A Celebration of Life Your Way

Funerals and celebrations of life are as old as human culture itself dating back to at least 300,000 years ago and even pre-dating modern homo-sapiens! The practice is established all over the globe in all walks of life, and the celebrations look different for every culture. Pre-planning your celebration of life has become more popular over the years to ensure that the day is exactly how you would like it and that your wishes are fully carried out. However, how can you plan to make your celebration unique to suit you and to reflect the life you have led? Let us break down some creative funeral and celebration of life ideas below: 

Have a pre-written obituary 

I have seen many creative pre-written obituaries online; some have even made me chuckle due to it being written from a comedic approach. By writing your own obituary, you have full control of the story being shared and how others will remember you. As a tip, ensure that you do not list private and confidential information in the obituary that could be used to compromise any online personal accounts or identity theft. 

Prearrange packages of seeds to be planted 

What better way to celebrate life than give back to nature? You can plan to distribute seed packages of your favourite plants or flowers. If you loved sunflowers for example, you could preplan to distribute packages of sunflower seeds to be planted by your guests.  

Create custom keepsakes to distribute 

Custom fishing lures, golf balls, and Christmas ornaments are just a few of the creative keepsakes that you can have distributed at your celebration of life. Custom keepsakes are a wonderful way for loved ones to remember you.  

Ask family and friends wear specific clothing 

If your favourite colour is blue, you can share that you would like for your guests to attend the celebration wearing blue instead of the traditional black clothing. You can also get creative and ask that guests wear things such as sports jerseys to reflect a love for sport!  

Have a potluck 

Plan for guests to bring some of your favourite dishes to celebrate through your love of food. What a unique thing to add to a celebration of life! 

Incorporate your favourite things 

Do you have a favourite song or poem? If so, incorporate it in your pre-planning as well!  

 The list could go on and on. There are so many ways that you can pre-plan to make your funeral and celebration of life uniquely you. Whether it be you write your own witty obituary or your guests all attend wearing Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys, there are countless options out there! If you have ideas to make your celebration of life unique be sure to pre-plan and communicate with your Executor and family members ensuring they know exactly what you would like.  

This blog is not intended to be legal advice and should not be relied on as such. If you require legal advice, please contact a legal professional concerning your particular circumstances.