Death is an unfortunate consequence of life, at least until science can prove otherwise. And while most of us would rather just avoid the subject entirely, the thought of having a sappy, cheesy funeral weighs heavy on some people. MyWonderfulLife, a Minnesota-based startup that launched earlier this month, is going to help you make sure that doesn’t happen.
You’re first asked to create profile detailing many of your last wishes, including the type of burial you’d like, who’d you’d like to have as speakers, and any music you’d like to have played. You can also upload a photoalbum that you’d like to have projected during the ceremony. If you’d like to get a bit more creative, the site features a listing of some of the more unique ceremonies users have submitted to give you some ideas.
There are also options for detailing instructions that should be carried like outside of the funeral (such as where to find the will, or what you’d like your headstone to look like). You can write letters to loved ones to be distributed after your death. And if you really want to write your own obituary, you can do that too.
After creating a profile you select up to six ‘Angels’, who are sent an Email with a link they’re told to click on upon your death (the Email is resent every 6 months so that they don’t lose it). Clicking this link takes the Angels to your MyWonderfulLife page, where they’re given the appropriate instructions. While many of the details listed are probably covered in your will, the site says that wills usually aren’t read until after the funeral, so some of your requests might not be honored unless you have another source of instructions.
As with all other “online will” sites, there’s a possibility that MyWonderfulLife will kick the bucket before you do, making this all a moot point. I wouldn’t trust any vital information to the site quite yet, but if you just want to leave your favorite playlist, it’s worth the five minutes it takes to fill out a profile.
this could n’t be more creepy as it sounds…
agree, when i die i won’t care where i am, beside i browsed there and most of the users are just posting for fun.
like “who’ll take care of my cats” and “play rock n roll when i die” ..
summary, useless
it is creepy sounding… In my youth I used to cold call for pre-arranged funeral, and as creepy as pre-planing your funeral sounds it is probably the best gift (aside from millions of dollars) you could give your family.
A death of a close family member is a hard time, and that hardship is only multiplied when the family has to arrange for your funeral second guessing themselves “is this what mom/dad would have wanted??”
A pre-arranged funeral means its all paid for, the services are picked out, the casket, the music the whole thing… your family simply sets the time and date.
While its creepy to plan your own death its something we all should do (like a will really)
Not a service that I would be interested in, but the web application itself is commendable.
there is no such thing as someone “saving a life”……..only “delaying a death.”
DeathLocator.com- dig in.
fuck enough with your locators…. take a break from spaming the comments… then use that time to develope your ideal system, then come back and spam us… but right now you are spaming us with a busted piece of shit system…
get lost
I signed up and got this?
“We’ll send you an email shortly that has a link for you to click to finalize the process”.
So if i click on the link I AM FINALIZED?
Too scary, Happy Halloween to you!
I have run a memorial site for 2.5 years (http://www.rememberwell.net) and been keeping a blog (http://www.reme...t.wordpress.com) of resources; primarily having to do with home funeral and “green” burial. I find this particular funeral planning website kind of clinical, personally. But never-the-less, it is essential that you know what happens to your body when you die and decide how you want to be treated…fact of life.
The majority of people in the US hand their bodies over to corporations upon death and your loved ones have NO control what so ever…although they certainly do by law. So it is important that you know the process and the laws AND that you know if your body is going to become a pollutant (by being embalmed) or returned to nature (natural burial).
If we were all CLEAR on what goes on with a dead body in America, we all opt for home funeral and green burials. It is the only thing that makes sense. So the fact that these folks are bringing this subject to the surface at the very least raises awareness and dialogue about a very important subject.
Be empowered or empower others to make decisions that the can live with by getting your head out of the sand and coming to terms with the fact that we will all die and leave a body that others want to honor with ceremony and dispose of respectfully. Know what the procedure is so that when the funeral director feeds you a line of bs you know it. Or better yet find your local home funeral midwife and enjoy the experience instead.
cute concept – bit it’s going to be deadpooled, no pun
What a great concept. I love it! There’s nothing worse than having your heart ripped from you, being in a state of shock and having to plan someone’s funeral in a state of shock, denial, anger, sadness, etc; not to mention all the family drama (people sometimes get ugly when one dies). This site, along with a living will, can certainly avoid some of that family drama.
And it’s the perfect site for control freaks. They can now control the last moments after their death before they get dropped six feet under or torched, and let’s not forget the option to be frozen (cryogenics). If Ted Williams set up a profile at mywonderfullife then maybe they could have avoided all that family feuding over him being frozen.
I love the casket cam video. That rocks! http://is.gd/4add
I might be interested if it could help me plan some else’s funeral.
I am looking forward to this
This is right up there with the credit/financial crisis
but this is likely the last thing I would think of before I die
hey maybe the deadpool can use this
I agree, what a great concept! Hopefully I don’t need to deal with that stuff just yet.
hmm, sounds like a ripe acquisition target for eons.com…..yawn
I think it is a really good idea – Ive often said “I want this song played very loud at my funeral” (which freaks out my wife) – but on the flip side – I may hesitate to actually dig in and plan my death/funeral.
I do like the fact that they are from Minnesota!
Best of luck!
I just had to go through burying and planning a memorial for my father. Unfortunately he didn’t leave many instructions except that he wanted to be buried. Something like this would have been a godsend. However, I think most people are too scared to think about death to do something like this. Scrambling to put together a memorial in a week or two is a very difficult experience!
Hey Michael – Love your site and I visit several times a day when I can.
BUT – I AM GOING TO TAKE A FEW WEEKS OFF AND NOT VISIT FOR AWHILE…
…until you decide to ban that spammer “loc@#$%.com.
We’ve all asked you to ban him, but you won’t.
So I’ll ban you.
I’ll miss your site terribly, but there are alternatives out there.
We’ve repeatedly ask you to ban this spammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s fricking annoying!
Wow, recession is really coming!
Great Idea
Unfortunately, online “when I die” sites (TC July 2006 youdeparted) tend to enable actions which only should be undertaken in legal documents. Worryingly, with over 70% of Americans without a Will, sites like MWL are in danger of misleading and giving a false sense of security to those who use them – and to those who write about them.
When someone dies, lines of responsibility are clear. Most funeral/memorial/preplanning online services respect the line between legal and personal. However, more problems than solutions are created by MWL offering only part of the process yet encouraging naming someone to receive a specific possession (outside of a Will) or listing assets (without any real info) or leaving instructions for care of minor children (without naming a Child’s Guardian and Child’s Trustee) on a website accessible by up to 6 people.
While it is correct to question the lifespan of a site such as MWL (it has to be there when you die), it is wrong to say the same for “online will” sites offering legal estate planning documents which become legal just as soon as they are printed, signed and witnessed.
http://www.itsmylife.com is an all inclusive “online will” service which has been offering estate planning (inc private letters and funeral wishes) for over 4 years. During our current upgrade we are extending the service to include more of the “create your own memorial” capability, having researched the many existing services available to those who have lost someone. Even if MWL correct their offering, it will struggle to compete with existing online will services, online memorial players (some of which are moving into preplanning next year) and those who are launching real innovative services such as eternalspace.com.
All those who are deathblind and/or find deathplanning morbid – it’s not for you, it’s for those you care about! If done right, the difference is immeasurable and positively life changing for the living people left behind.
ifidie.org does a similar thing, but in a more personal way. not sure if the website is officially launched? also, it seems less appropriate for funeral planning, but more appropriate for communicating with loved ones from beyond the pale…
i like the ifidie.org site. i like the carte blanche – there’s more room to write whatever you want, and less of a sense of impending doom!