How to plan a Life Celebration Video
The coronavirus pandemic has affected so many of our ceremonies and celebrations, whether it’s a christening, wedding or funeral, and until life gets back to normal, we all need to find other ways of connecting with our family and friends.
When a family member dies, midst our own grief, a funeral or memorial service still needs to be arranged.
In the past we’ve been limited in the ways we can say goodbye to those we love, and this has often been tied by tradition and religion. However, not everyone wants a religious service and as non-religious funerals are legal in the UK, it’s another way of arranging a ceremony to fit in with your family’s wishes.
The Service
If you’re looking for a non-religious ceremony, contacting a local humanist celebrant is the best alternative . They’ll meet with you to offer a personal and fitting way to celebrate the life of your loved one. I recently met with Stephanie Forster, a wonderfully warm and compassionate local humanist celebrant from Silverbee Ceremonies. She told me about all the different options for creating a really personalised service and the range of beautiful places where they can be held.
Stephanie explained that humanist funerals are always a celebration of someone’s life and how important it is to her that she creates a very personal service to remember all the special moments in that life. Midst the sadness, her services are still filled with joy and songs, anecdotes, readings or quiet reflections and poems, marking a very individual life.
The Video Tribute
Since only close family members are currently allowed to attend a funeral or a memorial service, I’ve been asked by families to create life celebration videos telling the story of their beloved family member. These videos tell the narrative of those they loved and who loved them. They tell of their home life, their work, their achievements and all that mattered to them throughout the course of their life, from the major milestones to the very small human moments. These videos celebrate the people, the events and the much-cherished memories from birth to death.
A really special way to honour and remember the life of your loved one is through the photos they leave behind. Playing a video montage of their life, whether it’s at the funeral reception, life celebration or memorial, is always a touching tribute that brings solace. Apart from creating conversations, along with moments of fond reflection, it’s a permanent keepsake for family and friends to be able to share, laugh, cry and remember together.
Photographs & Home Movies
A Life Celebration slideshow video should reflect and celebrate the unique life of your loved one. The first thing to do when deciding on which photos or home movies should be included is to create the outline of their life story.
Most of us have hundreds of family photographs to look through, so choosing the ones that matter is easier if you divide them into different time periods;
- The baby & early years
- School
- Work
- Love
- Family
- Friends
- Interests
- Achievements
- Travel
If you’d like to have titles with names and dates added to the photos and videos, this is something we can easily do for you. Your favourite music soundtracks can be added or we can help you choose the perfect music to complete the video.
Once everything’s finalised, we’ll deliver the slideshow to you on a memory stick. This will connect to any TV or projector and will be looped for continuous play during the service or reception. You can then share this with family and friends, keeping alive cherished memories for future generations.
