Celebration of Life Themes and Colors

A celebration that looks and feels like them.

Planning your own farewell? You know what you love. Write it down so the room feels like you, not like a default.

Planning for someone you love? Their hobbies, their colors, their favorite season, their team. The theme is already there. This worksheet helps you find it.

The theme is already there

You do not invent a theme for a celebration of life. You notice one. It is in what they did on Saturdays, the color of their kitchen, the team they never stopped complaining about. The worksheet asks eight questions. Answer them with someone who knew the person, circle what keeps coming up, and you have it.

Eight questions

1. What did they love to do?
2. Where were they happiest?
3. What did they always wear, drive, cook, or collect?
4. What made people laugh about them?
5. What were their colors?
6. Their music, movies, books, shows?
7. Their flower, tree, or animal?
8. If they walked into their own celebration, what would make them say "yes, this is right"?

Twenty themes families have used

Garden party, in their backyard with their plants. Backyard barbecue with their grill and their sauce. Fishing dock or lakeside, camp chairs and coolers. Tailgate in team colors. A potluck of their recipes, with the cards on the table. Beach at sunset. A trail walk that starts at the trailhead they loved. Their favorite holiday, in any month. The decade they loved, on the walls and in the speakers. Book club, with their favorite books for guests to take home. Their workshop or garage. A motorcycle or car club ride, then the gathering. Church hall lunch with their hymns and their congregation. A quilt and craft display of everything they made. A farmers market picnic. An afternoon at the animal shelter, with donations in their name. A dance floor. A movie night with their film. Their sports field, and everyone plays a round. Or the kitchen table, small and quiet, with the people who mattered most.

Pick two or three colors

Colors carry a person. The exact shade matters less than the memory. Some starting points: sage, cream, and soft pink for a gardener. Deep teal, sand, and white for someone who lived by the water. Rust, mustard, and olive for autumn and home cooking. Navy, brass, and ivory for a life of service. Yellow, periwinkle, and green for joy. Or simply the color they always wore, matched to a photo. The worksheet has twelve palettes with print codes for whoever makes the programs.

If you want a dress code, one sentence on the invitation is enough. "Wear something blue for Dad." "Come as you are."

Turn the theme into a room

• A photo table with 10 to 20 photos from their whole life, not only the last years.
• A memory jar. Guests write one memory. The family reads them later, when it is quiet.
• A guest book, or a plain notebook and a good pen.
• Their flower, if they had one. Tell the florist the palette, not a board of pictures.
• One object that was theirs at the entrance. The hat, the guitar, the apron.
• A sign with their name, their dates, and one line they always said.
• Something to take home. A seed packet, a recipe card, a pin in their color.
• Places to sit and talk, not only rows of chairs.

Preview the worksheet

Related resources

• Food Plan
• Music Playlist
• Guest List

Find help near you

A Celebration of Life Planner turns a theme into a day, and a florist turns a palette into a table. Find Celebration of Life Planners or Find Florists