Do you want your funeral to be a celebration ?

I want people to leave my funeral drunk and happy.

Absolutely! Everybody should party and then party some more. It would be nice to be remembered as someone who tried to do the right thing and who managed to find joy at least a little bit every day. I suspect only my family will remember me for very long, although I do have some 20 or so published scientific papers that will at least keep my name around for a while.

As to what happens with the leftover bits of me, they should recycle what they can and dump what’s left in the same hole up at Fort Sam that my husband is going to be dumped into. That will be cost effective and most appropriate.

…... ashes in the ocean… maybe 5 people standing there squishing their toes in the wet sand , their shoes far enough back so they don’t get wet….

I think this sums it up pretty well for me:

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you’re the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

After the crying is over, the celebration can begin.

I guess as usual I want it all. I want my funeral to be remorseful and sad. I would appreciate knowing that my love ones are sadden by the fact that I will no longer by around however I want that portion followed by a party (wake) with everyone telling their favorite ha ha memory of me. Hopefully this will also help with the entire grieving process.

I’m not going to insist people be happy and joyous. It’s ok to grieve. I won’t deny them that.

I don’t think I will particularly care if it’s a celebration or not since I won’t really be participating. I guess whatever my family decides… funerals are for the families really, not the dead.

I want everyone to wear something yellow at my funeral. (Yes, the people who would be in charge of planning such an event are aware of this. Shh. I’m weird.)

It’s up to them. I don’t care what happens to my body.

Never told anybody this before, but…
—I want people to stop and think, “Oh shit, what were we thinking???”

As I mentioned in another answer, the only plans I have are:

a) have my ashes made into worry stones and distributed to friends and family as “parting gifts”

b) have them sprinkled onto the memorial dinner like pepper, and then reveal it myself to the guests via video after they’ve begun eating. Only on the meat dishes though, since I’d be an animal product. :P

(although others noted that I’d be a concious and willing animal product, so folks might not mind.)

I’d really like to know what is said around me at my funeral….everyone’s favorite memories of me, best stories of me they have, etc…maybe I should have a fake death/funeral before hand just out of curiosity.

I’d really like to think people were saddened by losing me…but are still able to have a good time and reflect on the positive impacts I’ve had on their lives.

I think I’d rather be burned to ashes personally, but still have a tombstone somewhere for remembrance…spread my ashes in the ocean.

And if I did have the fake funeral, and no one showed up…I think I’d be very, very sad…

@Bluefreedom When I was born I was sneezing and everyone around me was quietly amused.
It is ideal that when I die, I will be quietly amused, and everyone at my cremation will be sneezing because of the cremulated bone fragments whirling all around them.

Some people better cry, some
better laugh, some better look at me and say things like, that sonofabitch was wanna da good ones.

I suspect my parents will be long dead, and if my brother is alive, he may be one of the very few attending.

I would rather people celebrate my life than mourn my passing. I would want there to be some laughing about good times and no preaching.

Ideally, I’d want it to be just like my grandmother’s. The funeral was packed (over 300 people!) and bittersweet, lots of funny anecdotes and lots of crying. Following the funeral, about 30 of us hopped on a bus/motor home thing and headed out to her favorite restaurant 2 hours away. Both on the trip and at the dinner, everyone was singing and drinking and laughing. All in all, perfect.

@MacBean I have strict instructions not only on what the mourners may wear (no black! lots of color!), but on what I am to be buried in, too. Jeans, a polo shirt, and tennies. ;)

@augustlan: Yeah, people know if they bury me in girl clothes, I’m coming back and haunting them fucking hardc0re. hahahaha

@RandomMrdan I’d really like to know what is said around me at my funeral….everyone’s favorite memories of me, best stories of me they have, etc…maybe I should have a fake death/funeral before hand just out of curiosity.

I considered this a few times, but I could never go through with it. Do you know how fucking mad people would be when they found out you faked your death? They’d probably kill you and then say nasty stuff about you afterwards.

I honestly view death as a blessing: therefore, I expect people to celebrate my death! I want whiskey, wine, even MJ at my funeral. Put some Rock-N-Roll on! I want to be buried in a wall. Does that make sense?

I believe in cremation for myself. Not only is it cheaper for your relatives but it is more culturally and spiritually appropriate for myself personally.

I do not want my funeral to be a celebration unless that is what my family desires. A funeral is not so much about the deceased person. It is a grief ritual. In our society this involves sadness, in others it is more celebratory. I would want my family to grieve in whatever way they need to. If that is a celebration then great, if it is based in sadness and loss then great. Whatever is healthier for them.

If no one attended my funeral or if I was forgotten it would be a shame but at the point of being a spiritual being (which is what I believe in) I bet I could care less.

How do I want to be remembered? By my family as a loving person who cared for them. Anything else is just extra :)

I am looking forward to some other people’s funerals being a celebration. }:^P

I want my funeral to be a celebration about my life, and the fact that I have moved on to someplace better. I know that there will be crying, but I also know that there will be smiling.
I guess that in short words, I want a Louisiana style Jazz funeral.

I’m going the cremation route, arrangements and payment nearly complete. I wouldn’t be in favor of a formal funeral, but that isn’t really my choice. I’d rather my life be celebrated by say a couple dozen friends across the country gathered with their partners and perhaps a friend or two, and lighting up a bowl of the finest shit they have, and in turn, turning that to ash and dumping it into the wind, with big smiles on everyone’s face.. I can’t think of a better send off!
See ya….Gary/wtf

I want my funeral to notable for its lack of attendance – by me.

@Psychedelic_Zebra yeah I suppose you’re right…you’d have to have a private funeral the second time around….with maybe only immediate family invited? I don’t know, I suppose I’d never go through with it either.

Oh, I want dancing and drinking and a film festival! And use the film fest as a way to raise money for causes I’ve supported during my life.

People will be greeted by this and at the end will be this

Hopefully people will have a few beers and remember funny stories and generally take the piss out of me ;-)

Definitely a celebration. Paint throwing, singing, storytelling—the works.
Great occasion for my friends who have never met to get to know each other.

@Beta_Orionis – “have them sprinkled onto the memorial dinner like pepper…”

Wouldn’t that make the food a bit gritty? It could be most unpleasant.

@Darwin I’d be pre-mixed with the pepper and further processed so something would feel amiss, but not render the food totally inedible. It might be helpful to be part of a char-grilled dish or something. The idea is to have just enough for a great story/reaction, not to be a main component of the dish.

i immediately thought of this quote from the science of sleep
Stéphane: Will you cry a little when I’m dead? I hate people that pretend that they want everybody to celebrate their death. You know, when everyone is having a blast at the party and nobody gives a shit for the dead? It’s like, ‘hey would you like to sleep with my girlfriend after my cremation?’ But in my case I guess the problem is, I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m not dead.

but anyway. i don’t want people to be dreadfully depressed, but i think it would be silly to want everyone to be like “YEAHHHHHH! PARTYYY, WOOOOO”.
i want an even mix.
for example, i’ll play the trapeze swinger by iron and wine first, and then something more exciting. maybe something by of montreal. haha.