Unique Celebration of Life Ideas for Turning a Funeral into a Extraordinary Celebration of Life
Celebration of Life Ideas, Find Great Ideas Below
These celebration of life ideas will help you plan a service with special touches that will leave friends and family with warm everlasting memories when they think of your loved one.
Candles create a special feeling of warmth. Consider having a candle at the entrance to the celebration of life. Here are a couple options for inspiration:
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- Consider a candle that can be inscribed with your loved ones name. Every year, on significant dates you can light the candle.
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- Personalized memorial picture frame and candle. Light the candle every year on special days to remember.
Memorial Heath with Candles
Create A Memory Tree
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- You only have one chance to collect everyone’s memories. These butterfly memory cards are handed to friends and family as they walk into the service. Then hang them on a memory tree to be displayed.
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- Dove Cards on a Tree
A memory tree is a place to capture special memories of your loved one. Family and friends take a card and write their memory on the card and then tie the card onto the tree branch. After the service, the tree can be put in a special place where you can go to it and read all the memories shared or you can take off the cards and put them in a special box where you can go back and read them from time to time.
You’ll need memory cards, ribbon, pens, a vase, a tree branch, some moss and a card for inside the vase.
The card could say:
Pat Johnston
As We Celebrate his Life
Please Share Your Special Memory
Here are some versions of memory trees. The branches on the left are manzanita. Place pencils alongside your tree with a sign asking guests to inscribe a memory on the card and to place it on the tree. Doves are symbols of love and harmony. Click to see our memory cards, dove cards and butterfly cards.
Have A Memorial Balloon Release At The Celebration of Life
Consider a balloon release. Family and friends could write a note on a card attached to the balloon. You can find balloons at many grocery stores or in the Yellow Pages.
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- Release Balloons at the memorial to celebrate your loved one’s life.
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- View of sky at Balloon Release
In order to keep a balloon release environmentally safe:
– Don’t tie anything to balloons that is not biodegradable.
– Only use biodegradable balloons- FYI latex is naturally occuring material made from tree sap.
– Always use fully inflated balloons, release shortly after filling.
See a sample invitation to a memorial balloon launch:
Balloon Launch Invitation
Wondering what to do with children at a funeral? Here’s an idea:
Children are no different than the rest of us, they have a very hard time understanding death and the feelings that come with the loss. Many therapists recommend having kids draw to help them express their feelings. Consider this celebration of life ideas setting up a table at the service with markers and paper where they can draw a picture. The pictures can be put in a book for a keepsake or they can be incorporated into cards and sent as Thank You notes.
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- Drawing for Grandpa
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- Set up a table where children can color a picture dedicated to their loved one that they lost.
Make Clay Hearts
A customer told me she was busy baking clay butterflies and hearts to give away at the celebration of life she was in charge of planning. She told me how much she enjoyed the process of making each and every one of them. I thought, what a great celebration of life idea! All she did is buy Sculpey Polymer Clay which can be found at most craft stores. She rolled colors she liked together (it’s sort of like play-doh it stays soft until you bake it). When you bake it looks and feels like clay. It can be sanded, drilled, carved or painted.
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- Heart Clay Charms
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- Clay Hearts with spirals
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- Heart Banner for Mom
Select a Unique Urn
We had a customer who was taken by our raku urns. She was buying it for herself. I liked her thinking – she could enjoy it while she is still alive, and when her time comes her family will know she picked it out and that it was special to her. She was so kind to send us a photo of how lovely it looks in her home.
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- Raku Handmade Ceramic Urn in a customer’s home.
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- Blossom Urn looks beautiful in any setting
More Unique Memorials
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- Collage using snapshots of knickknacks from her grandfather’s garage. A very cool and unique celebration of life idea.
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- Broken Heart on a chain
Memorial Banner
Let the entire community know that someone special has passed away with an aerial banner that flies over the memorial service, funeral or community event. Search for”aerial advertisement” and you will find companies who provide this service.
Here’s a wonderful Celebration of Life Idea Fly an Aerial Memorial Banner
You may also want to consider personalized seeded cards that contain wildflowers. The cards can be placed on the memory table and friends and family can take them and keep the card as a keepsake and plant the seeds.
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- Seed Cards Plantable Heart is personalized and is made of seeded paper that grows wildflowers when planted.
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- Butterfly Bookmark that grows wildflowers when planted
See Personalized Plantable Seed Cards and plantable forget-me-not bookmarks. Great for the person who loved to read and garden. Find more gift ideas here: What do they hand out at funerals.
Unique Flower Arrangements
Visit our Unique Flower Arrangements for Funerals page for a bunch of great ideas for special flower arrangements that can personalize a celebration of life.
Read about people who have used unique ideas to create memorable tributes
Have you found these ideas helpful? Check out this downloadable book with everything you need to create a personalized memorial service. It is only $7.50 and includes a handy checklist for planning a funeral. Planning a Life Celebration
Celebration of Life Ideas Guidebook Including an easy to use checklist
We welcome your celebration of life ideas and suggestions, please email them to us at [email protected].
