Celebration of Life

Celebration of Life Information

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A celebration of life service is a type of end-of-life ceremony where people come together to celebrate the unique life of the deceased. Celebrations of life are commonly held after physical remains have been cared for through burial or cremation. Because of this, there is much more time available to plan the event and to make decisions about how you'd like to celebrate the life of your loved one. And without a doubt, this allows you to make better decisions about how you'd like to celebrate the life of someone you dearly loved.
Many families today want a service which celebrates the life of their loved one. We introduce them to the concept of a celebration of life, and provide support in designing a celebration of life that is as unique as the life of their loved one.

We always enjoy working together with families in planning a celebration of life for their loved one. While it can be a challenge to put together an event that both pays tribute to and celebrates the life and spirit of a complex individual, it's also one of the most rewarding things any one of us can do for someone we've loved and lost.

Sarah York opens her beautifully-crafted book, Remembering Well, with the very personal story about how her family chose to pay tribute to her mother. "My mother died in April 1983... She didn't want a funeral. 'Get together and have a party,' she had said when the topic was allowed to come up." However, she was quick to tell readers that the survivors did not honor the request. "We needed the ritual. We needed to say good-bye, but we also needed a ritual that would honor her spirit and would be faithful to her values and beliefs."

When Ms. York acknowledges the position of her family—that they needed not a party but a ritual—she teaches us all something important: the celebration of life events we plan with families should be shaped as much by their own emotional and spiritual needs as their desire to celebrate the life lived.

While celebrations of life are not burdened by social expectations—they can be pretty much anything you want them to be—it's important to realize that the event you're planning should meet the emotional needs of the guests. So, think about exactly who will be there, and what they're likely to want or need. Then, bring in those unique lifestyle and personality characteristics of the deceased; perhaps add live music or refreshments, and you've got the beginnings of a remarkable celebration of life.

Celebration of Life vs Funeral

It's interesting; funerals and celebrations of life have much in common, yet they often appear very different. Each is a ceremony; a gathering of people who share a common loss. It's just that one is more rooted in tradition, while the other is the result of recent changes in social values. But both serve to do three things:
  1. Help the bereaved family, and their community, publicly acknowledge the death of one of their own
  2. Support the grieving family by surrounding them with caring friends, co-workers, and neighbors
  3. Move the deceased from one social status to another
Yet they achieve those things in very different ways.

Celebrations of Life

Author Barbara Kingsolver, in her book The Poisonwood Bible, wrote “To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know.” We think this reflection is at the heart of a celebration of life. While a funeral, as we've described it above, has more to do with the orderly and often spiritually-defined, a celebration-of-life is more concerned with telling the story of the deceased. Celebrations of life are just that: a time people come together more to celebrate the unique personality and achievements of the deceased than to merely witness or mark the change in their social status.

Celebrations of life are similar to memorial services, which can be described as a hybrid event: combining the flexibility of a celebration of life with many of the activities of a traditional funeral order-of-service.

There's more room for creativity in a celebration of life than a funeral. Since celebrations of life are commonly held after the individual's physical remains have been cared for through burial or cremation, there is much more time available to plan the event. And without doubt, this allows you to make better decisions about how you'd like to celebrate the life of someone you dearly loved.

Getting Started Planning A Celebration of Life

A celebration of life service can be anything you want it to be. It's important to realize that the even you're planning should meet the emotional needs of the guests. There are three main components to think of before you start planning a service. You will need to determine the where, when and how of the celebration of life. Here are three things to keep in mind when planning.  
Guest List

You need to determine the total number of guests you want to invite. This will help you determine the next steps. 
Location

Think about things like; indoor or outdoor ceremony, capacity, sit down event or informal?
Date

Celebrations of life aren't bound to a strict time-frame. Consider your location, and guests when choosing a date. 

Celebration of Life Ideas

Plan Today

Get started today and plan the celebration of life your loved one deserves.

Get Started Today
Sources: 
  1. Remembering Well: Rituals for Celebrating Life & Mourning Death, Sara York
  2. Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
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