Planning for the inevitable
…How planning your own Celebration of Life can help those you leave behind…
We plan for our financial security, we write wills, we celebrate birthdays in style, and weddings with aplomb, but very few of us prepare for our death and the moments that follow.
While funeral service planning can be a valuable part of the grieving process for family, preparing some aspects in advance can be very reassuring for them too.
There will no ambiguity or worry in hindsight for them. And of course, it would be wonderful to include your next of kin or close friends in the service planning so they can take comfort in understanding the process and ensure your last wishes are expressed.
Why do you focus on preparing celebration of life ceremonies for the living? Well, after being catapulted into the planning of a funeral for a very dear friend after his sudden death, I didn’t know where to turn, and neither did his family.
We’d been left with no guidance about his wishes which left us with an enormous amount of responsibility, research, decision making, and soul searching to do to get it right – deservedly so.
While we sent him off in great style, it made me wonder if we could have done things differently.
What if we’d had some more ‘difficult’ dinner party conversations about what we would like if the unimaginable happened?
What if we’d discussed the many options, and made sure we knew for sure how each of us wanted to be ‘sent off’?
In peaceful contemplation, or with a bang and a big party? Cremation or burial? Scattering of ashes at a favourite spot? Natural burial? Religious service or absolutely no religious elements? No crematorium or graveside committals, but a direct funeral with celebratory ceremony in the back garden, at a later date, perhaps? The list is endless and the choice entirely yours.
For the record, I would like it known that I would categorically like to avoid having Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls blaring out during my ceremony. You? Any absolute no-no’s, or must-haves you’d love to include in your ceremony? Got you thinking haven’t I….
But how do I plan for my own Celebration of Life, you might ask?
We’ll have a chat. Just us, or with friends and family too. We’ll talk about you and your life. How you’ve lived it and help to bring to the fore any stories to remember you by. We’ll make sure we include anything you would particularly like to say to those who’ll be gathered, and thoughtfully weave that into the ceremony.
Together we will connect wonderful memories and stories with poems, music, and readings to celebrate the life of you or a loved one.
From the outset I promise to help you through the planning and eventual delivery of a bespoke and meaningful service. A true tribute, whatever you choose.
Sound like something you would like to explore?
Do contact me directly, and we can start to plan your Celebration of Life.