Our Monthly Tip: Save a Seat for Your Loved One at Their Celebration of Life

Our Monthly Tip:

Saving a seat for your loved one as part of their celebration of life is a beautiful way to honor them and also feel their presence. It can be as simple as leaving an empty seat and a place setting at the table. You may also want to bring a chair from their home to sit at the table, too. Their chair could be present at every event of the celebration: at the entrance to the event, the eulogy staging area, or anywhere that feels good.

Guests will appreciate this gesture since they are still grappling with the loss of the person who has died. Having them seated is a meaningful way to help everyone in their time of transitioning to help better accept the loss.

There are many ways to do this besides simply having an empty chair. You can infuse your loved one’s personality into the space you set aside just for them.

How-To Suggestions:

By sitting your loved one’s purse or bag on the chair, your guests will feel as if their loved one is right there at the ceremony.

For the fine spirits lover, you can pour the finest liquor money can buy (or at least let your guests think so).

If your loved one was a musician, save their seat with their instrument so that guests may remember the music they made.

If your loved one who died was young, or young at heart, you can place a symbol of their adventurous spirit on the chair.

For the coffee or tea lover, save a seat with their favorite mug, full of their favorite beverage, will invoke their presence at your event.

Decorating the chair with your loved one’s favorite articles of clothing or accessories will be a sweet image for your guests to see.

If your loved one was a child, a single balloon to adorn their seat may be appropriate.

By saving a seat for your loved one at the celebration of life, you are inviting their presence to the event. All who come to the service to honor them will feel comforted, knowing a space is saved for the one they’ve lost. Personal items may even bring a smile to your guests’ faces as those signature pieces give them special memories of the deceased. Saving a seat for your loved one lets everyone know they are not forgotten, there’s still room for them in our hearts.