Making A Funeral A Celebration Of Life
Funeral services can serve as more than just a way to mourn a deceased love one. To truly honor and pay tribute to a deceased, love one, you can turn a funeral service into a celebration of the life. Many people who pass on will specify that they want their funeral to be a celebration of their life, rather than a standard funeral. If this is the case, and you are unsure of how to make this happen, here are a few tips.
Make It Clear The Funeral Will Be a Celebration of Life
When sending out invitations for the celebration of life make sure it is very clear that it won't be an average funeral. In order to drive the point of the theme home, be sure to use words and phrases in your invitations such as:
• Joyous • Celebratory time • Festive occasion • Cherished memories • Memorable moments • Happy thoughts • Sincere words from the heart
You want to be sure everyone understands this will serve as a special time where everyone can celebrate rather than simply weep and mourn over their loss.
Provide Your Guests with Multiple Opportunities for Sharing Both Memories and Thoughts
Make sharing memories simple and easy. Allow guests to share their cherished memories of the deceased in a variety of ways.
- Provide guests with a guest book where they can write out special messages to the family of the deceased and good bye messages to the deceased.
- Allow guests to bring in mementos that remind them of spending time with the deceased or what the deceased meant to them, i.e. ticket stubs from going to the game together or a gift that the deceased shared with them.
- Have guests form a circle and go around from person to person, allowing everyone to share one word or one special memory about the deceased with the group.
- Provide a memory board and note cards and pens for guests to write special memories about the deceased that they can post on the memory board for the family to hold onto long after the event.
You can also utilize social networking sites and multimedia sharing sites to allow guests to join in sharing about the special moments related to the life of the deceased:
• Post photos of the deceased on social media for friends and family to like and make comments
• Have guests make social media posts with the hashtag #iwillalwaysremember
• Have guests share their memories as comments on a video of the deceased, mashed with moments with family and friends
Commission a Custom Casket
One of the most unique ways that you can turn a funeral into a celebration of life is by purchasing a custom casket. You can have the casket created with intricate carved pictures that highlight your loved ones interests, hobbies and accomplishments. You can have their name engraved on the casket, or have it carved with designs that align with their personality. You can also embed full color photographs into a custom casket. Custom caskets are a bit more expensive than traditional caskets, but are a great way to further celebrate the life of your deceased loved one.
Make the Memories Last Long After the Celebration of Life
You can allow your memories to last long after the celebration of life. One of the ways that you can do this is by recording the celebration. Once you have it recorded, you can share the video with family and friends who attended the event on social networking sites and multimedia sites. You can even share the video link with invited guests who were unable to attend the celebration of life. By doing so, you will not only celebrate the life of the deceased with honor and dignity. You will have multiple ways to continue to celebrate the life of the deceased time and time again with all of the mementos, messages and video.