Celebration of Life- KC Hall Decatur

I was contacted from Hayley Smith and Curtis Briggs to help them and their family plan Curtis’ dad’s celebration of life for October 29. The family was of course mourning Steve’s death and didn’t have the emotional or mental capacity to plan this event. They also had never planned an event like this so they weren’t sure where to start.

For events such as this, I always bill hourly as I’m not entirely sure how long it will take me. Sometimes the client is quick to make decisions or doesn’t have me involved in much (i.e. just planning decor) but other times the client has lots of items for me to handle and there’s more back and forth in planning.

Once booked (signed contract and paid deposit) I always create a proposal with creative ideas, design, pictures for inspiration, and price quotes. I give a good price estimate based on previous knowledge however I wait to get exact quotes until I have approval or edits from the client. I have found this makes the most sense as they could change their mind and I don’t want to waste a vendor’s time.

I worked with Hayley via email and I also created a Google Sheet checklist with tasks assigned to either her or I with due dates and notes. This was extremely helpful so that it was very clear who needed what and things didn’t get lost in long email threads.

The venue was at Knights of Columbus Hall in Decatur as Steve was originally from Decatur and Steve’s wife Mary wanted the celebration of life to be there.

KC Hall provides catering and so we worked with Stephanie there to decide on a menu. The family wanted this event to be casual and open house style in the evening so they chose heavy apps on a buffet line.

Steve and Mary currently live in the desert of Vegas so we incorporated cacti and succulents into the decor. Steve was a world traveler and loved to travel so we used National Parks postcards as the guest book. Friends and family could write a message on a postcard to the family.

The KC Hall is very neutral and Hayley wanted to add some color so we used a desert inspired color palette (reds, oranges, blues, greens) for balloons and napkins and flowers.

Steve loved watching, playing, and coaching sports so we had Chicago Bears, Cubs, and Illini themed cookies and cupcakes. We also had a signature drink (one of Steve’s favorites) called Captain and Coach.

They were interested in a quote for live music but it was out of their budget so we opted for a Spotify playlist of some of Steve’s favorite songs. Steve loved his wife, children, grandchildren, and traveling and coaching days so the family created 4 poster boards full of photos plus a slideshow to play on a loop.

The open house was from 4-8pm and those who came by could grab a drink, eat some appetizers, talk with the family (Steve had 3 sons who were all married), and remember what an amazing man Steve was. Hayley said this would definitely be helpful for Mary and I can only imagine that it was- to see how loved and remembered Steve was.

I was honored to play a role in this very personal event for the Briggs family. I helped clean up everything as well so that the family could show up and leave with nothing to worry about.