"I think it's the future of funeral service, having reception centers on site for families to celebrate life and weddings and other major events," Nancy Brunner Sanden, who runs a funeral home in Mentor¹, Ohio, told TODAY.com.

 

At the Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home and Cremation² Center, Sanden has organized dinners, graduation parties, reunions and first communion parties at its upstairs reception area.

 

Fans of the new trend say there are many reasons couples are getting married in funeral homes: They're often cheaper than traditional wedding venues³ and offer better availability, for example.

 

It's also a great revenue stream for funeral homes. And as more funeral homes offer food, alcohol and reception areas, they're becoming the perfect place for parties. In the past decade, many funeral homes have remodeled or built new structures to provide an event space, said Jessica Koth of the National Funeral Directors Association.

 

"And instead of letting this empty reception space go unused, why not let families use it?" Koth told TODAY.com. "It could be a wedding or a birthday party or an anniversary party, a bar mitzvah, any kind of event. Funerals aren't necessarily what they were 15, 20, 30 years ago," she added. "People are looking to celebrate the life of their loved ones."

点击收听单词发音