Our Story
The next several years found me spending hours in weekly grief support groups where the topic of funerals was not uncommon. I often sensed disappointment, guilt, and heartache from my partners-in-grief as they expressed regrets over impersonal memorial services that had been hastily thrown together while deep in the fog of shock and grief. Many were frustrated by the fact that tradition dictates the timeline and ambiance of events when someone dies, and that alternatives were never considered.
Those support group conversations deeply resonated with me. I'm not sure which bothers me more- knowing that lives are not being celebrated appropriately or knowing people, already in the grips of grief, are also suffering remorse because they felt incapable of giving their loved one the sendoff they deserve. The trouble is, when it comes to seeking professional assistance for planning a memorial service, there are very few options outside of the funeral home or church. What does one do when neither of those options is a good fit? Consider also that local funeral homes see an average of 15 clients each month-some as many as 30 or more. No wonder people are feeling dissatisfied! It is simply not possible for them to give truly full attention to creating an extraordinary celebration for your honoree.
I created Epic Memorials to offer my community a professional alternative to traditional funeral services because I passionately believe that every person deserves to be honored with an unforgettable tribute inspired by the rich details of their personality and life experiences. With Epic Memorials, I am offering my organizational skills, artistic talents and affinity for managing minutiae to free you from the burden of dealing with hundreds of details while suffering in the depths of grief. I will gently guide you through the process of creating a meaningful, one-of-a-kind tribute that genuinely captures the essence of your loved one, leaving you free to focus on caring for yourself and those who need you.
Sandi Heinrich
Event Specialist
Owner and Founder
of Epic Memorials
To be honest, the idea of planning end-of-life celebrations never once entered my mind throughout the many years I spent dreaming about creating an event-planning business. I had visions of fantastic children's parties with festive, colorful decorations and silly games- certainly not dark, depressing, morbid funerals. I wanted to be around kids, not corpses!
As we all know, life experiences often send us in directions we once could never have imagined. In the spring of 2012, I found myself in the horrific position of needing to plan a memorial for my only child, my beautiful son Asher. Despite being in a state of deep mourning and feeling absolutely bewildered that this task needed to be done at all, my event planning skills remained intact. Over the span of four months, I managed to create the most extraordinary celebration of life I could imagine for my son. Held at the magnificent Mount Baker Theatre, featuring 999 red balloons and a missing man fly-by of the plane he first flew carried his ashes over Bellingham Bay at sunset- it was truly an epic memorial for a boy who was larger than life his whole life.
