Celebration of Life Ideas for Mom

Celebration of Life Ideas for Mom | Eternally Loved

When your mother passes away, and you are tasked with planning a celebration of life, it can feel overwhelming. You want to pay tribute to your mom the best way possible, with a wonderful life celebration where loved one’s can share memories of her. Planning a unique celebration of life is possible, especially with the help of an affordable celebration of life coordinator.

A mother is an integral part of a family, often wearing many hats. When we lose a mother, we remember many details of her loving memory; was she an animal lover, who was her favorite sports team, or you might remember the taste of her special spaghetti sauce. Planning a celebration of life memorial service for your mother is a difficult and life-changing experience. Having some helpful hints and ideas can make the process easier.

The Loss of a Loved One

Losing any family member can be devastating, especially a mother or mother figure. Taking a moment to process what has happened is crucial during the grieving experience. This may look different for you or another person in the family because everyone processes things differently.

When someone we love passes, we want to celebrate them fully, in the best way possible. This may be with a celebration of life ceremony, where people look back at the life that your mother lived.

How to Start Planning a Life Celebration for Mom

There are lots of things to consider when planning a celebration of life. Where you hold the ceremony, food, decorations, and what activities will take place are all part of the planning. A celebration of life event brings family and friends together to remember the special person your mom was. It is a wonderful opportunity where you and immediate family share memories of your mom.

When planning your mother’s memorial, think about her hobbies, career pursuits, passion projects, and personal style. All these great ideas can help create a unique life celebration for your mom.

Creative Life Ideas to Help You Plan

Celebration of Life and memorial services | Eternally Loved
Celebration of Life and memorial services | Eternally Loved

Celebration of life ideas include the use of a theme, a memorial table, unique decorations, location, food, and special activities to make the day mean more than just her passing it is honoring her whole life. There are many different celebration of life ideas that you can use to honor the person’s life and their legacy. The wonderful thing about a celebration of life is that you can individualize the event to cater to your specific needs.

When planning a celebration of life for mom, it is helpful to have some ideas to get you started with the planning process. A celebration of life service is an opportunity for friends and family to pay tribute to a loved one’s life while saying goodbye in a uniquely personal way.

Celebration of Life Ideas

Some unique life celebration planning ideas include:

Theme

Using a theme for your mom’s celebration of life service will capture who she was and allow guests to really understand her personality. Whether it is “beach” theme if the ocean was her happy place, or “movies” because she loved to spend time with her family with a bucket of popcorn; themes can really make the life party special.

Unlike a funeral service, the wonderful thing about life celebrations and memorial services for a loved one is that you can make them exactly as you would like.

Location

The location of a celebration of life service is important because it sets the overall mood and tone of the life celebration. You can plan a celebration of life for your mother, at whatever location you want. If they loved golf, you have the option to hold it at a golf course, or you may want to choose their favorite restaurant, or other attraction.

Decorations

Another celebration of life idea to consider is the decorations. Decorations are a key component of a celebration of life service because they are what all the guests and family members are looking at. They tell a story about your loved one’s life and what they valued.

Some people like to use the perfect funeral flowers, a memory board, memorial stones, memory cards, memorial table, memorial tree, certain sports team memorabilia, or a memorial plaque. You want to include lots of your loved one’s photo for people to gaze on while they walk through the celebration of life service.

Candle Lighting Ceremony

One of the most popular celebration of life ideas is to provide a candle lighting ceremony during the event. The ritual of lighting a candle to pay tribute to a life ‘passed’ has long been a part of our culture. Keeping a light burning in remembrance signifies that the memory still lives on and burns bright. It is a ritual that promotes reflection and signifies remembrance.

Food

Food is such an important part of a celebration of life ceremony. Who doesn’t love food? You may want to include your mom’s favorite dish, appetizers, or dessert that she served at the dinner table. What you serve may depend on the theme of your celebration of life or may be based on your loved one’s favorite dishes. It is up to you; we have even seen “potluck” style celebrations of life where guests sign up to bring a variety of foods and beverages.

Activities

It is fun to include some activities during your celebration of life service. The luxury of a celebration of life, as opposed to a funeral or memorial service, or a traditional funeral service, is that you can make it your own.

You may want to have a tribute video, dove release, guest toasts or speakers, a memorial DVD, engraved memorial stones, packets of seeds to grow in her honor, or other fun celebration ideas.

Memorial Table

Another celebration of life idea is a memorial table. A memory table or memory board will display photos and little tokens of her favorite things for guests to see as they walk around. Have friends and family write down their memories on our lined memory cards and dove and butterfly memory cards.

Guest Book

Have friends and family write down their memories on a lined memory card, with pens and a sign stating, “please write down your favorite memory of her”. Eternally Loved has found that a “memory box” is better than a regular guest book. Guest books feel more formal and really do not let an attendee write much down.

This allows friends or family to sign their name and guests write a short note to accompany it. They can share fond memories or other thoughts about the friend or family member that they lost.

Do I need a Memorial Favor?

Some people opt to have a celebration of life favor, just like wedding or party favor as another special way to honor a loved one. A memorial favor can be something simple, such as the perfect handmade gift. It can be a small gesture such as a candy or chocolate, or a thank you card.

Eternally Loved has found that most people like to make a bookmark for an avid reader, packets of wildflower seeds for a garden lover, customized candles, or a succulent to take home.

Help from Family Members is Necessary

Planning a celebration of life for your mom takes a lot of working and planning. When families can come together, it makes it much easier and less stressful than if you were to plan the celebration of life alone.

Planning a loved one’s service can be difficult, but with the help of your family, it can make it much more achievable. It also gives you and your family an opportunity to grieve your loved one, in a safe space. You can share memories of your mom and tell stories about the times that you had with each other.

Difference Between Celebration of Life and a Funeral

While a funeral has more to do with the orderly and often spiritually defined transition of the deceased from one social status to another; a celebration-of-life is more concerned with telling the story of the deceased.

A funeral service is typically focused on a recent loss and often has religious overtones or underpinnings. A life celebration is centered on the joy of having been blessed by the presence of a departed person and it is often non-religious in nature. A funeral service and celebration of life are both opportunities for sharing memories of a loved one who has passed away.

When looking at a funeral and a celebration of life, one is more rooted in tradition, while the other is the result of recent changes in social values. In either case, both serve to do the same three things.

First –

Celebrate a life full of memories and achievements.

Second –

Help the bereaved family and the community, acknowledge the death of one of their own publicly.

Third –

Support the grieving family by surrounding them with caring friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

No matter what type of service you are looking to hold for your mom, a celebration of life can be catered to your needs. Eternally Loved specializes in celebration of life event ideas, planning and coordinating and we would be happy to discuss your options to plan an event that you and your family will remember.

Memorial Service and Life Service Ideas

When you plan a unique celebration, the favorite memories that are shared in the loved one’s memory during the celebration vary. To gather folks to spark conversation can create some amazing celebration of life ideas.

Favorite and Special Memories of your Loved One

Imagine gathering on a beach to watch a beautiful sunset or under the night sky in a favorite location to share stories, drink hot chocolate, and collect photos of your loved one. The goal to discuss all the favorite ways to figure out and plan the memorial event in your loved one’s honor.

Here is a simple list of creative ideas to consider when going over favorite and cherished life time and short memories:

Memorial Garden

A memorial garden is a lovely way to celebrate a loved one. To have a memorial garden is actually quite simple and there are two approaches:

1-Memorial Tree

A memorial tree is something you can have the seeds for, or a little sprout and ask others to take them and plant them in a place your loved one would like or in their own yard.

2-Small Memorial

A memorial plaque placed on a tree in the name of your loved one’s memory can be uniquely personal.

Favorite Charity, Scholarship Fund or Gift Giving

If your loved one had a favorite charity or school where you could create a scholarship fund and have this be a one time donation or an ongoing scholarship is a great celebratory life idea.

This can work throughout the year or just at holidays. You can sponsor a gift wrapping party. Buy and donate gifts to a charity in the name of your loved one. You can write personalized messages to the recipients.

Favorite Genres of Your Loved One

Favorite Movies

Favorite movies can be included on the memorial table. it is amazing to watch someone smile with acknowledgement of recognizing something they have in common with your loved one. Multiple movies and be laid out on the table.

Favorite Songs

Favorite songs is a must in the planning process. Songs are usually included in the memorial DVD or movie played at the memorial service. Fond memories come from music.

Including a play list of songs for your mother’s memorial to be playing in the background is an ideal way to help bereaved family members and caring friends be a included in the celebration of life.

Favorite Flower

Seems simple to just know your loved ones favorite flower. We have discovered over the years of planning a unique celebration of life that favorite flowers can include a single rose to certain bouquets to flowers based on events that happened throughout your loved ones journey.

Once you figure out the best choice of flowers they can be included on a memorial table or as a center piece on individual tables.

Traditional funerals often have a florist within the funeral home. If you are having a traditional funeral service first and the celebration of life follows be sure to have someone available to bring the flowers.

A Life Celebration with Eternally Loved

celebration of life service
celebration of life service

Eternally Loved is a full-service event company focusing on creating personal and unique memorial events. We focus each memorial service and celebration of life service to be centered on the life of your loved one that was lived so the mood of all the offerings is one of love and appreciation.

From intimate to extravagant celebration of life ideas, we strive to help you celebrate and honor the way you feel is best. Our event planner services include complimentary consultation to determine your event needs, coordination of all service providers, negotiating best deals on your behalf, utilizing exclusive discounts with our network of professionals, staying involved with every granular detail to ensure the success of your event for your loved one.

Plan a Celebration of Life with Eternally Loved

If you are looking to plan a celebration of life for a loved one, and you need help, please contact Melissa at Eternally Loved for more information. We have lots of celebration of life ideas to help get you started, and we would love to assist you during this process.

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