Why is Greatest of Days Putting More Emphasis on Planning and Designing Celebration of Life Events?

That's a fair question since we've primarily been known to plan weddings and small business events.  Many event planners don't want to place themselves in planning sad events.  It's not for everyone.  I choose to look at it as one of the nicest things you can do for grieving family or friends of their loved one.  The atmosphere does not lend itself to "bridezilla" behavior which gets old very quickly!

Everything is changing regarding how a person's life is celebrated after they have passed away.  People are even planning their own parties to take the place of a regular funeral for them.  Some people are deciding to not even have a celebration of life event for after they have passed away and making it happen before they pass away.

Funeral directors are being taught how to create a more festive atmosphere for their clients.  Is it just me or is this like mixing oil and water?  You tell me who is more into personalizing events and making them fun.  A funeral director or an event planner?  You know what my answer is going to be.

There are so many logistics to take care of when planning a Celebration of Life Event as with any event.  You need a venue, food and anything else that creates a one-of-a-kind celebration.

There is one thing that I hope never happens.  I hope we never see a competition of people wanting to outdo what other people have done for Celebration of Life Events.  The focus should be about honoring a life.  The best parts of that person's life.

Last but not least!  There's a good possibility that you are thinking the same thing that others have expressed to me about our name Greatest of Days!  Some of said, "You should change your name!"  At first this made me cringe thinking of all that that would entail.  I didn't have to think about it too long before I realized that it really is the perfect name.  The exact thing that Celebrations of Life should be focusing on are the greatest of days in that person's life!  Isn't that why people want this event in the first place?  That's what we intend to do for family and friends who step up and honor their loved one.

Wishing you the greatest of days.


Creating and Remembering the Greatest of Days!

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Greatest of Days plans the following types of events south and east of Seattle, WA.  

Social Events:

Anniversaries

Bar Mitzvahs

Bat Mitzvahs

Graduation

Sweet 16

Retirement

Bon Voyage

Quinceaneras

Welcome Home

Milestone Birthdays

Celebration of Life Events

Weddings (on a case by case basis)

Business Events:

Employee Appreciation

Client Appreciation      

Product Launches

Grand Openings

Re-Branding 

Retirement

Book Signing

Special Promotions

Community Events:

Fundraising Events

Assist in Planning Festivals

Sentimental Touches to Dual-Purpose Items at Your Wedding or Other Event

You are multi-tasking all the time so why not save some money and have elements of your wedding do the same.

Here are just a few easy ideas that I've suggested to or learned from brides.


1.  For an outdoor ceremony and you want to have programs set on each of the chairs for your guests, hold them down with rocks and make a rock ceremony a part of your wedding.  Here's a hint!! Don't use boulders! Just use stones big enough to hold down the program.  Remember that whatever they are collected in should be strong enough and you don't want to have to pack out a container when filled with the stones to weigh a ton!

2.  Trying to get that aisle runner to stay in place?  Use flowering potted plants that you can give away later as favors.  This goes great with a green theme, but will work for almost any wedding theme.

3.  At the head table during your reception, have your bouquet and bridesmaid bouquets serve as table decorations.

4.  Arrange ahead of time to have your floral arrangements taken to an assisted living facility, homeless shelter or perhaps a shelter for battered women and their families.

5.  Do something that will become a gift that keeps on giving.

The following is something I did at my father-in-law's memorial.  (love and miss you, xoxo Dad!)  We of course wanted to reflect his personality and make a tribute to him.  He loved children, volunteered for the fire department, was a teacher and was known for his big bear hugs.  When we were trying to come up with a simple but touching element to encapsulate all of these things that we loved about Dad, I said to everyone just give me 10 minutes in a store, I'll walk a few aisles and an idea will come to me.

The result was having a variety of sizes of teddy bears on each table at the memorials service.  We attached little notes to the bears stating "In honor of Dad who was known for his big bear hugs and his love of children, these bears are going to be donated to the fire department to give to children in times of crisis".  We saved a certain number of these bears back for his children and grandchildren which are still being displayed in various places in each of their houses or cars.  It was a healing moment to deliver those bears to the fire department.  The smiles began with the extremely grateful fire department personnel, and it was so nice to imagine tears being dried up on those Teddy bears when a child most needed something to hug.  We did something else customized for my own Dad's memorial to reflect our love for him that would be comforting to his family.

Consider making your event or wedding one that is filled with love that will spread around your community or the world!

Wishing you the greatest of days!

Janis Flagg

Greatest of Days

Event and Wedding Planning and Design

27111 167th Pl. SE, Suite 105-242

Covington, WA   98042

206-604-1908

http://www.greatestofdays.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKIjSu9dbA

Featured in: Not My Mother's Wedding, blog for Mothers of the Bride

Founder of South King County Event and Wedding Vendors

The 7th largest Wedding Vendors networking group in the world through Meetup.com.