Ceremony
Honouring Lives Through Ceremonies Crafted with Care and Compassion.
KORU Cremation | Burial | Ceremony can provide standard Memorial Services, Traditional Funeral Services and unique Celebration of Life Services. When needed, we will work in collaboration with experienced Event Planners, particularly for creating a highly personalized and memorable ceremony service for your family. Whether it is an in-person gathering, a virtual service or a combination of the two, KORU can guide you through it all.
View our sample Memorial Packages, complete with catering and celebrant allowances.
There is no one “right” way to honour and mourn for the one who has died through ceremony. You may find solace in a traditional funeral mass or a sorrowful graveside ritual that rekindles stories told to you by your grandmother. A heartfelt and even joyous celebration of life may resonate with you. You may be yearning for a thoughtful and unique ethical ceremony that creates connection and meaning, and supports you through the reality of death. You may need guidance in sifting through different ideas. Still, you may know precisely what you want but need assistance in making it happen.
Whatever your culture, circumstance or challenge, we’re here to help you care for, remember, mourn and celebrate your family members and friends. We’re here to walk with you in experiencing the power of ceremony as well as in exploring the myriad emotions that invariably arise when someone dies: grief and guilt, love and loss, healing, grace and gratitude.
Ceremony Venues Around Vancouver and the Lower Mainland
KORU recognizes that for a ceremony to resonate with you, the venue or gathering place may be a significant consideration.
It is for this reason that KORU deliberately chose to not have an on-site funeral chapel (to which you likely have no connection). Instead, we can help you choose and plan a ceremony in a location that is special to you and your family. This may be in a garden, a park setting, a local brewery or your backyard. Whatever the choice, KORU can help you.
Here is a brief list of venues KORU recommends (there are many other possibilities, please contact us if you don’t see something that interests you):
- Celebration Hall at Mt. View Cemetery, Vancouver
- Great Hall at Centre for Peace, Vancouver
- BMO Great Hall at VanDusen Gardens, Vancouver
- Celebration Pavilion at Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver
- UBC Boathouse, Richmond
- The Chapel at Minoru Park, Richmond
- North Shore Winter Club, North Vancouver
- The Pipe Shop at the Shipyards, North Vancouver
- Mollie Nye House, North Vancouver
- Scandinavian Community Centre, Burnaby
- Ceremonies can be led by a religious leader like a priest, rabbi, reverend, imam or minister
- Ceremonies can be created and led by you, your family friend, your Aunt or by a person trained as a Celebrant or Officiant; a professional ceremony maker. KORU has recommended several trusted and very talented Life Celebrants in our Resource section
- There are many words used to describe a “funeral service” but essentially they all represent the same thing, honouring the life of someone who has died and offering an outlet for family and friends to mourn together
- All funeral homes, regardless of who owns them, can organize a burial at any cemetery, regardless of who owns the cemetery. In other words, if your cemetery of choice owns and operates a funeral home, you are not obligated to use their funeral home
- Your ceremony, or service, may be one of, or a combination of these different types of ceremony: funeral service, wake, visitation, viewing, memorial service, celebration of life, graveside service, living tribute
- Resurrected names for ceremonies in which family and friends are involved in a more hands-on way (like in the ‘olden days’), are family-led funeral, DIY funeral, home funeral
- Celebrant and Death Doula services have been described as one of the fastest growing careers for people over 50. For more information, get to know our End of Life Doula partners visit Death Doula Network International or the Celebrant Institute & Foundation
Get expert grief support via text at KORU's special discount
Help Texts sends you tips, resources, and practical wisdom after a death.
The New Narrative Celebration of Life Event Planning Guide
A comprehensive document designed to simplify the tasks needed to plan an end of life event.
Parting Stone, solidified ash remains
An innovative and new approach of solidifying cremated ash remains into a collection of 40-60 smooth stones.