All the details from Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds' memorial service
Three months after Carrie Fisher and mother Debbie Reynolds were laid to rest side by side, their family invited the public to join in the celebration of their life.
USA TODAY was on the scene at Hollywood's Forest Lawn Cemetery, documenting the event, which organizer Todd Fisher promised would include plenty of tears and laughter.
"You'll experience them in their natural habitat and you'll get to see what I've had to put up with my entire life," he told the audience in the first of the service's many comical moments.
Relive the service with us:
6:27 p.m. ET: In a video that showcased photos of Carrie's home and photos from throughout her life, longtime friend James Blunt premiered the song he wrote in her memory. "You left without saying goodbye/ I'm here to let you know/ I'm here to let you go," he sang to the godmother of his son.
After one final dance number from the students at Debbie's studio, Todd closed out the show.
6:24 p.m.: Todd's wife, Catherine, recalled the time an ailing Debbie recruited Carrie and her daughter Billie onstage to help her finish her final live performance.
6:15 p.m.: Perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire service: the comedic timing and of renowned security expert Gavin De Becker. The Gift of Fear author and Carrie were lifelong friends, dating back to their days at Beverly Hills High School. He recalled his first trip to Paris with her, which involved stolen bathrobes from the Hotel Georges V. "She said 'I didn't know you were a thief, but now that I do I'm going to bring you with me more often.' And she did," he recalled.
5:46 p.m.: A photo montage spanning Carrie's life and career played, set to singer James Blunt's hit You're Beautiful, which he wrote in the bathroom of her Hollywood home. "On the piano in her bathroom, like we all have," Todd cracked afterward.
5:39 p.m.: "We shouldn't be here so soon in our lives," lamented comedian Dan Aykroyd, who was briefly engaged to Carrie in the late 1970s before she married singer Paul Simon. Even though he and Carrie never wed, he said they did go through with the blood tests to have children. He surmised that if he and Fisher had a child, given their personalities, "it would be Todd Fisher."
5:31 p.m.: The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles took the stage to perform Cyndi Lauper's True Colors.
5:26 p.m.: TMC's Ben Mankiewicz praised Carrie for possessing "one of the greatest bull-(expletive) detectors of all time" and noted that she wrote his most-liked tweet. He also observed, "Some of the best celebrity interviews are on WebMD."
5:24 p.m.: Teens recreated the iconic Singin' In the Rain dance scene, with a few hip-hop touches. "I think Debbie would have liked that," Todd said afterward.
5:15 p.m.: The longtime director of the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in North Hollywood, where every style from tap to krumping is taught, introduced a pair of performances including her favorite, tap.
5:03 p.m.: On Twitter, Mark Hamill recalled how the "fiercely funny" Carrie promised him that if he died first, "she'd heckle my funeral," adding "I know she would also like us all to laugh today."
5 p.m.: Actress Ruta Lee sang I'll Be Seeing You in honor of Debbie and promised that the actresses' charitable legacy would live on. She also called for a standing ovation for Carrie and Debbie, citing "a life well lived and a job well done."
4:42 p.m. The focus turned to Debbie, with scenes from Singin' in the Rain and her other films set to Good Morning, followed by footage documenting her work with servicemen and women, stretching from the Korean War all the way through Afghanistan and Iraq. A scrolling list of charities reveals the two dozen causes she supported.
4:40 p.m.: The pre-taped portion of the ceremony starts off with Carrie's birth certificate morphing into that of Princess Leia, followed by home movies and film clips, all set to Star Wars composer John William's theme for Princess Leia.
Afterward, R2-D2 wanders the stage, beeping mournfully until Todd kneels down to comfort him. A montage of Carrie's other film roles, including The Blues Brothers and When Harry Met Sally, followed.
4:31 p.m.: The ceremony started with a color guard in honor of Reynolds, whom Fisher said was "very patriotic" and had participated in multiple USO tours.
4:24 p.m. ET: Hundreds of fans lined up for a chance to attend Saturday's public memorial service took place at the auditorium at Hollywood's Forest Lawn Cemetery with a live stream set up on DebbieReynolds.com so that fans outside the area could join in.
The event, organized by Todd Fisher, Carrie's brother and the younger child of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, promised a service befitting the show-business legends, full of singing, dancing and pets. (Reynolds' dog Dwight and Fisher's sidekick Gary the Bulldog had their own reserved seats.)
Minutes before the ceremony was set to begin, reporters were told Fisher's daughter, 24-year-old Scream Queens actress Billie Lourd, would not attend after all. Her uncle had previously said that she would attend, but not speak or perform. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Fisher said, "She realized, 'I'd be lucky to sit through this.'"
