The Wake

An Alternative Funeral Option: Being Present One Last Time

There is an old practice, older than most of us realise, of sitting with the dead.

The Wake

To wake with someone is to stay with them, to not leave them alone after death. Historically family and friends would gather, often at home, keeping vigil beside the body. There was food, drink, stories, tears, and sometimes laughter. The dead were not hidden away. They were present, at the centre of it all, as they deserved to be.

Many cultures have never let this go. An Irish Wake. A Jewish Shiva. These traditions understand something our more clinical approach to death has begun to forget: that being with the dead, physically present, is one of the most natural things the living can do.

Embracing Tradition for Today’s World

Direct Cremation is growing in popularity, simpler, quieter, more affordable, with no service and no guests at the cremation itself. For many families it is the right choice.

But when no one gathers, there is the possibility that something can slip away.

Thereafter embrace the Wake and offer this as a funeral in it’s own right

A Wake does not need to be elaborate. It can be held at home or a private venue that is meaningful to you. The coffin is present. People come. There is time to sit, to speak, or to simply be close.

We provide

• Venue options for The Wake where coffin’s are permitted
• Advise and guidance on creating a space for a very personal, meaningful farewell
• Bespoke catering for food and drink as required
• Experienced funeral and front of house personnel

The Value of Showing Up

Grief is not just an intellectual experience. It lives in the body, and the body needs witness.

Being in the presence of someone who has died, coffin open or closed, does something that phone calls and memorial services cannot quite replicate. It makes the loss real, in the gentlest possible way. For those who weren’t there at the moment of death, it offers a chance to arrive, be present an begin the process of goodbye. Not only this, for the family, seeing people walk through the door, sit quietly, share a memory is not a small thing, it is often, everything.

Coming together in the time of loss one of the most human things we can offer each other: historically we have always honoured our dead, honouring their life, not let someone leave this world unwitnessed.

Thereafter supports families in creating meaningful moments around death and grief.