing number of families, over a quarter of Americans now identify with no religion at all, are looking for something that doesn't fit a traditional template.
A service in a forest. A celebration of life on a meaningful date months after the death. A eulogy that actually sounds like the person who died.
Celebrants are trained to listen first, then create a personalized ceremony built around the person being honored. That can mean religious, non-religious, or interfaith services. It can include cultural traditions and rituals, or specific spiritual elements that matter to your loved one. I partner with funeral directors, clergy, and families to make the day what it needs to be.
If you're not sure what you or your family is looking for,
that's exactly what our first conversation is for.