Memorial ceremony services are held after or as a replacement for the funeral. They can also be held to mark a person’s death anniversary. A memorial can help the deceased’s loved ones through their grieving process by celebrating and honoring their life. Engaging memorial ceremony providers for the task eases the family’s burden of organizing the event. However, if one plans to organize the service, they will require memorial ceremony supplies and lots of preparation.

Tips for planning a memorial service

Tip 1: Pick your style
While some people conduct memorial ceremony services as formal as a wedding, others like to keep it as informal as a picnic. Once you have decided on the style, you must also assess whether the service will be open to a larger community or the gathering will be small and intimate. You can take suggestions from memorial ceremony providers online or go per the deceased’s wishes. Your choice will depend mostly on your preferences and budget. Further, decide whether children can be accommodated and welcome too.

Tip 2: Select the venue
After you know the number of attendees and your personal style, you next need to decide on the location. It can be any place that reflects the deceased’s interests and personality. For instance, if they love the water, you can conduct a ceremony by the lake. Similarly, if they were a nature lover, you can host this ceremony in the garden. Other interesting venue ideas include the beach, their favorite restaurant, a golf course, or the local park. But if you need something traditional, you can also conduct this ceremony at a funeral home, church, your home, or the hall. Many people prefer having these ceremonies at a funeral home because they can make the most of their amenities, like a microphone, podium, sound system, etc., at no added cost. Alternatively, if you choose to conduct the service at any other venue, you must look for affordable memorial ceremony supply services. You can easily find companies that offer memorial ceremony supply rentals at low rates.

Tip 3: Decide the date
You can conduct these services at any convenient time and date, even months or weeks after the death. Regardless of the date you pick, please check the availability of the desired venue and participants. Please note that you must give them lead time to invite some special out-of-town guests. Some even consider conducting the memorial service on milestone events like the first death anniversary.

Tip 4: Choose your speakers
Usually, when the memorial services are in a religious place, the clergy members lead them. They will help you understand the roles of other speakers, such as eulogies, scriptures, and readings. Typically, the clergy members know the deceased and work with you to pick meaningful readings having personal touches.

Alternatively, you can look for a funeral celebrant online. Also known as secular celebrants, funeral celebrants are professional speakers who work with family members to lead and create memorial ceremony services. Their role might range from conducting the entire service to streamlining the sharing by other participants.

Some people do not like hiring professional memorial ceremony providers and want their friends and family to conduct the service. So, identify the people who can contribute testimonials, stories, readings, or poems. Further, assign the eulogy to somebody close to the deceased who can briefly summarize their pivotal life events and special memories or celebrate their relationship with them.

Tip 5: Include some activities
Some people celebrate their beloved’s life by having good music and dancing to a live band, while others honor the deceased’s interests as a way to say goodbye. For instance, you can release butterflies, doves, or balloons at the end of the life celebration or celebrate their volunteer work by accepting donations for a cause or conducting a toy drive at the funeral party. You can find several memorial ceremony supply services that can help you organize these activities.

Tip 6: Invite your guests
Once you have settled on the place, time, and date, you will want to send out invitations to the guests. A social media post or a public announcement in the newspaper can help you reach several people quickly. Of course, individual emails, letters, and phone calls can be more personal, but it depends on the time available. While drawing up the invitation list, do not forget to browse through the deceased’s cell phone contacts or the address book.

Tip 7: Decide on the food
Having food during the memorial service is a popular tradition. So, it could be anything like light refreshments at a church, or you can have a catered reception where an individual or company takes care of all the memorial ceremony supplies. Alternatively, you can organize the gathering at a restaurant or have close family or friends contribute to the finger foods.

Tip 8: Gather the memorabilia or pictures
Do not forget to have a personalized space to showcase your favorite mementos or pictures that depict the deceased’s personality. It is a great way to relive the memories. Companies offering memorial ceremony supply rentals can help you get a board where you can put up these pictures.