About Us

In 2018 we set up a company, now called Prodigal Connect, with the intention of creating and delivering ceremonies. In November that year, Sid stood in front of twelve people in the lounge of a manor on the coast of Devon. During a three-day conference for entrepreneurs, he attempted to express coherently his heart for the new ideas that were forming in his mind. He delivered a passionate pitch in which he talked about a concept that he and Deb had named Prodigal.

At that time Sid was at a point in his career where he was curious about what else he might give his time to and Deb was also trying to figure out what she might do as their youngest child had just started playgroup and she had a little more “free time”.

We probably should tell you a bit about our family as it's fundamental to who we are and how we’ve structured our life. We live in 'The Ortons' and have seven children, with twelve years between the oldest and the youngest, who all still live at home! It's safe to say we’re passionate about family and community!

When our youngest started school we still wanted to do something that fitted around family life but something that also allowed us to express our creativity and passions in new ways. So Prodigal was set up! A few months after we began Covid hit and for obvious reasons, funerals dominated the ceremony scene. Like many, we juggled the realities of work and home-educating our children until restrictions lifted. As that ‘new normality’ set in, weddings started to make a comeback and in response, in 2021, we rebranded our weddings - creating I Do With You® and then, in 2023, as we recognised an increasing need for bereavement support, we created Grief Aware™.

And so, it appears to be true, words really do create new worlds! The concept that we nurtured and grew through the early months and years has gathered a new energy and the story continues. We’re passionate about creating spaces to honour and celebrate life in all its fullness, about creating places to stand with each other through the good and the bad whilst, in the midst of it all, acknowledging the gift that it is to be human.