I really enjoy being able to help answer questions about the funeral industry that people have. I have found people want straight forward answers in their time of grief as they may be having anxiety of what the process ahead is and also anxieties around feeling they have to choose services or products they don’t really want. I really encourage people to seek out those answers and I am glad to assist with any funeral industry related questions.

I have had some inquiries about how my business fits in to it all.  Celebrations of Life Toronto is a new business but also just new.  There is no one else offering what I am offering which is a full service event planning company specifically for memorial type events by a funeral director outside of the traditional funeral model.  I am connecting people to a wide variety of event spaces.  I arrange for custom everything; food, flowers, music, slideshows, guest book, memorial cards, decor, a car service, matching you with a celebrant and really much more.  The advice I provide on what to do and how to do it is backed by many years of funeral industry experience and having conducted thousands of services. I am relieving the burden of planning the event from picking up and returning your memory table items to connecting people with bereavement resources.  The gift of having one professional contracting with all these vendors and the multitudes of decisions and details therein means you’re in contact with and contracting with only one person, me.  Many people want to be involved and do these events themselves.  For some events this may work but I hope people realize that it can be exhausting especially when you have the difficult emotions of grief. Self-care might be an over used term but I can think of no other time more important to care for ourselves during the emotionally and physically draining process of loss.  Simple events still benefit from being beautiful, organized and of high quality.  I think my clients foremost recognize that I am truly passionate about what I do which is helping people in a compassionate way.  I truly feel my work is meaningful and I do it in a honourable way. At this time, Celebrations of Life Toronto does not care for the deceased in facilitating transportation to final resting place, burial or cremation.  However I do take care of all the details after that.  In addition to that I assist people thinking ahead with information that is both practical and comforting prior to death.

A common question I get asked is:

I just want simple cremation, do I have to use a funeral home?

Here in Ontario, you have to use a licensed service provider. For some people it will be a funeral home and for others a provider specifically in the business of facilitating cremation at a lower cost.  Both have their benefits depending on your needs.  This provider will then contract with a licensed crematorium.  People who have a simple cremation often call me after they have made those arrangements to get information on planning a celebration of life.  I offer a complimentary consult to help you get started on your own.

Send me your funeral/memorial/celebration of life questions info@celebrationsoflifetoronto.com or call 416-817-8772, whether you’re looking at my services or not.  I’m a qualified professional you can trust to have an unbiased answer.