Odd Last Wishes & Funeral Requests | Funeral Stationery 4 U

Posted on by Steven

A funeral is not only a chance for friends, family and loved ones to have a chance to say goodbye as well as to celebrate the life and the impact they had on everyone at the ceremony, wake and who paid tribute using memorial cards.

Many people want to be involved in how they are remembered, and so many people will add requests to their will. Some of these are specific and legally binding whilst others are mere suggestions.

Here are some of the most unusual last wishes and requests for the funeral ceremony which highlight how special and meaningful this last journey is.

 

  • A Funeral Flash Mob

After Sandie Wood from Bristol died at the age of 65, long after being a victim of the tainted blood scandal, she decided to fill her funeral with surprises and stunts so she could, as the words on her pink coffin would attest, go out in style.

Whilst there were many parts to this, the one that has garnered the most attention is the flash mob of dancers from the group Flaming Feathers, who did a dance routine set to Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust, all at the request of Ms Wood.

Whilst some were confused, her friend said she wanted to leave the world as she had lived in it, purely by being herself.

 

  • Elizabeth Taylor Is Always Fashionably Late

Icon of the silver screen Elizabeth Taylor was almost never on time for any social engagement, with the term “fashionably late” coined almost specifically for her.

Much in that tradition, when she died in 2011, she requested that her coffin arrives at the ceremony 15 minutes after the start time, so she could even be late for her own funeral.

 

  • Alas Poor Yorick

André Tchaikowsky, a famed composer who loved the theatre, wanted to be centre stage and so made one rather unusual final request.

His body was donated to medical research, but he asked that his skull be used to portray Yorick in the Shakesperean play Hamlet, although it would take until 2009 and David Tennant’s role as the eponymous character for Mr Tchaikowsky’s skull to be lifted up high.