Living in Derbyshire I am surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside and venues that simply take your breath away. They are beautiful and tranquil. People book them for weddings, and birthdays and christenings and naming days. So why don't people book them for funerals? I don't mean wakes. I mean funerals.
Did you know there was no legal requirement to hold your funeral in a specific building or place. The legal requirement your family have is to dispose of the body in a legal way, either by cremation or burial. But you don't have to have the ceremony where you do that.
Imagine, for a moment, your family having as much time as they want to say goodbye to you. Imagine playing as much music as you want. Imagine people eating and drinking and remembering you, and not feeling rushed to. Imagine a coffin, decorated with photos of you, children running round, lifting every ones souls, and everyone who wanted to getting a chance to get up and speak about how much they loved you, about that time you did that thing and every one remembering you with one heart.
Imagine that space being your families for the day. Not having to think, oh we have to move on now. Knowing that if they cry, they don't have to wipe away the tears quickly because they have to go outside and that space will be someone elses in 20 minutes.
So how do you have your or your loved ones funeral at these amazing venues. You ring them up and you talk to them. You say, this is what I’d like to do. If it’s an exclusive use venue then they may be happy for you to be there in your coffin, but they may have reservations if they have other events on the same day. So it’s up to you, but one option is a direct cremation and have the ashes at the event. Given the beautiful holders you can get, you may never have looked so good! You can have talking circles, dancing, really whatever you want. You could hire a barn, or a village hall and get everyone to bring along some food and drink, you could even have it in a field and have everyone bring along a picnic (and probably a brolly) NB please check with the owners of the field first – we take no responsibility for being chased by bulls/angry farmers….
If you are having a coffin at a venue you can choose to care for your loved one at home or you can use the support of a funeral director. If they say ‘Oh you can’t do that’ ring another one. Funeral Directors are there to support you, not to hinder you, and good ones will do exactly that.
At Coffin Club we explore all the options from the traditional right through to the completely outside the box (pardon the expression). You can involve a celebrant, or you can keep it as a solely private affair. It really is all about you and your family.
So if you want to think outside the box before you are in a box, get in touch to talk it through. And if you are a venue and want to find out how you can help people at every point in their life, then I’d be happy to talk it through with you.