Celebration of Life
A Celebration of Life can be held after or instead of a funeral. It can take place when it feels right for you and where you want it, it does not have to be in a religious building or crematorium. Celebrations of life can even be held outdoors, weather permitting.
The ceremony focuses on remembering your loved one, honouring the life they lived and paying tribute to the impact they had on others. A Celebration of life is usually more informal than a traditional funeral.
There is no set format, because each person is an individual and they deserve to be celebrated in a way that is unique to them. A Celebration of Life is an informal way for people to get together and share memories and stories of times they spent with them.
As for a venue, it can be where you want it to be; a community hall, upstairs in a pub, a local hotel or outside at a place that was meaningful to them. You can even hold the celebration at home, indoors or in the garden. The atmosphere and activities for the celebration can be personalised based on their passions, if your loved one loved a BBQ why not hold the Celebration in the summer and host one. Not only does it honour their memory it takes the stress out of thinking about the catering.
A tribute will be paid to your loved one which reflect on memories and stories about their life, but there are lots of other ways you can pay a tribute to them. Click on each option below to find out a little bit more about each one and if you want to include any in your celebration.
Do something they loved
Do something your loved one loved to do such as a BBQ m, or if they loved a certain type of sweet why not give everyone a bag to take home.
Photo Collage
Have a collage of photos portraying their life, from the day there were born until now and all the important milestones along the way.
Dress in their favourite colour
Ask people to come dressed in the favouring colour of your loved one or the colours of their favourite sports team.
Memory Box
Ask people to write down their favourite memory or thing they liked best about your loved one and collect them in a memory box or jar to treasure. The memories can also be read out during the ceremony which will involve everybody.
It will be an honour to write and deliver a service that celebrates the life of your loved one, you may also want to pay your own tribute or invite a close friend or family to deliver one and I have written a guide to help you do this.
As a Celebration of Life is more informal you may prefer to remember them by playing their favourite songs and share memories, rather than reciting poems or playing unfamiliar formal music.
You probably have lots of questions about a celebrant-led Celebration of Life, please take a look at the most frequent questions I get asked. Hopefully, you will find what you are looking for but if you don’t please “ask me” and I will get back in touch with you as soon as possible.
