Celebration of Life Services in Middletown Township

If you are looking for a personalized and custom service to honor the life of your loved one, a celebration of life is the ideal choice and you can count on Minshall Shropshire-Bleyler Funeral Home to help you during the planning process to create a ceremony as unique as the life you are celebrating. In this page, you will find more about what is a celebration of life along with creative ideas to inspire you. 

Why Choose a Celebration of Life?

Celebration of life services have grown in popularity over the past few decades. They are a great alternative to traditional services for families who want to completely personalize their loved one’s memorial. With cremation growing as the most popular way to take care of a loved one’s remains, celebrations of life serve even more purpose than they used to. Choosing celebration of life services allows for creative freedom as well as freedom in timing, location, and structure of the ceremonies.  
The celebration can happen anywhere, in our funeral home, venue or other place of your choice. So, as you probably realized, celebrations of life are extremely flexible and do not carry a lot of social expectation or particular etiquette rules, which leaves a lot of room for customization.

What is a Celebration of Life?

A celebration of life is a personalized version of a memorial service. They are perfect for those who do not wish to follow any spiritual or religious guidelines or those who would prefer that the focal point of their end-of-life services is sharing laughter and memories.  

This type of service makes the life of the deceased the center of the night, it includes elements about what they liked to do in their free time, their hobbies, characteristics, all of the things that made your loved one's life so unique. So it is full of personality and planned to celebrate the wonderful things of a life well lived. 

The Differences Between a Celebrations of Life Vs. Funeral Services

Celebrations of life and funerals are similar in that they serve the purpose of allowing loved ones to honor the life of the deceased and begin the grieving process. There are, however, distinct differences between the two services.  

Funeral: 

• Typically takes place within a few days of the death 
• Contains 4 main parts: Visitation/Wake, Funeral Service, Burial/Committal, Reception 
• Funeral service structure includes music, readings and hymns
• Formal attire 

Celebration of Life: 

• May take place whenever the family chooses. This is perfect for those who have loved ones from outside of town, as it allows time for planning trips and accommodations 
• May be held in the presence of an urn or without an urn present 
• The structure is completely up to the family 
• Attire guidelines may be set by the family 

Celebration of Life Ideas

A celebration of life service offers family and friends the chance to honor and commemorate the life of a loved one in a unique and unprecedented way.

A few questions to ask yourself and provide you with custom ideas for the celebration:

• Did your loved one enjoyed a specific food?
• Did your loved one practiced or played any sport?
  
• Did your loved one had any hobbies?
  
• Did your loved one had a big achievement they were proud of? Did they enjoyed their professional career?
  
• What was your loved one's biggest passion?
  
• What was your loved one's favorite songs or music genre?

Answering those questions might help you come up with personalized ideas that will make this celebration even more unique and special.

In contrast to a more sombre funeral, a celebration of life can be a more upbeat and joyful affair. We've compiled a list of ideas below to help you get started: 

1. Have a releasing ceremony with balloons or doves to honor your loved one’s life
2. Create a memory table
3. Display meaningful photos
4. Create a tribute video
5. Make a quote board
6. Build a memory capsule
7. Hold the service in a unique location like a local park
8. Invite a local band to play at the service
9. Prepare your loved one's favorite foods or order catering from their favorite restaurant
10. Set up a memorial stone station

Do You Have Questions About Celebrations of Life? Let us Know.

We have years of experience in the industry and we can certainly help you out and advise you on how to best honor your loved one in a meaningful way.