The Top Celebration of Life Experiences in 2024

We are very proud to have made it onto Celestis’s 10 ten of the best Celebration of Life experiences of 2025. Check it out below

Celestis has trawled the net over the past year to bring you the top 10 of the most outrageous, expensive, and famous celebrations of life experiences that have been created to say goodbye to a loved one:

1. Space Burial: Companies like Elysium Space offer the opportunity to have a loved one's ashes launched into space. This can range from a simple memorial flight to a journey to the moon or even deep space.
2. Undersea Memorial Reef: Eternal Reefs creates artificial reef structures incorporating cremated remains, providing a permanent and environmentally friendly memorial.
3. Hot Air Balloon Send-off: Scattering ashes from a hot air balloon at sunrise or sunset offers a dramatic and memorable farewell.
4. Celebrity Tribute Concert: For music lovers, a private concert featuring favorite artists can be a fitting tribute.
5. Balloon release : A wonderful Life Catering in the UK is the only company that plans and organises balloon releases offering a spectacular and unique tribute to your loved ones.
6. Memorial Scuba Dive: For those who loved the ocean, a scuba dive to place a memorial plaque on a coral reef can be a meaningful tribute.
7. Remembrance Cinema : The UKs first purpose driven celebration of life event planners, A Wonderful Life has created a remembrance cinema were guests can watch a film created by their digital team, complete with pop corn, gin bar and a remembrance book
8. Art Commission: Commissioning a portrait, sculpture, or other work of art in memory of a loved one can provide a beautiful and lasting tribute.
9. Memorial Bench or Tree Planting: Placing a memorial bench in a favorite park or planting a tree in their honor can provide a peaceful and lasting memorial.
10. Time Capsule: Creating a time capsule filled with letters, photos, and other mementos to be opened in the future can be a unique way to share memories with future generations.

It's amazing to be on this list and they are just a few examples of the many ways to create a memorable and personalised celebration of life event. We offer 6 experiences that we have developed over the past year. The most important thing is to honour the wishes of the deceased and create an experience that is meaningful for those left behind, if you would like to discuss your ideas or help you create a truly memorable experience drop us a line [email protected]

A wonderful Life Catering is part of the TASTES GOOD DOES GOOD GROUP and is the nations first purpose driven food and hospitality business to 15% of revenue to help create a world where no one goes without food. With 7.3 million people living in food poverty, we have an unwavering commitment to use our business as model to inspire others and the food industry to take action. While many entrepreneurs focus solely on profit, they have built a truly sustainable business model that nourishes both people and the planet.

Planning a Funeral Reception, Wake or Celebration of Life event

Serving Refreshments at a Funeral Reception or Wake

Whilst it is not always necessary to offer refreshments at a funeral – the reason mourners are there is to pay their respects to a much-loved relative, friend or colleague – people may have travelled some distance, so it is nice to offer something before they leave.

Also, sharing food is an integral part of many societies, and the customs and rituals within them. At a funeral gathering, it can provide an opportunity for people to come together, talk, share memories and thoughts, and support each other in their loss.

How Many People Will be Attending the Funeral Reception?

First, think about the number of people attending. This may help you to decide what will be possible within the budget you have.

Where is the Funeral Reception Being Held?

Where the gathering is held may inform the type of refreshments you offer. If it is in a local pub or hotel, they will be able to provide food and drink. If it is at home or in a village hall you may want to get some help from family and friends, or find a local caterer or delivery service.

Depending on the number of people attending the funeral and post-funeral gathering, where they are being held and what food and drinks you are serving, you may need to borrow or hire tables and chairs, tablecloths, glasses, cups and saucers, plates and cutlery. A Wonderful Life Catering offer all its clients the loan of everything need they only pay a washing and transport charge saving them up to £500 in hire charges.

What Type of Food and Drink to Serve at a Funeral Reception or Wake?

The food and drink that you offer at a funeral reception or wake is a matter of personal choice. It may be that the person who has died made arrangements or made their wishes known, either in writing or during conversations with those closest to them.

There are no rules. It is always lovely to choose something that reminds you of them. It may be that the person had a favourite type of food or drink – a passion for bangers and mash, cakes and pastries, or they were a committed vegan. They may have loved beer or Champagne, or afternoon tea.

The main thing is not to let this be an added pressure or worry, at a time when you are grieving and may already feel overwhelmed with the many other things you have to organise.

If you can, find others who can help with this task

Enlist the Help of Family and Friends

Family and friends are often only too pleased to help with the catering. This can take the pressure off you and also help to keep costs down. It may be that each person brings a plate of food for a buffet, or a friend is great at baking or making sandwiches and would love to be in charge of that. Don’t be afraid to ask and to allocate tasks.

Ordering In

There are hundreds of delivery services and companies from which you can order everything from sandwiches, fish and Chips, three course meals to canapes. This saves a great deal of time, stress and energy and there is something for most budgets.

Appointing a Caterer

It may be that planning and making food on top of everything else is too much to cope with, particularly if you are   a large number of mourners. Choosing a venue that can provide food is an option, or you could appoint a caterer or an event planner to assist you. We have a dedicated team on hand to plan every last detail giving you back precious time to spend with your loved ones. We work seamlessly with your funeral directors to ensure your celebration of life event is truly memorable.

The first purpose driven caterers to solely focus on wakes, funerals and celebration of life events launches

A Wonderful Life Catering was an 18-month journey as part of Cakery Wonderland, they built a reputation for their amazing food, thoughtful and compassionate service and providing real value to all their customers and developed experiences that would set them apart, so I was only right we let them fly and chart there on path, no they are no longer general caterers they can focus all their efforts on those looking to honour and celebrate the live of a loved one,  They are the 1^st and only purpose driven catering company who are specialist’s funeral & wake caterers and celebrations of life event planners.  Our purpose is to help create a world where no one goes without food, by giving 15% of the revenue we generate to help end food poverty.

Founded by the team behind Wonderland Events, after helping over 250 families honour and celebrate the lives of their loved ones. We created A Wonderful Life Catering so the team can focus on helping our clients through this very difficult time. And we are here to help make the entire process simple and easy, so we can give you back precious time to spend with your family, while we take care of the rest.

Today we are a group of food businesses that have identified sectors within the catering and hospitality sector that are underserved and in need of new standards and innovation alongside this we use growing consumer trends to create personalised and unique food experiences that help create truly memorable events. We are the nation’s only purpose-driven food and hospitality business to give 15% of its revenue to help create a world where no one goes hungry and we are the first to incubate, launch, grow and then gift its operations to those who want to run their own business or want to give back to society. They can apply to take and existing business or we apply for a grant of up to 20K and we provide kitchen space, know-how, mentorship and training so they are armed with the skills to grow the business, so they will always be able to put bread on the table of their family and the tables of families of those our purpose supports.

Cakery Wonderland is the home of our afternoon tea delivery service and events, creators of immersive and traditional afternoon teas, pop experiences and inspiring dessert experiences for consumers, corporates, and the trade.

Wonderland Events – provides @home dining to private and corporate customers, wonderful weddings and our own 20 branded street food and live food experiences and pop-ups

A Wonderful Life Catering is the only dedicated wakes, funeral caterer and celebration of life event planner offer unique services that help celebrate the life of a loved one,

Cotton Candyland was created for our employees after they tried to hire 4 candy floss machines for an event and couldn’t find any, so they came to us with a scalable business idea and 6 weeks later 20 had arrived to create the only on-demand candy floss and party treats store online where our candy angels will be at your door within 90mins making candylicious floss for all or unpacking your favourite party sweet treats

Britain Loves Baking was our innovative response to COVID-19 and within 24 months had captured 14% of the home baking market with its bake what you want when you want home baking kits. 4 years on its now becoming an educational programme provider to deliver its mission of arming the nation's kids with skills to bake for free.

to find our more visit www.tastesgooddoesgood,com