Whether you’re planning ahead or making arrangements for your loved one, thoughtfully choosing the location of a memorial can help make the service an especially personalized event. Lighten helps individuals and families create celebrations of life that are unique to the loved one being honored. This has resulted in celebrations held in a variety of venues; even creative and individualized memorials that take place virtually. In this article, we hope to help you plan a ceremony that is a beautiful reflection of your loved one by providing examples and suggestions of where you can hold a celebration of life.
Deciding on a Venue
When beginning to plan where to hold a celebration of life, there are a few considerations you may turn to first. These include your loved one’s interests, personality, or favorite places. In one example of incorporating interests into where the celebration of life was held, Lighten recently helped a family plan a memorial for a young jazz musician at a jazz club near Chicago. His mother wanted to honor her son’s love for jazz and his talent as a saxophonist. The ceremony also included other jazz-related elements, such as a former bandmate performing a sax solo. These elements alone were a great way to honor his life, but the decision to hold the entire memorial at a jazz club helped the family set the tone of this unique and individualized celebration.
Personality can also shine through a celebration of life location by setting the tone. If your loved one was the person who always brought joy to a room, choosing a party room with bright colors and big windows may be appropriate. If your loved one was known to constantly appreciate the beauty all around them, an art museum or garden could be a personalized choice. Making a meaningful choice of where to hold a celebration of life can help guests – and maybe you as well – feel closer to your loved one throughout the memorial.
Outdoor Celebrations of Life
Outdoor memorials can provide not only a tranquil setting for paying respect to your loved one but they can also be a way to plan a dignified yet inexpensive ceremony. Backyard memorials are increasing in popularity with the ability to host the memorial in the personal environment of a home. A memorial at home can include elements such as cooking and serving your loved one’s favorite foods or planting a memorial garden. Other outdoor venues may include a botanical garden or a local park that was one of your loved one’s favorite spots to visit. Indoor or outdoor, choosing where to hold a celebration of life has the potential to make the memorial highly personalized.
Virtual as a Venue
If the answer to the question of where to hold a celebration of life is a place that is as accessible to guests located in multiple different cities, states, or countries, a virtual memorial may be a good choice of venue. Virtual memorials allow guests to share in honoring their loved one, whether near or far. For this reason, this may be an ideal way to celebrate a loved one because location is not a limiting factor for guests living in multiple locations. One thing to remember is that a virtual memorial is not at all like a typical office Zoom meeting because a virtual memorial can be customized to include special elements that are a direct reflection of the life being honored. For example, Lighten helped one family plan a virtual memorial that included a disco dance party to celebrate the loved one’s passion for the Miami dance club scene. In this way, the celebration of life was not only held on a virtual platform, but also put guests in the mindset of being present in one of their loved one’s favorite places.
Deciding Where to Hold a Celebration of Life
Planning a memorial does not need to be a one-size-fits-all process. Lighten is dedicated to empowering individuals and families to plan a personalized funeral, memorial, or life celebration that feels right for honoring their loved one. If a traditional funeral home does not convey the tone your loved one may have wanted for their celebration of life, Lighten can help you plan a memorial that better fits their identity. If you are planning an in-person or virtual memorial, Lighten can help.
