‘Get Mortal’ - Dead Good Parties
Who are DEAD GOOD?
We are sisters, Katy and Lindsey Vigurs (Vigurs rhymes with tigers). We are the founding directors of DEAD GOOD, a not-for-profit, arts-based death education company that aims to end taboos around all things death and dying.
We have deliberately introduced a bright, bold and quirky vibe to the death education scene in the UK. Creativity, playfulness, and curiosity are some of our core values and they enable us to take an imaginative, engaging approach to what can be an emotionally-charged subject.
We specialise in supporting people to plan eco-friendly funerals, living funerals and home funerals. And outside of our funeral work, people commission us to help them design DIY acts of remembrance, personal grief rituals and creative legacy projects. We also deliver inventive death education to schools, community groups, the third sector and businesses.
Introducing Get Mortal parties
Here at DEAD GOOD when we talk about ‘getting mortal’, we are inviting ourselves and others to contemplate and become more comfortable with mortality. Our Get Mortal parties see friends and family come together to design their own farewell ceremonies and to learn more about creative funeral options in the UK.
The aim is to break down the culture of silence surrounding death, funerals and grief. It is important to us that people are supported and empowered to make informed choices around death, and Get Mortal parties are our way of sparking imaginative dialogue and curious discussion about all things death and dying.
The idea came about when DEAD GOOD met Emma Satchell of Dying to Help back in February 2023. Separately, we’d both been wanting to set up a range of social events that destigmatised death. After one conversation we decided to collaborate and launched our first Get Mortal party in May 2023.
What happens at a Get Mortal party?
The 2-3 hour parties are hosted by local, friendly death educators, usually in your home or a private venue. They are participative, creative and empowering events. Each partygoer gets a zine-like, illustrated funeral planning guide to demystify the funeral planning process. Your host uses the resources as a set of prompts to help party goers consider a wealth of imaginative funeral options appropriate for civil funerals in the UK today. Options to be discussed include eco-friendly funeral choices and less conventional practices, such as living funerals, home funerals, and sea burials. You leave the party with new knowledge of what is possible when someone dies, along with a draft of your own funeral wishes.
What if parties aren’t your thing?
A party setting isn’t for everyone. Some people book private 1-2-1 Get Mortal sessions either in person or via Zoom. Often they are living with a terminal illness and want to talk straightforwardly about their death and to make creative plans for their funerals. These are conversations that people sometimes feel they cannot have openly with their friends and family. However, we find that their ‘getting mortal’ with our planning kits often becomes a constructive conversation starter about their final wishes with their loved ones.
What impact does death education and advance planning have on wellbeing?
Providing a road map or ‘plan A’ for your funeral or memorial ceremony – and ideally talking about your ideas and preferences before you die - can gently support your family and friends with their grief and grieving when the time comes. This is important as unresolved grief can negatively impact our emotional wellbeing and mental health.
We recommend getting mortal so that you can, ultimately, rest in peace.
Remember, there’s no such thing as too soon when it comes to funeral planning. We were impressed at one of our recent market stalls where someone bought five ‘get mortal’ planning kits as stocking fillers for her parents and adult siblings. That’s our kind of Christmas Day!
Engage with us for further conversation:
@deadgoodlegacies (Instagram and Facebook)
