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Every funeral is a celebration of life. And one of the best ways to celebrate that life is by surrounding the funeral with memories of how that life was lived. One way to do this is by incorporating a memorial video into your ceremony or the events before or after it. A memorial video is filled with home movies and pictures of your loved one throughout their life, showing just how loved that loved one was. So, how can you put one together, and how can you show it at a funeral? While some funeral homes may be able to help with video services, here are a few steps to take if you want to create one yourself.

When a loved one is cremated, there’s always a question of what to do next. Generally, their ashes will sit in an urn, but what should you do with them? Do they have to stay in the urn?

A hearse is a chariot that carries a loved one between their funeral and their final resting place. It’s a crucial component of a funeral home’s service. After all, anyone would want their loved one to have a dignified ride during an event meant to celebrate their life. But how did today’s hearses come to be? What we think of as hearses nowadays isn’t the first kind of hearse. Hearses come with centuries worth of history.

When people say that they’re planning a funeral, they often mean something that goes beyond what occurs at the actual funeral itself. We consider funeral arrangements to be multi-day events, but that’s not because the service goes on for more than one day. It’s because most people hold additional days to allow people to gather to say goodbye or give their condolences to the loved ones of the person who passed. We call these occasions wakes, viewings, or visitations. Although they’re often used interchangeably, there are some distinct differences between the three. So, what do these events mean?

Planning a funeral isn’t a one-person job. As you go about planning the funeral for a loved one, you’ll find that many people will become involved. Some may help you gather photos to display around the funeral home. You may invite others to do a reading or sing a song during the ceremony. And some people will become pallbearers.

Funeral directors tell us remembrance jewelry and decorative objects are being sought in ever increasing numbers. Fashions change, modern farmhouse is in, cape cod cottages are out, fire pits are in, wood burning fireplaces are out. Things change, but love doesn’t change. Grief is always with us when we lose someone we loved. We always want a connection.

When we celebrate Veterans Day, we’re saying thank you to those who stood as our protectors. So, be sure to thank a veteran on Veterans Day, and thank those who sacrificed alongside them, like their families. The smallest actions, such as spending time sitting down with a veteran in a nursing home, can mean the most to these heroes.

Faith and funerals go together like hand and glove. You can have a hand without a glove and a glove without a hand, but they are frequently together, and when they are, they usually appear as one. First thing to do, when someone you worked with, or played with, or that you cared about has died is to let go of any notion that you will not attend their funeral service because of a difference in faith.