Celebration of life ideas: how to plan one that feels like them
What a celebration of life is, how it differs from a funeral, personal ideas, and how to gather photos and memories from everyone.
Updated · 6 min read·By the DropSnaps team
Quick answer
A celebration of life is a memorial gathering that celebrates the life someone lived rather than mourning their death. It's usually less formal than a funeral and can be held anywhere that meant something to them. Ideas include a memory table, a slideshow of photos gathered from family and friends, their favourite music, food and drink, and a memory book guests write in.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a funeral and a celebration of life?
A funeral usually takes place soon after a death, often with a religious or formal service and the burial or cremation. A celebration of life focuses on the person's life and personality, is often less formal, and can happen at any time, even months later.
What is typically done at a celebration of life?
People share stories and memories, look at photos of the person's life, listen to their favourite music and enjoy food and drink they loved. Many include a memory table, a slideshow and a book or cards for guests to write in.
How can we gather photos of them from everyone?
Set up a photo-sharing page and send the link or QR code with the invitation, so family and friends can add old photos and memories before and after the gathering. See photo sharing for funerals and memorials.
A celebration of life is a gathering that remembers someone by celebrating who they were: their stories, their humour, the people and things they loved. It can be joyful, informal and very personal. If you're planning one, this guide covers what it is, how it differs from a funeral, ideas that make it feel like them, and how to gather photos and memories from everyone who knew them.
What is a celebration of life?
A celebration of life is a memorial gathering focused on the life someone lived rather than on mourning their death. It's usually less formal than a funeral, often has no religious service, and can be held anywhere: a garden, a pub, a village hall, a beach, their favourite restaurant. It may take place instead of a funeral, after a small private funeral or cremation, or weeks or months later, when more people can travel.
Celebration of life or funeral: what's the difference?
Funeral
Celebration of life
Focus
Mourning and saying goodbye
Remembering and celebrating their life
Tone
Usually formal and solemn
Often relaxed, warm and joyful
Timing
Usually within a few weeks
Any time, sometimes months later
The body or ashes
Usually present
Not necessarily
Led by
A minister, celebrant or funeral director
Often family or friends, sometimes a celebrant
Dress
Usually dark, formal clothes
Often their favourite colour or casual
Many families hold both: a short funeral for close family, then a larger celebration of life for everyone.
Celebration of life ideas
Tell their story
A memory table with photos, their glasses, a favourite mug, medals, a football shirt: the small things that were them.
A photo display or slideshow covering their whole life, from childhood to recent years.
A memory book or cards where guests write a story about them.
An open microphone for anyone who wants to share a memory, with a host to keep it gentle.
Make it feel like them
Their favourite food and drink. Fish and chips, a curry night, a pint of their usual.
Their music. A playlist of the songs they loved, or a band or choir they followed.
A dress code in their favourite colour, or their football team's shirt.
Their favourite place, from a walk they loved to their local pub.
An activity they loved: a walk, a round of golf, a garden party, a quiz.
Something to take home
Wildflower seed packets or a small plant to grow in their memory.
A photo or bookmark with a favourite saying of theirs.
A donation to a charity that mattered to them, instead of flowers.
A memory quilt or cushions made from their clothes, for close family.
Gathering photos and memories from everyone
Friends often have photos the family has never seen: from school, from work, from holidays decades ago. Asking everyone to share them is one of the kindest things you can do.
Ask early. Send a link with the details of the gathering, so photos arrive in time to be shown.
Make it easy. With DropSnaps, people scan a QR code or tap a link and add photos from their phone, with no app or account. Older photos can be photographed on a phone and shared the same way.
Sort them as they arrive. A funeral or memorial event starts with tags like "Old photos", "Memories", "Family" and "Friends", so photos fall into albums.
Check before showing. Turn on approval so the family sees everything before it appears.
Show them on the day. A slideshow of the photos on a screen at the gathering often means a great deal to everyone there.
Keep a copy. Download every photo afterwards so the family has them all, and save the messages you want to keep.
Messages work the same way: guests can leave a few words in the guest book, which family members can read later at their own pace. More on this on our page about photo sharing for funerals and memorials.
Readings and poems
Readings are often chosen from poems people return to again and again. Some families choose:
"Remember" by Christina Rossetti
"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"Death Is Nothing at All" by Henry Scott Holland
"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep", usually attributed to Mary Elizabeth Frye
"She Is Gone (He Is Gone)" by David Harkins
A letter, a favourite song lyric read aloud, or a passage from a book they loved can be just as moving.
Invitation wording
Keep it warm and clear about the tone:
"Please join us to celebrate the life of [name]. Come as you are, bring your stories, and wear something colourful, just as [he/she/they] would have wanted."
"We're gathering at [place] on [date] to remember [name] with food, music and laughter. All are welcome."
Add a line asking people to share photos before the day, with the link or QR code.
A short planning checklist
Choose a date and place that suit the people who'll want to come
Decide on the tone, the dress code and who will speak
Ask for photos and memories early, with one link for everyone
Plan the music, food and any readings
Set up a photo display or slideshow, and someone to look after it
Keep the photos, messages and recordings for the family afterwards
