Celebration of Life Services and Memorial Receptions in Central Florida
Nobody gets practice at planning a celebration of life. You are doing it in the worst week of your year, and the question of where everyone gathers afterward lands on whoever happens to be holding the phone. Horsepower Ranch is a working ranch and event venue about 30 minutes from downtown Orlando, and we have been hosting weddings and events here for over 12 years. A celebration of life on this property happens outdoors, with Spanish moss overhead, pastures on one side and water on the other, and enough ground that a guest who needs to be alone for a while can go be alone.
Celebration of Life Service
A celebration of life service should look like the person it is for. Some families want 40 people, one long table, and an afternoon of stories. Others want 200. Both work here. Tables and 200 white padded chairs are included, and three separate venue locations sit on the property, so the gathering can settle into the Barn Courtyard, under the Gunslinger Pavilion, or out in the open. There is room to eat and room to step away. Guests who need a few minutes to themselves can walk to the woods, the fire pit, or the beach area on the water and come back when they are ready. A day-of coordinator and an on-site venue manager come with the booking, so no one in your family spends the afternoon directing cars.
When you are the planning person for a funeral, and you begin to look for space to meet with the family after the event, it’s important that you have ample space to meet. Meeting in the home of the person who has passed away, is the traditional method. Many people are now choosing to hold their celebration of life meetings in neutral locations.
At Horsepower Ranch we are here to help you in your time of need. Allow us to help plan your loved one’s Celebration of Life and take all of that stress off of you and your family. Our event venue is the perfect space for either a small intimate gathering or a large group of people, with ample space for food and families to share their stories. Our grounds are perfect for an indoor or outdoor reception or if guests need to have some space to reflect on their thoughts.
Our services can include but not limited to:
The list below is a starting point, not a menu you have to order from. Most families planning a celebration of life use four or five of these and leave the rest alone. If you would rather not spend a week on the phone with vendors you have never met, the all-inclusive option takes that off your hands: catering, a DJ, 6 hours of photography, bar service with liquor insurance, and a $450 floral allowance. Some of the decor is already standing: market lighting runs through the property, whiskey barrels do the work of rented cocktail tables, and the oaks handle the rest. If your loved one would have wanted an arrival worth watching, a horse-drawn carriage runs $750 and a classic car $400.
- Planning
- Food / Beverage
- Floral
- Stage / Podium
- Memorial Videos, TV’s & Projection
- Memorial Cards & Service Pamphlets
- Tables, Chairs, Linens, Tents etc
- Horse Drawn Carriage, Classic muscle car or truck
- Music
- Parking
Do you need assistance planning?
We understand this is a challenging time for you and your family. If you need help planning a celebration of life or memorial service for your loved one, please give us a call at 407-913-1160
Centrally Located In Central Florida just 30 minutes from downtown Orlando.
Half the family is usually flying in, and travel is the part that wears everyone down. A celebration of life may be the only day these relatives are in one state together. Guests can land at MCO and be here without a long haul, about 30 minutes from downtown Orlando. Parking is attended, which matters when the oldest people in the room are the ones you most want there, and there is accessible parking on site. Restrooms are climate-controlled. Relatives who would rather not drive back to a hotel afterward can stay in the Ranch House Suite overnight for $450 a night.
We are also just minutes away from multiple funeral homes, mortuaries and burial yards as well.
Most families hold the formal service first and come here after. A short drive between the two keeps the procession together and spares older relatives a second stretch of traffic in one afternoon. The day-of coordinator works from your timing rather than a house schedule. A celebration of life can also wait a few weeks, until the arrangements are behind you and everyone can travel; a date chosen on purpose is easier on people than the Tuesday after. Horses graze in the pastures and the woods run out past them. If what you want is market lighting, quiet, and nothing else on the schedule, that works too.
Book Your Event
Send us the date and roughly how many people you expect, and we will walk you through what the day would look like here, or call 877-512-1160 and talk it through with a person.