Ways To Make Your Loved One’s Funeral More Personal

The loss of a loved one is a distressing experience. Funeral services provide the opportunity for those impacted by a loved one to pay their respects and celebrate the incredible life of the deceased. There are lots of details to consider during the funeral-planning process. Logistics include:

• Type of service and disposition
• Enacting of the will
• Closure of all accounts in the loved one’s name
• A eulogy for the departed
• An obituary
• Method of payment

All these must be mulled over by the family following the loss of someone that has recently departed. Most folks find delegating various responsibilities to different family members an efficient approach to funeral arrangements.

Funerals are a time to collectively grieve the loss of someone you adored, but they also serve as a chance to rejoice and cherish life. People utilize funerals as a step in the right direction in the healing process that follows the loss of a loved one. Because they serve as an ode to a valued person, it is common to want to have aspects of the funeral that guests can attribute to the deceased. Honor You has compiled various ways to make your loved one’s funeral more personal so you can put on a service that best represents them.

A Commemorative DVD

A video compilation of favorite memories has become an increasingly popular way to make funerals more personal. You can set an array of clips and pictures of your loved one to their favorite music for guests to watch at their discretion.

You can also import videos of family and friends sharing kind words for the beloved. Consider making multiple copies of the video so you can hand them out to guests for them to cherish.

Photo Collages

If you prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, photo collages make the perfect substitute for commemorative DVDs. You can sort photographs of your loved one by time frame of when they were taken, groups of people in the photos, or at random.

Assemble the categories of photos onto multiple cork boards. You can prop up these pictures throughout the funeral home or wherever the procession takes place. Displaying pictures is a beautiful way to encapsulate just how influential your loved one was to so many people and what they liked doing best.

Have the Service at a Nostalgic Location

Adjusting the service’s location is another way to make your loved one’s funeral more personal. It can alleviate some funeral day nerves, as the formality of funeral homes can put some people on edge. It may feel taboo to host a service anywhere other than a funeral home, but having the event at a separate location pays a unique tribute to who the funeral is for.

Maybe your loved one was an avid soccer player—you could host the service on their favorite field that they played on growing up. Or, if they were an active volunteer for a recreational center, you could request to host the service at one of the recreational facilities. The sense of familiarity of your loved one’s favorite spot will help put guests, and even yourself, at ease.

Establish a Memorial

Establish a memorial in your loved one’s honor. This can be a planted tree accompanied with a plaque or anything with magnitude placed somewhere associated with the deceased. A church, park, or facility that your family member or friend was involved with makes for an honorable location for a memorial.

Inscribe your loved one’s name onto the memorial with a few kind words or one of their favorite quotes. A memorial can be purposed as a serene spot to visit and reflect on their life.

Custom Memorial Products for the Service

Most funeral services have standard handouts like funeral programs, prayer cards, or funeral acknowledgement cards. At Honor You, you can order personalized memorial keepsakes that capture the essence of your loved one.

Memorial products are nice mementos that funeral guests can take with them. They also provide attendees with pertinent information regarding the funeral procession and details like songs or hymns sung during the service.

Specific Clothing or Colors

Was your loved one known to have a favorite color? Did they have an affinity for a certain sports team? You can individualize your loved one’s service by inviting guests to dress in a specific color or rep their team logo. Mixing up the typical funeral dress code gives guests the opportunity to showcase more of their personality when paying tribute to family or a friend.

Have Their Favorite Foods

Offer the deceased’s favorite dish at the beginning or end of the ceremony. Whether they had a tradition of making the best homemade banana bread or were a fanatic of a fast-food brand staple, including food at the ceremony is a unique way to celebrate and reflect on the life of the person who has passed.

Offer for Guests To Take Items Home

Perhaps your family member or friend was a collector. Consider encouraging attendees to take an excess item of your loved one’s home with them. Sharing memorabilia helps spread the love and memory of one of your favorite people.

Things like recipes, books, baseball cards, postcards—anything your loved one collected and held in high regard can be given to guests. Highly-prized or cherished items can be distributed amongst the family as heirlooms.

Include Their Favorite Music in the Festivities

Music is a powerful and moving element that you can easily add to funeral arrangements. Live music contributes to the service’s ambiance in a significant way. Alternatively, you can create a playlist of all your loved one’s favorite tunes to be played throughout the day. You can give CDs with the playlist to funeral attendees that want to rejoice in the favorite songs of their loved one.

Memory Tables

Showcase your loved one’s favorite moments and materials with a memory table. A memory table is up to the host’s discretion. You can invite guests to write down their favorite memory for the family to read later. This can be a spot for symbols of condolences such as flowers, balloons, or thoughtful cards.

Browse our website to get an idea of our services and products. We thank you in advance for considering our memorial products to be used in addition to your funeral arrangements. Please contact us if you need assistance or more information.