A wake is also known as a funeral reception. This is an event held after the funeral where close friends and family will gather to pay their respects quite often held over a drink or seven. Quite often the wake is arranged by the family for most if not all of the mourners to participate in as well as for some people who were unable to attend the funeral service. Food and drink are optional but most of the time are catered by either the location of the wake or mourners.

Quite often during the funeral service the celebrant or minister will lead the service and sometimes not everyone can share memories and stories of their late loved one, the wake is where those who didn’t have a chance to share their stories get their opportunity.

A wake isn’t essential for a funeral, quite often during the lockdown people weren’t able to have wakes so it wasn’t uncommon for people to hold wakes on a different day after lockdown or just not to have one at all.

When arranging a funeral wake there are some factors to take into account. Firstly, the number of guests to attend the wake whether that be everyone who attended the funeral or on a smaller invite-only basis. Location will be the next part to arrange, you will need to make sure that the location of the wake will have enough space to hold the number of guests you are anticipating as well as this keep in mind that the location of the wake may not be able to provide food and drink so you may need to hire caterers externally. 

As always if you have any questions or need any clarity please speak to your local funeral director for any advice or answers.