Funeral and wedding choirs in Southwark
Southwark stretches from the Thames at London Bridge deep into the leafy streets of Dulwich and Peckham, encompassing some of London’s oldest and most atmospheric places of worship. We provide professional singers and choirs for funerals, weddings, memorials and ceremonies in Bermondsey, Camberwell and the neighbourhoods in between.
Funerals at Southwark Cathedral and Honor Oak
Southwark Cathedral beside Borough Market has been a place of worship for over a thousand years. Its Gothic nave produces a deep, resonant acoustic that rewards choral singing. The Cathedral has its own choir, and we sing there only with the Cathedral’s permission, as a separate ensemble. We provide ensembles of four to twelve voices and are accustomed to the Cathedral’s layout, sightlines, and sound. Families who choose the Cathedral for a memorial service often want a programme of anthems alongside congregational hymns. Our funeral music guide lists the pieces we perform most often in larger churches.
St George the Martyr on Borough High Street, a handsome 18th-century church associated with Dickens’s Little Dorrit, has a bright, clear interior suited to a quartet or sextet. In Bermondsey, the parish churches along Jamaica Road and Bermondsey Street serve local families, and we provide singers for funerals in these more intimate settings. Further south, St Giles Camberwell on Camberwell Church Street is a large Victorian church with a warm acoustic and stained glass by John Ruskin’s circle.
Honor Oak Crematorium on Brenchley Gardens serves families from across South East London. Its two chapels seat around 100 and 50 people, and services run to fixed time slots. We know the venue well and arrive early to coordinate with crematorium staff. Camberwell Old Cemetery Chapel on Forest Hill Road hosts occasional services in a quiet, leafy setting. For guidance on music suited to crematorium timings, see our crematorium music guide.
Southwark’s population is diverse, and we provide music for funerals across many traditions. For non-religious services, our singers perform classical art songs, folk arrangements, and popular music without church accompaniment. See our non-religious funeral music guide for programme ideas. For Catholic requiem masses at the Roman Catholic churches in the borough, our Catholic funeral hymns guide covers appropriate repertoire.
“I still can’t talk about it without welling up. The moment they started singing, the whole room just fell silent. Dad would have been so chuffed.”
Memorial services at the Cathedral and in Dulwich
Southwark Cathedral is a frequent choice for large memorial services held separately from a funeral. These services can include a programme of anthems, readings, and congregational hymns, and we provide choirs of eight to twelve voices for them. We also sing at smaller memorial gatherings in Dulwich and Camberwell, where a quartet provides the right scale of music for 50 to 100 guests. Our memorial service planning guide covers the practical steps for organising these events.
For non-religious celebrations of life at Southwark’s function venues and community halls, we provide vocal ensembles who perform without church accompaniment. A quartet suits these less formal settings. See our celebration of life music guide for repertoire ideas.
Weddings at Southwark Cathedral, Dulwich and Camberwell
Southwark Cathedral is licensed for weddings and can seat a large congregation. We provide choirs of six to twelve voices for Cathedral weddings, with repertoire ranging from Stanford and Parry to contemporary settings. Parish churches in Dulwich and Camberwell offer a more intimate option for smaller ceremonies, and our quartets and sextets suit these spaces well.
We plan wedding music from the first enquiry. That includes hymn selection, an anthem for the register signing, and music for the processional and recessional. Our guide to choosing wedding hymns covers the most requested pieces. Couples who want a wider range of ceremony music can also browse our wedding ceremony music guide. For civil ceremonies at licensed Southwark venues, we provide smaller vocal ensembles that work well without organ accompaniment.
Choir sizes from the Cathedral nave to Honor Oak’s chapels
Southwark Cathedral calls for six voices or more to fill its nave. St George the Martyr and the Camberwell churches suit a quartet or sextet. Honor Oak Crematorium works best with a soloist, given the smaller chapels and tighter schedules. We help you choose the right ensemble for the space and the occasion. Full details are on our pricing page.
Questions about the Cathedral and Honor Oak
How much does a funeral singer cost in Southwark?
For services at Honor Oak Crematorium, Southwark Cathedral, or parish churches in Camberwell and Dulwich, a solo funeral singer starts from £250. Above that, four voices are £1,150, a quintet £1,400, a sextet £1,600, and a full choir of eight £2,000. Cathedral services often benefit from six voices or more; all prices include travel within Greater London.
Can you sing at a funeral or memorial service at Southwark Cathedral?
Yes, with the Cathedral’s permission. The Cathedral has its own choir. Where a family wants our singers, we agree the arrangements with the Cathedral first and provide an ensemble of four to twelve voices.
Can you fit the music to Honor Oak Crematorium’s time slots?
Yes, we sing at Honor Oak Crematorium on Brenchley Gardens regularly. The chapels run to fixed time slots, so we plan the programme carefully to fit. A soloist is the most common choice there, though we can provide larger ensembles when the family wishes.
Can you provide a choir for a wedding in Southwark?
Yes. Southwark Cathedral seats a large congregation and we provide choirs of six to twelve voices there, with repertoire from Stanford and Parry to contemporary settings. In the smaller parish churches of Dulwich and Camberwell, a quartet or sextet suits the space.
Carols from Borough to Dulwich
Each December we provide carol services and roaming carol singers for offices, venues, and residents’ events throughout Southwark, from Borough and Bermondsey to Camberwell and Dulwich. We can provide a choir for your carol service near Southwark Cathedral, or you can hire professional carol singers to circulate at a workplace gathering.
Honor Oak and the boroughs around Southwark
Southwark borders Lambeth to the west, Lewisham to the south-east, and the City of London across the river. Families in these boroughs can also book our singers. Honor Oak Crematorium, on the Southwark-Lewisham boundary, is convenient for families in both boroughs. We also serve Westminster and Tower Hamlets for families north of the Thames.
Nearby boroughs: City of London · Lambeth · Lewisham · Tower Hamlets · Westminster