--- title: "Living funerals and living celebrations | Best Ceremonies" description: "A living funeral, or living wake, is held while the person is still here. How one is planned, how long it runs, what follows it, and what it costs." url: "https://bestceremonies.com.au/living-funeral/" --- Guide # Living funerals and living celebrations A living funeral is a celebration held while the person is still here, planned with them, so the things people would have said about them get said to them instead. It runs about ninety minutes and costs $750, and Felicity Best can arrange one in days rather than weeks, usually alongside palliative or hospice care. ## Planning it around the person Everything about a living funeral is decided by how much the person has in them on the day. Ninety minutes is the outer limit and an hour is more common. There is seating for everybody including the person it is for, a running order I can cut in half without anyone noticing, and a nominated point at which it can simply stop. The planning conversation is usually one meeting, sometimes at a bedside, and it is with the person wherever that is possible. They choose the speakers, the music and how much of it they want to be part of. Some want to answer, some want to listen, and a few want to say something at the end and need it written down in case the day turns out to be a difficult one. ## What usually happens afterwards Most families still hold a funeral or a committal later, because the two events do different jobs. One is for the person and one is for the people left. I do not discount the second one and I do not charge a penalty for arranging it later, and a graveside or ashes committal on its own is $450. The other thing worth arranging in advance is a recording. People who could not be there will want it, and the person it is for often wants to hear it back. Funeral directors and hospices can usually help, and a phone on a tripod is genuinely enough. Questions ## Questions people ask What is a living funeral? A gathering held before someone dies, with them present and usually involved in planning it. The structure borrows from a funeral, with speakers, music and a eulogy delivered to the person rather than about them, and the point is that the person hears it. They are also called living wakes or living celebrations. How is a living funeral organised? Quickly, and around the person's energy. A single planning conversation, a ninety minute service in a home, a garden or a hospice common room, and a run sheet that assumes it may need to be shortened on the day. There is no paperwork and no notice period. Does a living funeral replace the funeral? Not usually. Most families still hold a service afterwards, often a smaller committal, because the two do different jobs: one is for the person, the other is for the people left. Doing both is common, and I do not charge a penalty for arranging the second later. Is a living funeral morbid? Families who have held one almost never describe it that way. What they report is closer to relief. The things that would have gone unsaid get said, the person gets to answer, and the funeral that follows carries less weight because the important conversation already happened. Get in touch ## Send a message For after hours, or if a call is hard right now. Say who the service is for, roughly when it might be, and how to reach you, and I will call you back. [0400 110 959](tel:+61400110959) [felicity@bestceremonies.com.au](mailto:felicity@bestceremonies.com.au) Most days, 9am to 7pm. --- This is the Markdown copy of https://bestceremonies.com.au/living-funeral/. Every page on this site has one at its path with .md in place of the closing slash; the index is https://bestceremonies.com.au/llms.txt and the guide for agents is https://bestceremonies.com.au/agents/.