The Perfect Spot to Say Goodbye
Saying goodbye is an integral part of the grieving process and it is usual for this to occur at a funeral service. There are several funeral venues available, but at Picaluna Funerals, we like to think outside the box. The main thing is that your funeral venue feels relevant and appropriate for the kind of funeral service that you envisage for your loved one.
Not all funeral venues allow a coffin or casket to be present, but it’s always good to ask. If the location is important to you, you might consider making the significant farewell into a memorial service. This might be following a direct cremation with the ashes present for the service. Perhaps it may include a specially decorated table, a photo of the deceased, and a funeral celebrant to assist in devising and delivering the memorial service.
Whether you choose cremation or burial, the options for a funeral venue are endless and here a number of them are described that are available in and around South East Queensland, including Brisbane, Ipswich, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. This is by no means an exhaustive list of funeral venues in Brisbane and surrounds, but a sample of those that the author has visited and worked in. Think about where you would like to say that final farewell, celebrates a person’s life and provide a beautiful space for grief to be acknowledged.
Brisbane City Council is the biggest council in the country and covers a huge area, and it is their role to provide funeral venue options. They have three dedicated chapels to choose from. They are purpose built and easy to access, having all the usual health and safety requirements in place. Livestreaming is available and there is room for overflow if the seats are full. Audiovisual facilities are to a high standard and you have peace of mind in knowing that things will run smoothly! There are also dedicated indoor refreshment areas that are available as an optional extra.
These council venues all have cemetery and crematorium facilities on site and this further facilitates ease for your requirements. Obviously, coffins and caskets are allowed, with the option of burial or cremation. The council staff associated with these venues are caring and respectful, taking care of all aspects to ensure that you have a positive experience. Many of these staff members are unseen, but nevertheless, they work hard behind the scenes. The following council-run venues have chapels:
Mt Gravatt Cemetery is situated on the south side of Brisbane, on the way to the Gold Coast. It is right next to Toohey Forest and has a lovely view of the surrounding bushland.
Pinnaroo Cemetery is located on the north side of Brisbane in Bridgeman Downs. It also boasts surrounding bushland. People even use the area for recreational activities like walking and birdwatching!
Hemmant Cemetery is in Tingalpa, east of Brisbane, in the bayside area. It has a historic link with the local area and is situated near a reserve.
Council sites not usually associated with funeral or memorial services:
Whilst thinking about potential venues, I thought it would be remiss of me not to include less obvious spaces, like parks, community halls and social gathering hubs. Brisbane City Council has so many places to choose from, and there may be one that is perfect for you! Here are some examples:
Gardens & Parklands
Mt Coot-tha is situated on the westside and is really special – the second most visited tourist destination in Brisbane!! They have three hireable wedding lawns – Palm Lawn, Figtree Lawn and Lychee Lawn. The Figtree Lawn is pictured.
There is also the privately owned Botanics Café where memorials can be conducted in a separated room with a lovely backdrop of the arid zone of the gardens. The café can provide refreshments and serve at your convenience.
City Botanic Gardens have bookable spaces for your memorial or funeral and there is the wet weather option of using the Gardens Café too. They can be booked to provide refreshments for your guests. This is another lush green space and is easily accessible by public transport, being in the heart of the city, right next to the river.
Sherwood Arboretum has bookable sites, and these can include barbecues and covered spaces. This beautiful space boasts heritage trees and the memorial avenue of kauri pines and would be a wonderful backdrop for a nature lover. You would need to organise refreshments, but what about having a barbecue?
New Farm Park and Newstead Park are both home to bookable gazebos and are delightful venues for hosting your service. You are restricted by the size of the space, but if the weather is conducive your guests could also congregate in the surrounds.
Slaughter Falls at the foot of Mt Coot-tha, actually has an outdoor bush chapel that really is in the bush and surrounded by the natural environment of Mt Coot-tha. Your funeral or memorial service can take place to the sounds of nature and is so lovely.
Oxley Creek Common is another beautiful nature spot and is perfect for celebrating the life of a bird lover. Your service will be guaranteed the sounds of birdsong in the background, sometimes even louder than the celebrant!! There is even an undercover area for use in the event of inclement weather.
In the process of writing, I contacted the council and enquired about the use of these spaces for conducting a funeral service, and I was so happy to learn that if the correct form was used to apply (as per weddings), then there would be no restriction regarding the coffin or casket. Picaluna Funerals Brisbane would work hard to ensure that this was a viable option for the space chosen.
Community Centres are available all over the city and can be used for your service. Some of these are available via the council, but I also contacted Community, a charitable organisation that provides facilities for holding community events. I can confirm that they, too, would be happy to take bookings for memorial services in their venues that are available for hire. These include a number throughout the city including wonderful heritage spaces like Woolloongabba Substation, The Heritage Hut in Acacia Ridge, Paddington Hall and Bald Hills Uniting Church Hall. I have been eyeing off their huge hall in Newmarket with commercial kitchen space and a substantial car park!!
More Botanic Gardens
Maroochy Botanic Gardens contains stunning sculptures and peaceful locations that can be booked for memorial services.
Noosa Botanic Gardens is quite rugged and natural. It has lovely purpose-built spaces for ceremonies and is available for memorial services.
The Gold Coast Botanic Gardens, situated in Benowa, can be booked for memorial services. It is now well-established and has beautiful purpose-built undercover areas and lovely native plantings for your backdrop.
Some noteworthy chapels available for funeral and memorial services include the following:
Centenary Memorial Gardens are situated in Southwest Brisbane in Wacol and easily accessed from Ipswich. The chapel is well-presented with AV, concierge, live streaming and refreshment facilities. There are a couple of outdoor chapels that are peaceful and include a natural amphitheatre-style one and a newly “built” one that has Queensland bottle trees planted all around it – stunning! A special feature (for me) is that there is a mob of wild kangaroos that use the grounds to hang out!! The grounds are really well kept and has a lake with a fountain and plenty of places for quiet contemplation.
Mt Thompson Chapel is situated southeast of Brisbane in Holland Park and has two chapels, including a charming little art deco-styled one. Some people might find it a bit religious, but I love it!! The grounds are compact and a bit hilly but also well-kept. All facilities are available for funeral services.
Broadwater Chapel is gorgeous!! It is a Gold Coast venue situated in Southport. It may not be large enough to facilitate a coffin, but it is perfect for small memorial services. My only reservation is that when the doors are left open to views of the water behind, it is important to ensure that exercise classes, with very loud music are not taking place in the vicinity!! That stained glass window is stunning and makes a wonderful backdrop.
Heritage Park is situated in Goodna, near Ipswich and is another very natural area with a gum tree woodland. It may be too rugged for some, but I like the bushland feeling it evokes. The chapel is comfortable with all the facilities, the refreshments are a short walk away, and this may need to be considered if there are people who need easy access.
Warrill Park Cemetery is situated in Ipswich and the chapel is lovely, serene, modern and spacious. It also boasts a natural burial site, for those who wish to ensure an environmentally conscious funeral.
Alberton Cemetery is run by the Gold Coast council and can only facilitate graveside services, as there is no chapel. It is the only natural burial site in the region and is surrounded by farming land, evoking rural cemeteries of the past.
Lastly, you might also like to consider other venues that may have a significant association for the person you are celebrating, or for those of you who knew them. These could be RSL clubs, sporting clubs, taverns, surf clubs, golf courses and retirement home community spaces! A motorbike club was used for an indigenous man who frequented the spot – it was fabulous!!
As an experienced funeral celebrant in Brisbane, who has conducted funeral services in Brisbane and South East Queensland; memorial services, ash scatterings and burial services, I have included some suggestions for choice of venue, from places that I have worked, but also some that I have discovered in my travels. Conventional spaces are perfect for some, but others may require a quirkier or less conventional place to make their last farewell meaningful.
Raising a glass at a memorial in the Centenary Tavern.
Lemise Kassim, Celebrant
Useful Links:
Cemeteries | Brisbane City Council
Park bookings and consents | Brisbane City Council
Community halls and facilities | Brisbane City Council
All Communify spaces – Communify Qld
Maroochy regional bushland botanic garden (sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au)
Botanical Gardens – Noosa Shire Council
Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens – Rosser Park | City of Gold Coast
Centenary Memorial Gardens | Crematorium & Cemetery in Brisbane (cmgcc.com.au)
Mt. Thompson Memorial Gardens | Cemetery & Crematorium Holland Park QLD (mtthompsoncrem.com.au)
Funerals | Heritage Park Crematorium and Memorial Gardens | Goodna
Ipswich Cemeteries – Incorporating Warrill Park, Haigslea, Stone Quarry, Tallegalla, Ipswich
