What is a Celebration of Life memorial service

Everything you need to know about Celebration of Life

Celebration of life is a way of departing with your loved one with joy and positivity. Traditionally, a funeral follows religious norms and practices to conduct the service. While these types of funerals are respectful; they may not feel personal or uplifting. If you’re the kind of person who would like a positive and a unique goodbye, you can suggest a celebration of life memorial service to your friends and family. If you’re organizing a funeral and want to give an edifying goodbye, the celebration of life works in your favor.
Celebration of life memorial services encourage family and friends to share happy memories, play loving songs and share happy thoughts to help the grieving process. A celebration of life is a chance for you to respectfully show your love to the deceased while creating a positive ambience. This is the perfect memorial service for people who are looking to commemorate their relationship with happy memories and affirmative words of love. 

Ways to go about a celebration of life memorial service

There are no rules to how you can go about organizing  a celebration of life service. You can go the traditional route and add elements that feel personal to you and your loved one or you could completely customize the ceremony. The advantage of picking a ceremony like this one is that you don’t have to hold the memorial on the same day as the funeral. A celebration of life memorial can be organized whenever you are ready to hold it.
Here are some simple yet exceptional ideas for a celebration of life service:

1. Dress code: It’s observed that people attending the funeral should wear black. Black usually signifies that the people at the funeral are in mourning. If you’re looking to do something outside of the traditional box, you can ask your friends and family members to dress in colors, perhaps your loved one’s favorite color, and add a touch of vivacity to the service.
2. Setting a memory board: Place a board in the service that can hold messages and pictures that are special to the family and friends of the deceased. They can write personal anecdotes, and share memories and pictures that best describe their relationship. This is a board that keeps the memory alive.
3. Playing joyous music: A celebration of life service demands uplifting and unique music that reminds you best of your loved one. If the deceased ever had a music collection of their own, you could play their music and cherish the memories you had shared with them.
4. Host a campfire gathering: Nothing brings people together like a campfire. The friends and family members of the deceased can gather around a bonfire and share stories with each other. This way you can spend quality time with your friends and family members and keep the memory of your loved one alive and burning.
5. Hold a charity event: If your loved one was philanthropic, organizing a charity event would be true to the essence of your loved one. You can donate to the cause that the deceased believed in and like this, you can do something very special for your loved one.
6. Painting party: If your loved one was a painter, you can hold a paint party for your friends and family members to honor his/her memory. If the deceased owned paintbrushes and other materials, you can use the paints he/she used to feel closer to your loved one.

Planning the right kind of celebration of life service

This is only a mini list of possibilities with a celebration of life memorials. You can personalize your service the way you want to. You can prepare slideshows or scrapbooks that hold the memories of your loved one. You can plant a celebration of life tree or even have a lantern party; where everyone leaves a lantern in the sky while remembering the deceased member. If your loved one was a musician or loved a live band, you can have the band over or organize a karaoke night. You can expand and create a celebration of life service the way you imagine and the way it best represents your loved one.