Celebration-of-Life Information

What is a Celebration-of-Life & Ideas

More and more families are choosing to hold ceremonies that celebrate the life and personality of their loved one. A celebration-of-life ceremony acts as an alternative to a traditional funeral ceremony. It achieves the same purposes as a traditional funeral by gathering family and friends to pay tribute to the deceased. A celebration of life has a more uplifting atmosphere that reflects on positive stories and memories that involved your loved one. The major benefit of a celebration-of-life is that it allows you the freedom to best display your loved one’s personality, values, and passions, in whichever way you see fit.


Why Choose a Celebration-of-Life?

Sometimes a family will tell us their loved one would say, "When I die I want to be remembered for all the good memories..., the things that were special in my life. I don't want my funeral to be a sad occasion." By choosing a celebration-of-life service, these families honor their loved one's request and at the same time, benefit themselves and friends by all being reminded of a life well lived.

  • Celebration-of-life services can be as traditional or non-traditional as you desire, from a funeral service or memorial service with special photos displayed to a beachside barbecue where friends and family gather in a place loved by the person being celebrated.
  • Celebration-of-life services are not burdened by social expectations, they can be anything you want them to be. You can bring in those unique lifestyle and personality characteristics of your loved one; perhaps add live music or refreshments, and you've got the beginnings of a remarkable celebration-of-life.
  • Celebration-of-life services are intended to lift everyone's spirits by focusing on positive memories.

If you'd like to learn more about the celebration-of-life service, we invite you to read our Steps to Planning a Celebration-of-lifeand for additional creative ideas visit our Personalized Service Options page. There you'll discover how our experience in arranging and hosting celebrations-of-life can guide you in the process.

We always enjoy working together with families to plan celebrations-of-life. If you have any questions about celebrations-of-life services and our personalized service options, please don't hesitate to call.

How to Plan a Celebration of Life

A celebration of life is a joyous ceremony where friends and family come together to celebrate a life well lived. If you’ve never had to plan one before, you’re likely here because you’re wondering, how to plan a celebration of life. Planning a celebration of life doesn’t have to be difficult. Our experienced and caring funeral home staff can help you plan a service that showcases your loved one’s unique personality. The service can be simple and elegant or big and bold, the choice is up to you.


Every life is unique, and we believe it should be celebrated as such. Together our staff will take a personalized approach and help tailor a service that is one of a kind. To help get you started with brainstorming ideas, check out our planning a celebration of life checklist to learn more.

Celebration of Life Planning Checklist

01. Set a Budget

Once you know what you are able to spend, you can begin to look at how you want to honor your loved one and what the celebration of life will include.

02. Choose a Time and Location

This is especially important if family members live far away and you need to make travel arrangements to get there.

03. Pick Somebody to Lead the Event

Although a celebration of life is often more casual than a funeral service, it’s still a good idea to decide who will lead the event.

04. Decide on Activities for the Celebration of Life

The activity could be as simple as a craft station for guests to create a keepsake to take home or as elaborate as a fireworks display.

05. What Audio and Visuals will be Included?

Memorial videos, slideshows, and music playlists can help create a warm atmosphere of remembrance. If you want to include this special touch, talk to your funeral director about your technology needs.

06. What Food and Beverages will be Served?

Food and drinks are an important part of any event. Food brings people together and can create opportunities for guests to share memories with one another. Some families serve hors d’oeuvres and others will host a meal. In either case, think about some of your loved one’s favorite food and drinks and try to serve them during the event.

07. Mementos and Keepsakes

If you want to show your appreciation, consider buying or creating some small personal keepsakes for guests to take home. It could be as simple as a packet of memorial seeds to plant in a garden or as personal as hand written notes from the family thanking guests for coming. In either case, having something for guests to take home with them shows that your family is thankful that they chose to come and provides guests with a physical item to help honor the deceased’s memory.

08. Choose Speakers

At some point during almost every celebration of life, there will be an opportunity for someone to say a few words. These can be more formal speeches like a eulogy or just a simple toast to the deceased and thanking guests for coming.

09. Send Out Invitations

Last but certainly not least, it’s time to create a guest list and send out invitations. Once you know the where and when, you can start putting a guest list together.

Celebration of Life Ideas

Celebrations of life are all about personalization and capturing the spirit of your loved one. To truly make the service as unique as your loved one, check out the ideas below for inspiration.


*Please keep in mind, these are strictly ideas and in no way, are services currently offered by our firm.

Create a Time Capsule

A great way to help the family long after the service has ended is to create a time capsule of memories. For this idea, invite guests to bring small items like photographs, cards, books, letters, and other little mementos. As guests add their item into the capsule, they can share the memory with everyone in attendance. Afterwards, your family can choose to bury the capsule or lock it away. On the first anniversary of the deceased’s passing, your family can open the memory capsule and revisit all the memories that were shared.

Host a Potluck

If your loved one loved to cook or enjoyed trying new foods, consider hosting a potluck. Create a list of your loved one’s favorite dishes and invite guests to sign up to bring them. Not only will you be serving the food your loved one enjoyed, guests can feel a greater connection to the deceased and that they were a part of the celebration.

Scatter the Remains

If your loved one has chosen cremation, you may want to consider planning an ash scattering ceremony during the celebration of life. There are many ways to do this from scattering remains in a garden to releasing them in a body of water. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to check with the funeral director and local authorities about any laws or regulations surrounding ash scattering.


If you are interested in learning more about ash scattering services, visit our page on cremation ash scattering.


Learn More About Ash Scattering

Let Us Help with the Celebration of Life

We know that's a lot to think about. But we urge you to take your time; be thoughtful, and don't hesitate to explore all the  celebrations of life ideas  which arise as part of this experience.


As we've said, we've got the experience to help make things easier for you and your family. Don't hesitate to pick up the phone & 
call us . Let's talk about your loved one's life; share some stories with us. We're confident that, together, we can come up with the perfect celebration of life event to suit your needs and expectations.

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