Personalizing a Funeral Service
Personalizing a Funeral Service
Funerals, memorial services and celebrations of life are all about honoring the deceased and celebrating a life well lived. Everyone is different, each with their own unique tastes, hobbies and traits. When it comes time to honor a loved one, everyone wants to make sure that they give their loved one the goodbye they deserve.
If you want to make your loved one’s service extra special, consider making it an experience as unique as they were. We suggest that you work together with a few different members of your family during the planning process. Not only will this help spread the work around, it will help you plan a service that reflects the deceased and the way they lived your life.
Ways To Personalize A Funeral Service
There are many different ways you can honor your loved one at their service. If you’re looking for some different ideas to personalize a service, we have provided you with a few suggestions below.
- Ask attendees to bring along a story or memory of your loved one to share. Guest’s comfort levels will vary – you may want to provide time for those who would like to publicly share their memory, but also note cards for those who prefer to write down their memory to be shared privately with the family.
- Create a theme for the celebration. This could be focused around their favourite sports team or their love for hunting for instance.
- Music is an integral part of life for many people. During the service, include the type of music that your loved one enjoyed listening to.
- If planning for snacks or refreshments, select some of your loved one’s favorite dishes or treats.
- Display a photo memory board, a memorial table or a memorial DVD of images of your loved one doing what they enjoyed most. Photos, which capture a moment, often spark conversation and bring up forgotten memories.
- A balloon release is a common feature of a celebration of life ceremony, and a beautiful gesture. However, don’t be afraid to think outside the box to find something to suit your loved one’s personality. Some alternatives that have the same sentiment as a balloon release are to toss wildflower seeds into a field, blow bubbles or light luminaries.
Planning The Perfect Goodbye
A great example of personalizing a service is the celebration of life that has been planned for a man in Lancashire, England. Although he has not passed away yet, Malcolm Brocklehurst has already made arrangements for his celebration of life ceremony when he does pass away. Mr. Brocklehurst has even gone as far as holding a dress rehearsal with family and friends to ensure everyone understands how he would like to have his life celebrated.
To read the full article about Mr. Brocklehurst’s celebration of life, click here.
The most important thing to remember when planning a celebration of life is that it reflects your loved one’s passions. Mr. Brocklehurst has long been a supporter of Blackpool FC and a flying enthusiast. To reflect this during his celebration of life, his body will be dressed in his favorite soccer team’s orange uniform and taken in an airplane shaped casket to the soccer team’s stadium, Bloomfield Park.
Afterwards, the plane casket will be loaded onto a truck to be taken to the crematorium. Before the truck leaves though, friends and family will be invited to share memories of Malcolm and spin his casket’s propeller to “fly him to the moon”.
Mr. Brocklehurst has also instructed that there should be no tears during the celebration of life. He does not want others to dwell on his death but rather rejoice in what happened during his life.
The plans Mr. Brocklehurst have made for his celebration of life should serve as the standard families hold themselves to when planning a service like this. The entire service is arranged around celebrating what he loved and what made him unique. Likewise, it is to serve as a celebration and not a somber event or time to mourn his loss.
Here To Help You Say Goodbye
At Saamis Memorial Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, we want you to know that we are here to help you say a meaningful goodbye. Our staff possesses the expertise and creativity to help in planning personalized funeral services that not only represent a person’s life, but also what they were passionate about and valued most. To learn more about our services, we invite you to browse through our website or contact us
to speak directly with a member of our staff.