The Rise of Fun Funerals

A funeral or farewell service is a way to pay your respects to the person who has died, show support to their next of kin, and say goodbye to a loved one. There are no rules that say that any of that has to be sombre.

Some people prefer to use the term ‘celebration of life’ to the term ‘funeral’. So what’s the difference? A celebration of life is focused on telling the story of the person who has passed away and celebrating their achievements rather than the more traditional funeral service which uses hymns, prayers and readings led by the officiant – usually a pastor or funeral director. Over the last few years celebrations of life have been growing in popularity all over the globe.

Finding Joyful Moments in Sad Times

Auckland based Craig Lord advertises himself as a fun funeral celebrant. His website Fun Funerals offers an non-traditional funeral planning and celebrant service to people looking for a unique way to say goodbye. Craig says “the goal is to celebrate someone’s life. To send them off with love and respect – but in the way they’d actually prefer.”

Here are some ideas on how to personalise an end of life celebration:

• Letters to your loved one. Have everyone bring a letter written to your loved one and read them out loud. This can be a wonderful opportunity to hear new stories and experiences of your loved one’s life. You can even suggest a theme, e.g. “My most cherished memory of you is…”
• Messages on the coffin. Instead of asking guests to sign a memorial book, they could sign a personal message directly on to an eco-friendly cardboard coffin, or a light-coloured wooden coffin.
• Coffin art. Colourful coffins to lighten moods is how Stuff described this new trend.
• Music. Create a playlist of songs that remind you of your loved one and let the music set the tone of the service. You could ask each guest to dedicate a song. Check out this article on songs at funerals from Spinoff’s Death Week for more inspiration.
• Theme the refreshments. Thinking about what your loved one liked and honouring their memory by serving this at the service is a nice way to personalise the day. Perhaps they had a favourite wine or whisky you could raise a toast with?