Celebrations of Life & Memorial Services

Serving the Denver Metro Area

What is a Celebration of Life Service?

There are as many ways to celebrate a life as there are to live one. If you are planning the memorial service for a recently deceased loved one, there are an endless variety of celebrations, services, and options to choose from. By thoroughly planning your event beforehand, you can be surer that it will best reflect both your wishes and those of the deceased. Today’s services can be an eclectic mix of religion, spirituality, and life celebration.

Memorial services are services held without the body present, up to as much as a month or more after death. For this reason, if you have not preplanned your event, this may be an easier logistical alternative to a funeral. Like funerals, memorial services may be religious or nonreligious, spiritual or nondenominational.

Remembering Those Treasured Moments

“Celebration of Life” is a more recent term for a certain kind of memorial service, where the emphasis is on the word “celebration,” and grieving is less the event’s focus. Many families have heard about the concept of a celebration of life service and are looking ideas on planning a unique service for their loved one. A celebration of life service focuses on the positive aspects of the family member’s life. It is meant to be a time of remembering all of the treasured moments and stories that brought joy and laughter. It is a time to come together as a family to celebrate someone who had an impact and will be missed. They are affairs of laughter and tears, toasts and memorials; the deceased’s favorite movies can be played in the background. Like memorial services, the body is not present at a Celebration of Life, and the event can, therefore, be held days, weeks, or even months after death.

Celebration of Life services are not constrained or limited by the social expectations that traditional funeral services tend to have, so let your imagination run wild to plan the perfect service that is as unique as the life of your loved one.

We always enjoy working together with families in planning a service for their loved one. While it can be a challenge to put together an event that both pays tribute to and celebrates the life and spirit of a complex individual; it’s also one of the most rewarding things any one of us can do for someone we’ve loved and lost.

Items to consider in planning for Memorial and Celebration of Life Services:

Consider a playlist of favorite songs of the deceased, playing while guests find their seats, and at the conclusion of the service as people leave.
Consider a playlist of favorite songs of the deceased, playing while guests find their seats, and at the conclusion of the service as people leave.
Invitations and notifications to friends and family can be done informally through email and phone calls, social media websites, or with formal paper invitations. On-line invitations such as e-vite are also a great option.
At the service, you will want to have a Guest Book for attendees to sign. You will appreciate having one afterward, as there may be guests who attend, but you did not have a chance to see them.
An easel is often required for holding a framed photo of your loved one.
Flowers and decorations are often a very personal choice. Flower arrangements can be made from the favorite flowers or colors of the deceased. Please visit our Preferred Vendors page of a list of Florists.
Remembrance Tables are a wonderful way to personalize the service. Photographs, hobbies, pictures of pets, awards for work, sports or community service, favorite books and sayings, writings or creations of your loved one, recipes, sports jerseys, and items related to work.
A poem or reading is a charming way to open the service, followed by an acknowledgment of the deceased and naming each family member by their name and their relationship to the deceased.
If you are planning on having a Speaker or MC for the event Stonebrook Manor has a full sound system with speakers and microphones for rental.
Stonebrook can also provide a video projection system and screen with sound for rental if you wish to have a Tribute Video incorporated into your service.
A wonderful addition to the closing of the memorial program is with a memory takeaway. It can be something as simple as a ribbon to wear in memory, a personalized golf ball or golf tee, a small teddy bear, a recipe card of a favorite dish, etc. that is handed out to attendees.