Going Out In Style
If you’ve spent your life surrounded by beautiful things and curating your taste, why would you then allow yourself to end up with a cookie-cutter funeral that goes by the book?
And listen up: the idea that you’re not there to “enjoy” your grand sendoff is beside the point. After all, this is your way of saying goodbye to your friends and family as much as it is a way for them to remember and celebrate you.
“One’s final celebration should be an expression of [his or her] individuality, and honor all that they held sacred and loved in life.”
This is a sentiment we can get behind, and expressed by the founders of Going Out In Style, a bespoke funeral planning service that’s geared for those who have appreciated the finer things in life and want a funeral that expresses that. Colleen Banks, Naomi DeManana, Erin Furey, and Cassidy Iwersen come from the worlds of wedding planning, creative direction, and magazine editorial, so clearly they are well-versed in how to create events that are about fashion and luxury.
But it’s not just the taste that matters, they say; it’s the story—the story of a life, as they put it on their website.
For one client, Going Out In Style planned a memorial service that included many custom details, such as napkins bedecked with custom illustrations of his two dogs, favorite sayings of his printed on coasters, and a special whiskey cart service, as whisky was his drink of choice. The event was held at New York City’s storied lunch restaurant, The Grill, every detail carefully managed.
The team works with the family of the deceased, as above, asking them to “tell us a story” about the person they are honoring. But they also do pre-planning, working with people who are looking ahead to the inevitable, and want to be able to control how their last public appearance plays out.
As Baby Boomers age and enter this last phase of their life, it only makes sense that this influential generation would be looking to reinvent and re-imagine what funerals and death look like. And now, there’s at least one high-style firm to help them. And we are sure there will many more to follow in their footsteps.
Juxtaposition
The Way We Dress: Style to the End director Avril Furness asks: "What will your final outfit be?" for NOWNESS.
