How to write a celebration of life invitation
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Hosting a celebration of life is a wonderful way to remember and celebrate the life of a loved one. It’s an opportunity for friends and family to gather, share memories, swap stories, and remember how special this person was. Celebration of life invitations can take many forms, from formal paper invitations in the mail to electronic invites, emails, and even text messages.
The most common celebration of life invitations I see are electronic, such as Paperless Post or E-vite. These are quick, easy, and convenient to make. It’s less common these days for families to send printed celebration of life invitations since they take longer to make, you have to collect the addresses and wait for people to receive them.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Lindsey Nickel. Born and raised in the East Bay, I’m a wedding planner turned celebration of life planner based in Napa, California. I’ve planned 100+ events since 2010 and I specialize in celebrations of life (and Napa weddings). I help grieving families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area plan meaningful celebrations of life, without feeling even more stressed out. Suddenly, things you didn’t think you cared about become important. That’s where an event planner comes in to provide you with options, help you make decisions efficiently, and manage the event planning.
What is a celebration of life?
Let’s start with what is a celebration of life. A celebration of life service is a type of end-of-life ceremony where people come together to celebrate the unique life of the deceased. A celebration of life can take the place of a funeral which tends to be more formal and rigid while a celebration of life or memorial is more informal and joyful. At a celebration of life, the body is not present.
With that, the celebration of life invitations can truly be anything you want them to be. They typically are more positive and uplifting than a traditional funeral announcement with the focus being on the amazing life the person lived and all the good things they brought into this world during their time with us. With celebration of life invitations, there is more opportunity to use cheerful colors, illustrations, and photos that represent your loved one.
What is the purpose of celebration of life invitations?
The purpose of a celebration of life invitation is to let people know about the event with details on how they can attend plus any special requests that the family may have (more on this below). Just like the event itself, these can be whatever feels most appropriate to the honoree but usually have a more lighthearted tone.
What to include in a celebration of life invitation?
Celebration of life invitation will be similar in structure to any event invitation that you have sent out but will definitely be more meaningful and reflect the honoree’s personality.
Key information to include in a celebration of life invitation:
Full Name of the Honoree
Birthdate
Death Date
A Short Bio (this can be skipped)
What They Can Expect at the Event (see below for what to include here)
Date of the event
Time of the Event
Location of the Event
Any Special Instructions or Details (see below for what to include here)
Suggestions on what to wear to a celebration of life - guests are often unsure if they should wear black or not and how dressy to be
RSVP date
Much of what is listed above is pretty self-explanatory but there are a couple of items that I want to expand on so that there is clarity for you.
The short bio can be 2-3 sentences long and can be taken from the obituary if one was written. This isn’t mandatory but it is nice to set the tone for the event here.
What they can expect at the event should include whether it is a luncheon event, a buffet dinner, cocktail hour, backyard BBQ or if food is being served at all. If you are having the event in a rented or borrowed space then there may be limited seating and an RSVP would be needed.
Any special instructions or details would include things like if there is a special color that people are requested to wear that the honoree loved, is there a donation to a particular charity that the family would prefer to flowers, directions to the event location, etc. This will also be the place you will let people know if they should prepare a memory or poem to be read out. You can also put any of those small details that don’t fit anywhere else here.
If the celebration of life is being live-streamed, then having the instructions on how to attend in this way and the passcode for the event already set up and listed is imperative. A lot of the older generation (friends and family) may not be well enough to travel to such an event so keeping them in mind with a live stream option is a great way to include them as well. It is super important to make it as easy to join online as possible which may include having instructions on how to download the programming needed before the actual event day. You will also need someone to be in charge of the live stream so keep that in mind as well.
Lastly, be sure to request that people RSVP to the celebration of life by a specific date so that you have enough chairs, printed programs, food and beverages.
Photo by Strauss Western on Unsplash
Celebration of life invitations and social media
When deciding on the avenues you will be using to announce a celebration of life or memorial the best advice is to go where the honoree’s friends and family will most likely hang out. If they are big on keeping in touch via Facebook then having a post or event setup there is a great idea.
When it comes to social media, there are pros and cons to using it for celebration of life invitations.
Cons
Not everyone will be on the social media platform(s) that you are choosing to post on.
Make sure that this is not the first notification of the person’s passing the invitees receive.
The celebration of life invitation will go out to all your friends, even those who may not be invited
Pros
You can get the information out to a lot of people in just one post (for free) that you can copy and paste into all social platforms that you are going to use.
You can tag the deceased in the post so that you can inform people who knew them but are not on your list of friends.
You can quickly and easily update the information and communicate direclty with guests
Announcing a Celebration of Life in the Newspaper
If you already have the information for the celebration of life or memorial when you are writing the obituary, then you can include these details at the bottom. This allows you to post both announcements at one time eliminating a step.
When considering if a newspaper announcement is necessary, ask yourself if the honoree’s friends are more likely to read the newspaper or be on social media and that will give you your answer.
Paper celebration of life invitations
There are a lot of options out there to get your invitations printed and the prices can range pretty drastically. If you are looking for an option that allows you to truly personalize the invitation and get that design delivered straight to your door, then Canva gives you plenty of templates you can use to create the perfect invite. Canva has plenty of free options but the printing and delivery of the invites will cost but I find the pricing to be reasonable.
It is always nice to include a photo of the honoree and please choose one where they are joyful as this event is meant to be a positive, loving one and the photo will set the tone. Feel free to also include graphics of hobbies or things that were special to them so that it truly encompasses who they were in life.
You will want to make sure you have all the addresses you need so having a family member or friend help you get all of these in one document will be a world of help. Remember that you can always post on social media, send invites via email, and use printed invites for your celebration of life announcing which should cover your bases when it comes to letting everyone know.
* If you scroll up, you will see the breakdown of what to include in the announcement regardless of the way it is being delivered so please make sure you check that out.
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If you are looking for help in creating a celebration of life that is as unique to the honoree as they were in this life, then I would love to speak with you.
