New Narrative Events - Celebrations of Life

New Narrative Events - Celebrations of Life New Narrative is a company that specializes in planning celebrations of life so your family can be guests, not coordinators. Every event is custom tailored.

We'll take care of the details, big and small. In person, hybrid, or virtual services available. New Narrative was founded in 2017 by Christina Andreola, an event planner thrust into coordinating the logistics of her uncle's celebration of life. After planning for her own family, see saw first-hand the difference an event planner can make on the peace of mind of a grieving family. New Narrative embraces every planning meeting and every event with a blank notebook and an open mind; from life sized cutouts to group TikTok dances, no idea is off the table. New Narrative is excited to combine our virtual expertise and in-person event planning skills toward Hybrid Events - the way to connect family and friends from all over the world to celebrate the life of a loved one.

How lucky are we to do work that allows us to meet someone through the people who loved them most, and then help bring s...
09/19/2026

How lucky are we to do work that allows us to meet someone through the people who loved them most, and then help bring so many pieces of their life together in one room?

We had the privilege of collaborating with M’s closest friends and family to create an experience that truly felt like him. Surrounded by familiar items, stories in print, custom music, and a lot of special touches designed to make everyone feel comfortable.

We had custom-designed trail signs inspired by his texts to friends sharing photos of different places, custom commemorative drink tickets, a very lively emcee,and his car, fittingly named “Da Limo,” right at the entrance, greeting guests as they walked up to the front doors.

Every detail that went into the day was so intentional and gave guests little ways to connect with their friend, brother, son, cousin, nephew… (and on….)

There was also a Zoom room full of friends and family joining from afar, sharing their own stories and memories in the chat, making the room feel even a little more full.

We feel incredibly grateful to M’s family and friends for trusting us with this day, and for being so open to the ideas, questions and discoveries that helped us understand and personify him in these details.

There is something pretty special about being welcomed into a community after a death; getting to know someone through the stories of the people who loved them. It’s also one of the toughest parts of the work, knowing that this person is no longer with us.

There are so many more pieces of M’s celebration that we can’t wait to share, hopefully inspiring other families to take a few ideas, make them their own, and celebrate their person in a way that feels unmistakably them. 🤘🏼🎧🚂

With much gratitude to our event partners and collaborators, including Northview Golf & Country Club Vancouver Florist Side One Minuteman Press Burnaby Dave Corman Andrea Wardrop (and Lisa & Bryan S!)

09/02/2026

Some thoughts on AI and it’s place in the modern day memorial service

Hi, if we haven’t met yet — my name is Christina Andreola, and I’m a Vancouver-based Celebration of Life planner. I create hyper-tailored, collaborative memorial services that take an experience that can feel like one of a thousand and turn it into a one-of-one day.

I work with families and clients in many capacities: consulting, event planning, AV and tech support, and virtual memorial experiences.

If you’re beginning to think about how to honour someone, or planning ahead for yourself, I’d love to help you tell that story well.

Reach out any time to start a conversation.


This photo was one of many photos captured by my assistant, Andrea, during a celebration of life ceremony - and a rare s...
08/20/2026

This photo was one of many photos captured by my assistant, Andrea, during a celebration of life ceremony - and a rare shot of me, in the moment.

This is probably one of my favourite photos of me, working. 

It represents the calm and quiet moment where we as planners get a chance to be fully present, ourselves*

A moment for us to learn about the person we’re honouring, to be fully present, and to know that everyone in this room can be fully and truly present, themselves.

I often call myself the “aura bouncer:” the person who is responsible for the precious bubble that the family can be present in during the day, knowing that someone has their back to ensure all other distractions are kept at bay.

Now, by this moment of the event, I likely know a lot of about this person: their favourite drink, what music they loved, what they would do on a free Saturday night. I know all of these tiny details - the very tiny details the family wants to make sure aren’t forgotten.

And when we’ve done our job well - when everyone knows what to do and where they need to be - there is this beautiful period where we too can stop ‘managing’ and simply watch this tribute to a life unfold.

This photo represents so much and I’m very grateful to have it ❤️

*A very big note here: being responsible for AV can take you out of the moment *really* fast, but at this point, I was thankful for the working tech - and my backups for the backups!! As someone once told me, “Paranoia Pays Off!”

With much gratitude to the Diamond Alumni Centre, lifethreadsceremonies, A & L for their trust, and Andrea Wardrop for the photo.





New Narrative Events, Memorial Planner, Memorial Planning Ideas, Celebration of Life Event Planner Vancouver

08/15/2026

A short Saturday riff on memorial planning

“Magic” This is how M’s mom described her son‘s celebration of life yesterday. I was privileged to be let in to a commun...
06/28/2026

“Magic”

This is how M’s mom described her son‘s celebration of life yesterday. I was privileged to be let in to a community of such warm and caring people over these last two weeks, working collaboratively to best honour a young man who left his family and friends way(yy) too soon.

Around 200 people gathered at the family farm, where community was front and centre: M’s favourite music and photos were on display as guest arrived to help them settle in, lots of bottles of water and tissues were available to keep cool on a sunny day, the Polaroid wall helped guests to get to know one another, and celebrant Godwyn Young crafted a very beautiful and inclusive service to honour M in a way that was, truly, “magic.”

M also showed up several times yesterday… random versus sunshine, spontaneous goosebumps in the blazing sun, and a butterfly that flew around a speaker, moments after a butterfly shirt was mentioned. He was there yesterday.

I went home 11 hours after I arrived with a fixed flat tire (THANK YOU M / P / J / M), a to-go box with snacks, 40GB of recorded video, and a heart that was very full of gratitude. There is nothing like being the person who is trusted to hold everything together so that someone’s community can be with each other and present, instead of managing event details. I was so glad that one of the farm’s primary managers could just be *a family member* for two hours and not have to manage the audio and video for the ceremony.

I’m very lucky to be able to witness these moments and to be there with communities in what is often one of the hardest and most beautiful days of a life. Even like when I feel like I’ve won the client lottery - which thankfully happens a lot 🙂


That’s a wrap on 2026! Grateful to have had the opportunity to take the stage and speak on the ways we can personalize ...
05/29/2026

That’s a wrap on 2026!

Grateful to have had the opportunity to take the stage and speak on the ways we can personalize and custom-tailor services of all kinds to reflect the stories of the people we have the privilege of honouring.

Now I’m back in Vancouver feeling inspired, affirmed, and very motivated to continue in the work. Having recently completed the school portion of my licensing requirements, I felt so proud of the profession that I am now (officially) entering as a Funeral Director.

The parts not everyone sees (until they need a Director) is full of the warmest, most caring, compassionate, and motivated people. New relationships were made, existing ones were strengthened, and I’m looking forward to continuing to see where I can keep making my mark in the sector.

And, again, no changes are happening at New Narrative. If anything, I’m excited to continue these talks, workshops, and speaking in other capacities!

Onward!

(And, thank you & for the action shots 🙏)



When our client shared her husband’s drink of choice was a classic martini, welcome drinks and a cocktail-style memorial...
05/08/2026

When our client shared her husband’s drink of choice was a classic martini, welcome drinks and a cocktail-style memorial service were in order. Many thanks to the team at for their hospitality last night to make J’s celebration so special and to for this brilliant capture. So much more to share about this experience!

This past Sunday, over 300 guests joined together at the beautiful in Vancouver to pay tribute to J; a poet, an artist,...
04/17/2026

This past Sunday, over 300 guests joined together at the beautiful in Vancouver to pay tribute to J; a poet, an artist, and a young yet old soul.

Family, friends, and many members of the community gathered together to share stories, pay tribute to his incredible 17 years on earth, and to experience some of what made him, *him.*

Blue hydrangeas (his favourite - from the amazing ), a world map to show his travels, handwritten poetry, live music from Johannes & Elias Grames, childhood photos, and a whole wall dedicated to words that described him.

The experience started from the first invitation, where we asked guests to share the one word that best described him. During the event, 90s hip hop blasted over the speakers, family photos rotated on the screen, and guests were invited to take photos of themselves to contribute to our memory wall. With the specific images as a backdrop, they strategically positioned themselves close to different words. One of my favourite elements to make our guests feel comfortable and able to share their memories.

So grateful to have had the trust of J’s family to hold the space for everyone to gather together and just *be.* I know that J’s legacy will always be kept close and we are honoured to continue to share his story.

celebrationoflifeeventplanner celebrationoflife

Hi! I’m Christina and I’m the owner and Principal Planner of New Narrative, a vancouver-based event planning company that specializes in Celebration of Life events and memorial services.

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