What is a Memorial Service?
A memorial service shares many similarities between both funeral services and celebrations of life. It is essentially a funeral service with some traditional elements that aims to celebrate the life of the deceased. Unlike a traditional funeral though, the body of the deceased is not present for the service. In some cases, the family may choose to have an urn holding the remains displayed at the funeral home.
A standard memorial service often includes music, selected readings, a prayer and a eulogy. If your family is looking to personalize the service further, this can be accomplished through a celebration of life.
Memorial Service Ideas
Our experience has shown us that many of today's families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service
can become more personal and meaningful.
If a personalized memorial service suits the needs of your family, we suggest you consider the following questions:
- What did your loved one like to do?
- What was he or she like as an individual?
- What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
- Was your loved one spiritual?
- Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage?
Why a Memorial Service?
Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. Many funeral service professionals see this change as one of the many contributions to social change made by "Baby Boomers". The National Funeral Directors Association notes, "As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful." If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on.
10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning a Memorial Service
Our experience has shown us that many of today's families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service can become more personal and meaningful.
Memorial services offer some more flexibility than traditional funerals. This flexibility allows families to personalize the services and honor the life of their loved one in a truly unique fashion. Before deciding what to add to a service to make it unique, you should ask yourself and others questions like these:
- What did your loved one like to do?
- What was he or she like as an individual?
- What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
- Was your loved one spiritual?
- Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage?
- What did they enjoy doing in their free time?
- Were there any causes or charities that they held close to their heart?
- Did they have a favorite sports team?
- What kind of music did they enjoy?
- What made them special?