Planning Ahead: A Personal Legacy Booklet

A gentle digital booklet to help you record your funeral wishes, treasured memories and personal messages, giving the people you love guidance and comfort for the future.

Planning Ahead in Your Own Way

Have you ever thought about what you would want your loved ones to know, but not quite known where to begin?

The Personal Legacy Booklet offers a calm, supportive place to record the things that matter to you. You can work through it gradually, in your own time, without any pressure to have every answer straight away.

Why Planning Ahead Matters

Through my work as a funeral celebrant, I have supported families who did not know what their loved one would have wanted.

When people are grieving, uncertainty about music, readings, ceremony choices and personal wishes can add to an already difficult time. Writing down your preferences can give your family helpful guidance and make some of those decisions a little easier.

Planning ahead is not about being morbid or expecting the worst. It is a thoughtful way to make your wishes known and give the people you love fewer questions to answer later.

What is Inside the Booklet

The booklet contains gentle questions and prompts to help you record:

The kind of funeral ceremony or celebration of life you would like
Music, readings and poems that are meaningful to you
Personal touches you would like included
Important information your family may need
Memories and moments that have shaped your life
Your values, thoughts and personal messages
Things you would particularly like people to remember

Your answers can be as short or detailed as you wish. There is no right or wrong way to complete it. What matters is that it feels personal and sounds like you.

Who Is The Booklet For?

You do not need to be a particular age or facing ill health to begin planning ahead.

The booklet may be helpful if you:

Like to feel organised and want your wishes recorded
Are supporting an ageing parent and have started thinking ahead yourself
Have recently attended a funeral and considered your own preferences
Want to make future decisions easier for your family
Would like to leave personal memories or messages for the people you love
Find it easier to write your thoughts down than discuss them aloud

If you have ever thought, “I really should write this down somewhere”, the booklet gives you a warm and practical place to begin.

More Than Funeral Wishes

One of the things families sometimes tell me is, “I just wish we knew what they wanted.”

Completing the booklet is one way to answer that question in your own words.

It gives your family guidance when decisions need to be made, as well as something personal to hold onto. Once you have completed it, tell someone you trust where it is saved so they can find it when it is needed.

You can revisit and update your booklet whenever your preferences or circumstances change.