The Wake – Online Memorials

Moments to Remember

Online Memorials

Helping to Celebrate and to Grieve

Are you missing someone that you feel you didn’t get to say goodbye to properly?

Did their role in your life feel properly honoured?

Maybe the person didn’t have a wake or a funeral… or maybe you just weren’t able to attend. Perhaps the service didn’t feel right or didn’t serve as a fitting tribute… maybe you didn’t all get to share your experiences?

A memorial done right gives everyone the opportunity to share their personal memories and anecdotes. A wake traditionally allowed everyone to weave their personal threads into a rich tapestry which begins to fully represent the life of the person we once knew. Together, we respectfully place our stories like logs onto a sacred fire so that we can all feel the warmth of our affection for the person in whose name we gather.

In modern times, there are many reasons for which we might choose to have an online memorial:

  • Perhaps there was no funeral.
  • Everything passed in a flash without giving us time to take stock.
  • Maybe the funeral couldn’t be attended by many people.
  • Key attendees were too busy or lived too far away.
  • The service or the wake wasn’t satisfactory.
  • Possibly they departed some time ago but their memory needs to be honoured.

The Wake…

A boat crosses a lake showing its wake fanning out across the water... symbolising the wake of a life...

The art of conducting a wake has been lost in modern times…

Like a ceilidh… like Burn’s Night… a wake was traditionally an event where everyone’s voice was welcomed… where a community would come together to share the different fragments of their memories to compose a more holisitic picture of the person being remembered.

A forgotten ritual for modern times…

Online Memorials – The Wake

Learning More About the Ones We Knew So Well

My Mission

To create Unforgettable Ceremonies for people to remember their loved ones.


My Experience

Having conducted many ceremonies and taught online for years… I know how to create an extremely relaxed atmosphere so that people feel comfortable enough to express their themselves freely and yet, in a focused way.

Online Memorials with #iamacelebrant

Online Memorials

Online Memorials

Unforgettable Ceremonies

A memorial done right gives provides the opportunity for us to share our personal experiences of someone and to participate in the celebration of their life. The time constraints of many funerals prohibit a wider sharing and so often only one or two voices are heard.
 
Sadly, with the world as it is today… with families spread across multiple continents and with all the other constraints on being physically together… many people can slip away without being properly remembered.
 
 The wake is a ceremony we can use to honour their life, to allow ourselves to grieve more fully in company and to share the love of that unites us with others.
 
The wake is an opportunity to honour the deceased with an appropriate tribute.
 
Sadly, we have largely forgotten the habits and lost sight of many functions of both funerals and wakes. Many people are now being buried or cremated without giving their community the opportunity to bid them farewell… to really get to say goodbye.
 
And when someone manages to slip away without a ceremony… there’s also a little part of us which registers that and wonders if we’ll also disappear without a trace. Will anyone take the time to remember us? There are many reasons why funerals and wakes are the most ancient human ritual humanity has performed, going back tens of thousands of years.
 
And unfortunately, we have lost our way in the tradition of a wake… a time when everybody gets to share their memories… to offer their individual stories of how their life was touched by the dearly departed.
 
Sometimes emotions are raw… it is an opportunity for an outpouring of grief… it is a time for our prayers, our well wishes… our memories to be heard so that the spirit of those we wish to honour know that they are not forgotten.
 
A really good wake is one where everybody gets to hear from each and every person who wants to speak… so that a fractal image of someone is formed… how their light was reflected in everyone else… we get to see a multi-dimensional composite of their personality… not just the one-dimensional view of the way that we knew them. Everyone will have remembered something special about them and a wake is when all those little memories get aired… so that we all get to see a deeper, broader image of the person we knew.
 
As a boat passes through water… the ripples fan out to the shore and leave the trace of where it has been. When those waves lap onto the shore we hear the little clapping sounds of the water slapping against the rocks or gently playing along the shore. A wake is an opportunity to reflect on someone’s life and how they affected us… to share our grief and give vent to the emotions we have stored and often tidied away. Our laughter and our tears are the sounds which acknowledge how our lives have been affected by the presence of someone who is no longer with us.
 
Your testimony can be a gift to everyone who knew them.
 
During an online ceremony we share music, poetry, photographs, films… and sometimes we break off into groups where old friends can catch up.
 
If you feel that a memorial could serve you and others, I’ll be happy to help bring that to fruition. It would be a honour to help create and unforgettable ceremony where people who are united in the affection for an individual can really share, joining together in grieving for the ways in which their lives were affected.
 
If you’d like me to help curate a fitting send-off for the person you love… get in touch.

As our boat continues its journey to the other side, the wake fans out behind us and touches the shore… leaving an echo of our journey.

Let’s Connect

Contact me for a consultation to prepare your personalised ceremony today.

Make your special moment unforgettable.

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