Take Home Gift Ideas for A Celebration of Life
Introduction
Gone are the days of seed paper cards and memories of a stuffy experience. With new ways of personalizing and planning a celebration of life on the rise, there are now more options for a personalized gift that can be given to guests after the ceremony or event.
What should I create as a take home gift for a celebration of life?
Keepsakes can be custom made for a celebration of life or they can be mementos that are a part of the experience, such as a slideshow. You may choose to hand them out at the ceremony or send in a follow up thank you note for attending the celebration of life. Whatever the method you choose, we encourage you to consider the following options for a take-home parting gift:
Take Home Gift Idea: Keepsake Program or Printed Item
We love the idea of a keepsake program. These should be printed on cardstock or 18pt paper so it can be kept for a long time. You can use a custom software like Canva to create these programs or purchase a celebration of life program template from Etsy. Programs can include the order of events, a favourite poem or reading, photos, and of course the date and time of the celebration of life. Keep these programs at the door or ask your greeters to hand them out when guests arrive.
If folded programs aren’t your thing, we suggest a double-sided postcard, a large bookmark, or a printed photo of the honouree.
Take Home Gift Idea: A Custom Plant or Flower to Plant in a Garden
Offering guests a take-home plant can give the opportunity to leave them with something that will grow and live long after the celebration of life event. You can decide to gift a seed-paper card with a special seedling or offer small saplings for guests to take home and grow in their own gardens.
One of our favourite take-home gifts was a sapling with a custom tag during the celebration of life for a tree planter. The family chose to purchase several varieties of trees, print a special tag with the honouree’s picture on it, and then encourage guests to take one home as a parting gift. A bonus: the small take home gifts also doubled as centrepieces!
Take Home Gift Idea: A Specially-Curated Playlist of Favourite Songs
Create a playlist in honour of your person and create a QR code so you can include them on printed materials or on signage to share with your guests. Bonus: ask guests to contribute their own songs that remind them of the honouree for a truly unique and one of a kind memento
Take Home Gift Idea: Items From The Honouree’s Home
Sometimes an item from the honouree’s home can be a meaningful keepsake and takeaway item that guests can remember your person by. It also helps that by giving physical items away, you are helping to re-home many well-loved items. We’ve given away books, t-shirts, ‘zines (at Jacob’s event), small trees, and even tape measures! You bet guests will keep these items safe and well loved in their new homes.
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