Steve Lawrence's Real Life Ceremonies

03/11/2025

TESTIMONIAL TUESDAYS: Thanks so much for this kind testimonial, Alison! I always enjoy working with you to help families say farewell in ways that resonate with them. You are a true professional.
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Alison Weaver/Ness Sibley Funeral Home - "I have been working with Steve for several years and no matter what the circumstances are surrounding a death he has a natural ability to provide families comfort and peace. He takes his time talking with family members to create services that are custom tailored and personalized to each individual.
Steve is kind, empathetic, genuine, and easy to work with. I often get compliments from family and friends attending services about the service he provides being the nicest and most personal services that they have experienced. I cannot recommend his services enough."

02/18/2025

Week #2 of 15 Testimonial Tuesdays to Celebrate 15 Years as a Funeral Celebrant... I share these testimonials not to boast, but to convey my gratitude that I have been able to connect with people so deeply during such a challenging time. This week's testimonials are from Liz and Neil Klohmann ...

Liz - I’m not sure I have the words to truly express my gratitude for the service you created and officiated for my son. I attended the service you did for my friend Stephanie a number of years ago, and I knew after attending that I would call you if I ever needed to say goodbye to a loved one. Unfortunately, my son died this year and I called Steve for help with the ceremony. I didn’t realize what the process entailed. Steve does more than officiate the ceremony. He takes the time to sit with the family and learn about your loved one. That conversation in and of itself was so therapeutic for my family. Steve took our stories, our feelings and weaved them together to capture who my son was, what was important to him and found a way to express the love we felt into words that could be shared at the ceremony. Every step of the way, Steve made sure we were involved with what he was writing and how the ceremony would unfold. We had no way of knowing how much it would help us begin our grieving process in a way that allowed us to begin to process his death in a respectful, positive and real way. Steve you did a fantastic job with Dylan’s ceremony. Thank you very much. I also received multiple compliments on your officiating , “That guy who officiated the service did an amazing job”.

Neil - I have attended two ceremonies that Steve has presided over. Both were beautiful remembrances of the person who passed. My wife and I worked with Steve when my stepson passed away. He was compassionate and caring while learning about who my stepson was in life, and creating a service that captured that person. I highly recommend Steve’s services and I plan to contact him for future services.

02/11/2025

Testimonial Tuesdays: 15 years after becoming a Certified Funeral Celebrant and founding Real Life Ceremonies, it happened again, and it made me sad... As she was leaving a ceremony I officiated, a woman said, “My mom passed last year, and her ceremony left us unfulfilled. I really wish we had known about what you do. It is so different.”

In an effort to remind people that a personalized ceremony that celebrates a person's life – and touches on their stories, their values, their sense of humor and their legacy – in other words, their “Real Life,” is among the options available to help their loved one's process this loss and move forward, I am launching “Testimonial Tuesdays.” For the next 15 weeks, I will be posting testimonials from family member and from Funeral Directors who have seen first-hand what I do. Some families will always want a religious ceremony, some will opt for no ceremony, but over the past 15 years, several hundred families have engaged my services, and I am very grateful.

This week, I extend my gratitude to Maggie Munroe Perrotte - “Steve Lawrence officiated my mother's celebration of life. We knew we wanted Steve to speak about her life as it was just too difficult for us and we also knew that he would go above and beyond and that he was a very gifted speaker. Steve sat with our family for hours through laughter and tears. He patiently listened, took notes, and made sure that we all felt comfortable with the whole process. At the celebration of life he made us laugh, cry, and remember mom just the way we wanted to remember her. We are all so thankful for your gift Steve and so thankful to you for giving mom an amazing send off .”
..and to Joe Bowers/Perkins Funeral Home and Bangs Funeral Home: “I have been a Funeral Director for over 20 years, and I have heard thousands of funeral services delivered by well-trained and skilled clergy, and in February of 2019, I was introduced to Steve Lawrence (a Certified Funeral Celebrant and the owner of Real Life Ceremonies). Steve's process of meeting with families (whom he has often never met) and collecting stories is just a part of his genius. From that interview, he drafts an incredible story of their loved one's life, and when he officiates the Celebration of Life ceremony, it exemplifies his brilliance as a writer and a Celebrant. Steve's relaxed approach always leaves all that attend comforted and inspired by the celebration.”

10/18/2024

15 years as a Certified Funeral Celebrant. So many stories, and such a great blessing to be asked to help share them.

06/05/2024

My periodic reminder that if you or someone you know is facing the loss of a loved one, and you would like to work with someone to co-create a Celebration of Life ceremony that will shine a light on the many dimensions of your loved one's life - from their values, to their sense of humor, to their contributions to this world, to their spirituality, to the legacy they will leave in the hearts of those who knew them - I am pleased to help in my capacity as a Certified Funeral Celebrant. I

I can be contacted directly, through referrals from Funeral Directors, via my website (Reallifeceremonies dot com) and I can officiate ceremonies in Funeral Homes, private venues, personal residences, event spaces... whatever matches with a family's needs. I often meet with families when their loved one is still with them physically, or I can be immediately available when a person passes. I am including a recent testimonial. Thank you.
*** From Liz: "I’m not sure I have the words to truly express my gratitude for the service you created and officiated for my son. I attended the service you did for my friend Stephanie a number of years ago, and I knew after attending that I would call you if I ever needed to say goodbye to a loved one. Unfortunately, my son died this year and I called Steve for help with the ceremony. I didn’t realize what the process entailed. Steve does more than officiate the ceremony. He takes the time to sit with the family and learn about your loved one. That conversation in and of itself was so therapeutic for my family. Steve took our stories, our feelings and weaved them together to capture who my son was, what was important to him and found a way to express the love we felt into words that could be shared at the ceremony. Every step of the way, Steve made sure we were involved with what he was writing and how the ceremony would unfold. We had no way of knowing how much it would help us begin our grieving process in a way that allowed us to begin to process his death in a respectful, positive and real way. Steve you did a fantastic job with Dylan’s ceremony. Thank you very much. I also received multiple compliments on your officiating , “That guy who officiated the service did an amazing job."

04/11/2024

I'd like to wish my friend and "media mentor" JR Raftis Sr. a very happy 92nd birthday. I call Jim my media mentor because when I was about 14 years old, he was doing the play-by-play for WEBO - Your Hometown Station, covering an Owego Little League game. Jim had been friends with my parents for many years, and he knew I loved baseball and had come up through the ranks of the Little Owego Little League, so he peered down from his lofty perch at Hyde Park and asked me to come upstairs. I thought perhaps he wanted to ask me to fetch him a soda, and you can imagine the wave of anxiety that swept over me when he pulled a chain next to his, motioned for me to sit down, and announced to his (I was sure) millions of listeners that he had brought in a special guest, a young man who happened to know a lot about baseball. I looked at the microphone, envisioned those millions (okay, dozens) of listeners, and I stammered out a hello. Jim started asking me what I thought about the new field (I had played my final season at the new facility), what I knew about the players (I had played against several of them) and how things were going for me at the next level. Almost immediately, we settled into a conversation, my comfort level rose, and it was just two guys talking about baseball. Keepin' it real, if you will.

Over the years, I watched Jim emcee dozens of ceremonies - many of them honoring veterans - and as I built my own Celebrant business, I often thought about him. I embraced the belief that whether there were seven - or seven-hundred people in the audience, my most important job was to compile the information as accurately as possible, show up with a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of such important moments in peoples' lives, and - above all - keep it real.

Thanks Jim. You are a great treasure to me, and to this entire community. Happy 92nd.

03/16/2024

Regarding my Celebrant business, I try to keep the self-promotion to a minimum - I really do - but when a triple-blessing comes my way, I feel compelled to share. Blessing #1: The Munroe family engaged my services to help say goodbye to their dear mom when Mrs. Munroe passed on 3 years ago. I am truly honored when a family puts their trust in me during such a challenging and vulnerable time. Blessing #2: When Tom Munroe passed last week, his family asked me to step in again. Knowing that the ceremony we co-created the first time around was what the family needed - and wanted again - is deeply satisfying. Blessing #3: I received this testimonial from Kathy - unsolicited - and it absolutely filled my heart. "My family has had Steve do both my mother's and brother's celebrations of life. Trust me, you want him to share your loved one's story. He has a gift for weaving emotions and memories into words that were such a comfort in our times of grief. He really captured our feelings and the "spirit" of both of them. My favorite part of my brother's celebration was "Some of Tom's personality traits might have - in some families - left him feeling isolated, but not in your family. You let Tom be Tom, and that was the greatest gift you could have given him." An honorable way to express how a sometimes different sort of person can be loved for who he was. Thanks, Steve. Kathy B."

What a beautiful gesture. Thanks Kathy. Love y'all.

12/11/2023

Hey Ithaca friends, my friend and one of my earliest and most influential journalism mentors John E. Milich has passed on to the next phase of his journey. John will be buried at Greensprings tomorrow (Tuesday) and I will be leading a gathering at the grave site at 2 pm.

Friends are invited to join us and say farewell to John, and for those who have not been to Greensprings, it is usually 10 degrees colder up there and the mud is usually a few inches deep.

Please visit the website of Lansing Funeral Home to read the obituary. Please share this info with those who were fortunate enough to know John. Thanks.

Lansing Funeral Home provides complete funeral services in Lansing, NY. Call us today for pre-planning or custom planning options

09/27/2023

My work as a Celebrant connects me with people in deeply fulfilling ways... I did a ceremony for a woman named Ellen, and her husband, David, said, “Ellen always kept several one-dollar bills in the glove compartment so that when we saw a person on a corner in need of money, she never had to fumble around in her purse. She just took out a dollar, gave it to the person, and counted her blessings.”

Although I never met Ellen, it fills my heart to keep dollar bills at the ready, and in doing so carry her legacy forth. It serves me well to be reminded that I have a few extra dollars, and I am grateful to David for sharing Ellen's way of helping people in small ways.

06/25/2023

Whenever I walk away from a ceremony, I take a piece of the family’s life with me, and I carry it with me. Sometimes, a family gifts me with a memento that I can hold in my hands as well as in my heart. This fully functional lever-action pen was made by Don Short, and after I helped his family say goodbye to him, they said they wanted me to have this. What a beautiful gift from a great family. Thanks so much…

04/26/2023

I feel so fortunate, and I am filled with gratitude...
I just wrapped up my fourth ceremony in 11 days... whew... and today's gathering was in honor of a man who was a skilled and passionate stained glass artist. The connection was made by the artist's sister, a woman named Sue Ingalls, with whom I first connected 5 years ago, when I helped her say goodbye to her husband. Her husband was a skilled and passionate wood worker, and after the ceremony Sue gifted me with this beautiful pen and pencil set that he made. Today, she handed me a gift bag, and I am pleased to say that this stained glass paperweight will be placed on my shelf next to the pen and pencil. I love these connections. What a blessed way to put food on my table.