What is a Celebration of Life Ceremony?
In the event there is a death in your immediate family it can be devastating to both you and the other grieving family, making it difficult to plan a service to celebrate your loved one’s life. The grief that occurs after a death can be debilitating, making it difficult to do anything, let alone plan a celebration. A celebration of life ceremony is like a memorial service but has some more flexibility than a typical funeral service.
A celebration of life event is an opportunity to pay tribute to a family member or loved one by planning a service to honor the person’s wonderful life with friends, family, and other guests to celebrate them in a beautiful way. When you lose someone such as your wife, you want to ensure that you are hosting the most important event possible, where you and guests can share memories, stories, and other thoughts about how they are processing their grief.
How is a Celebration of Life Different from a Funeral?
A funeral service is typically very traditional in how it is setup and the series of events that occur during the funeral celebration. A funeral does not tilt much in how it is planned, but a celebration of life is less traditional and can be altered to be more creative in the way you celebrate the deceased.
For example, a funeral is typically more religious in nature, while a celebration of life is more open to alternative types of ways to grieve that may or may not incorporate religion or spirituality. You do not have to plan a funeral service to show that you care for your loved one, you can create an event that is more personalized or unique to their personality. It can be at their favorite golf course, restaurant, or even at your home.
Celebration of Life Ideas for Your Wife
Planning celebration of life ceremonies for a loved one such as your wife can be a difficult task, not only are you suffering from the grief and death of a loved one, but you are having to take on the whole responsibility of planning a celebration of life ceremony.
Planning this type of celebration event, whether it is a traditional funeral service, memorial service, or celebration of life, will take time to plan a life event to celebrate the deceased’s person’s life. When planning a celebration for the incredible life of your wife, the first thing to do is to think about the loving memory of your loved one, and the best way to celebrate them.
Memories come in all different forms and a life lived deserves to be cherished and remembered. A celebration of life ceremony may be planned by friends and family a few days, weeks, or even years after the funeral or memorial service. There are no hard-and-fast rules with a celebration of life –what may come across as inappropriate funeral behavior may be acceptable at a celebration of life.
Writing a Eulogy for Your Wife
It may seem impossible to sit down and write a eulogy for your wife after they are deceased, and the words may first come out as a jumbled mess- but that is okay. For starters, make sure you have a quiet space to start to write, and ensure you do not have any distractions. You may need to jot down some basic ideas before you start writing your piece. Getting support from friends or family may be necessary to get some more ideas for what exactly you should write.
Here are some simple steps to get you started with writing a eulogy for a deceased wife:
Step 1:
Make Sure You Have Plenty of Time
Step 2:
Look at Some Samples of Eulogies
Step 3:
Interview Other People for Ideas
Step 4:
Find a Quiet Spot to Sit Down and Write
Step 5:
Write and Write it Again
Step 6:
Let it Sit for a Day before Looking at the Eulogy Again
Step 7:
Read the Eulogy Out Loud to a Couple of Close Friends or Family
The Struggles of Losing a Family Member
Losing a loved one or someone in your family is one of the hardest things that a person will go through; there are so many built up memories that you may feel like are lost, and you do not know the best way to honor that memory.
When we lose a sibling, parent or spouse, the grief can seem extremely intense. Obviously, it is understood that loss is a natural part of life, but we can still be overcome by confusion and shock, which may lead to prolonged periods of depression or sadness.
Individuals who are grieving may find it useful to use some of the following strategies to help them come to terms and process a loss:
- Talk about the death of your loved one with colleagues, friends, or other family
- Remember and celebrate the lives of your loved ones
- Accept the feelings that you are having
- Reach out and help others dealing with the loss
- Take care of yourself and your family
Celebration of Life Ideas
There are many ideas that you can use to honor a deceased person, specifically your loved ones. Whether the service is a more traditional funeral or more unique in how it is planned, you can showcase how dearly loved the person was with memories, live music, a video or slide show, tribute video and much more.
As the name “celebration of life” suggests, you are there to celebrate the memory, rather than mourn the life of a loved one. Guests and family members love to share memories of the person by writing special stories, creating a quote board, a favorite memory, favorite sports team, favorite stories, and other unique ways to honor their loved ones.
Some people like to use the person’s wedding dress as a display or decoration for the couple who were married by stitching his or her name in the gown. No matter what type of memorial services you want to have, there is help available. With the assistance of Eternally Loved you can create a special, important celebration of life event for your deceased loved one.
Things to Consider
There are so many variables that come into play when planning a celebration of life event- will it be at a religious location? Will it be like traditional funerals or be at a funeral home? How will we best celebrate the memory of a loved one? Before you get too caught up on all the details of the event, consider getting help.
This can make it easier to create the event that will best showcase the memory of your loved one. No matter what type of event you plan, make sure that you are taking care of yourself during the process. With the help of an event coordinator, it can ease the stress of all the planning and allow you to grieve and process the loss of your loved one.
Getting Help from Family Members
You do not have to plan a celebration of life service on your own, this is an appropriate time to ask friends, family, or other people you know to help with ideas and planning the service. The first thing to understand is that you are doing a great job, and you have one of the hardest jobs on the planet which is to plan and create a celebration of life event to celebrate the life of a loved one.
It may be easy for friends and family to share stories of the deceased person’s life, which can be a great way to display their affection towards the person. If there are people in your life that are available to assist you in this process, ask them. It is always okay to ask for help, specifically in this type of situation.
A Celebration of Life at Eternally Loved
Eternally Loved is a memorial and celebration of life service organization that helps individuals plan special celebrations of life or funeral services for a family. We can help with celebration of life ideas, planning the day, and coordinating everything to make the day special for you and the guests who are honoring the deceased person.
A celebration of life ceremony celebrates life of the dearly deceased. Unlike funerals the focus of the ceremony is on the life that was lived and not mourning of one’s death. At Eternally Loved we offer first class service that reflects the kind of Celebration of Life Memorial you require and deserve. I pair my passion and experience with these events to create a well-planned and beautiful tribute to a wonderful life that was lived.
