If you knew you were throwing a final party, the biggest party ever hosted to celebrate you, how would you choose to do that? Have you considered what you might wear, who you might invite? Where it might be, the kind of food, drinks and music?
There is something clunky and seemingly inappropriate about the sentence “It was a really fantastic funeral service”. Most people seem uncomfortable with the positive language that can be applied to a service about death. What if we turned our thinking around and focused on how to celebrate life and applied language to accompany that thought process? What if we preplanned and prepaid our funerals as events for people to attend in our honour to CELEBRATE?
We’ve recently conducted a survey amongst the broader community on the choices people would make in planning their own funeral. The answers that were returned were clearly looking for some way to celebrate a life they had lived. Of the surveyed group, there was an overwhelming majority who wanted to host a service with upbeat music, foods they loved, enjoying activities they loved and a festive mood in their honour.
So is this a changing of times? A way for people to farewell the formality of a traditional funeral?
Celebrate a life a little differently.
As Funeral Directors, we plan and coordinate services across many religious and cultural divides, age and lifestyle factors and are always supportive of the choices made by the families and friends of loved ones no longer with us.
We have seen a change in the way modern funerals are occurring in our community. The focus is shifting away from traditional services and moving towards a service and wake in the one location with a casual and relaxed approach. Personality and physical tokens of a person’s life are displayed, such as musical instruments, or sporting equipment, and the approach to the service is more like an MC’d celebration than a formalised funeral service.
Do you agree with the results of the surveyed community? Would you like to ensure the tone for your service is personal and indicative of your personality? How will you go about celebrating your life?
If you aren’t in a hurry to engage with a funeral director to pre plan your funeral, go ahead and take 5 minutes to list out your passing preferences. There’s a link to take the quiz at the bottom of this blog post. It’s a short and sweet way to get the bones of your funeral plans down on paper so your loved ones know what your wishes are. It’s easy, printable, and ready to be attached to your will.
Celebrate a life lived by you.
Make a cup of tea before sitting down to fill out the survey. There are endless ways to personalise your celebration of life and it’s worth taking the time to get comfortable before thinking through the ways you think will help your family and friends to remember you best.
Consider these elements when personalising your service:
- The venue
- The method of service delivery - MC, pastor or family hosted
- Accompanying personal elements
- Music or mood setting.
- Whether the wake and service will be one and the same
- If catering and beverages are important to your service.
So rather than leave it up to your family and friends to make difficult decisions when you pass, why not take the reigns, take some time out and put down on paper the things you feel, want and need when celebrating your life. Click through on the link below to outline your Passing Preferences - your family will thank you for it.
