How Do You Personalise a Funeral Program?

When preparing a funeral program, there are many ways you can personalise it to suit the memory of your loved one. These will let you craft a unique ceremony in honour of the deceased. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate your own beautiful and personal tributes.

Talk with Friends and Family

It's a good idea to begin the funeral program preparations by talking with family members and close friends of the deceased. This will give everyone a chance to express their memories and feelings. Together, you can decide how you wish to personalise the ceremony. Speaking with the officiant can also help to give you ideas on how to weave such tributes into the day. Featured Design: 'Funeral Announcement Cards - Male Modern Photo Collage'

Memorial Service Venue

When organising the venue for the service and the wake, choose locations to show what was important to your loved one. There are many kinds of venues which are open to use for funerals. The service could be held in a place of worship that was important to them. For those who loved nature, there are woodland areas you could use for the ceremony and the burial itself. And, if they were interested in history or art, you may be able to hold the ceremony in a historical building to suit those interests. Consider what was important to your loved one and choose a location that will reflect their life.

Order of Service Design

The order of service can contain much more than the funeral schedule. You can personalise the booklet with a small biography, touching photographs, and poems or prose that holds special significance. The choice is yours, allowing you to design a tribute that funeral attendees can treasure forever. Many orders of service also feature a design, which helps you match the stationery to their personality. Featured Design: 'Funeral Order of Service - Ornate Scrolls & Butterflies'

Music and Images

Music and images can spark memories of a person. Think about songs that were special to your loved one and include them in the funeral program. Where appropriate, live performances could also be used to add a personal touch. For images, you could create a display stand featuring photographs of the deceased. You might include shots from important days in their life, such as their wedding. If they were a lover of art, you might include paintings or other artwork that they held dear. Perhaps your loved one was an artist themselves, creating paintings, music, poetry, or something similar. Including their own pieces into the funeral program would be a wonderful way to pay tribute to them. You can also speak with your funeral director about the possibility of adding a video tribute to the program. This can let you combine all these elements into a beautiful video you can look back on time after time.

Keepsake Favours

Use small favours to let mourners carry a memory home with them. Once again, you can theme these keepsakes around the deceased's hobbies and interests. For example, if they had a passion for cookery, you could make food favours using their recipes. This could also be a touching choice for the reception food, too. Alternatively, printing out their signature recipes onto beautiful stationery and giving these to the attendees is another way to show their love of cooking. For an avid gardener, you could hand out bags of seeds. Forget-me-not seeds are a popular choice of favour. Personalised bookmarks are another option that will always remind the mourner of your special one. If the departed was a writer or a lover of books, it makes a particularly touching choice. Featured Design: 'Funeral Bookmark - Angel Wings'

Charity Donations

Usually, funeral mourners will bring flowers for the deceased. However, if there was a charity or organisation that held special significance for the departed, you could kindly request donations in place of flowers. By highlighting a cause that they felt passionate about, you can pay tribute to their interests and personality.

Collect Memories

Make it truly personal by inviting attendees to share their special memories of the deceased, too. You can display a condolence book where people can pay tribute in their own words. There are also alternative options to a guest book, such as tags, stones, or other small items that mourners can write on to create a unique display. Featured Design: 'Watercolour Bird & Butterflies - Condolence Guest Book'