In the past, you could visit the headstone or plaque of your loved one or scatter their ashes, and that was all the options when it came to funeral memorials. As we’ve started to have larger funeral services and accepted grief, there are now many options to choose from when remembering your loved one.
If you’d like to remember those who attended the service, there are some beautiful keepsakes you could put out. From intricate notebooks to wooden trees with leaves to write on, those who attend can leave their name and their favourite memory of your loved one for you to look back on later. You could also ask those attending to bring their favourite photo of the person and leave a book out to secure the photos in and leave messages under. This is a lovely thing to look back through, and if you don’t know all their friends well, then it could help you learn new stories and see new photos of your loved one. Leaving out items like this can also help people start talking and swapping stories at the service.
Other funeral keepsake ideas include a personalised photo frame so they will always have a space in your home, and commissioning artwork. This can be a portrait of the person, or you could tell the artist their favourite colours, animals, or hobbies, and create a unique art piece that reminds you of them. These items can be painful to see at first, as they remind you that they’re no longer with you, but over time, your grief will ease, and you’ll be able to think of happier times when you see the art or photo.
Many people no longer want flowers at a funeral but instead ask for charity donations. If this is the case for you, you could print out a donation confirmation and frame it to help you remember the legacy of the person.
Suggestions for Your Loved One’s Ashes
If your loved one’s service involves cremation, their ashes can be divided by the funeral home if several members of their family want to have them. If you’re keeping the ashes, there are many urn designs to choose from to suit your tastes and remind you of the person. You could place a photo of them next to the urn to create a nice tribute to them. If you’re scattering their ashes, make sure you’ve got the necessary permissions and choose a beautiful place that you enjoy visiting so you’ll feel peaceful and happy when there in the future, thinking of the person.
There are also more unconventional things you can do with ashes to create a keepsake item. Several companies can turn the ashes into jewellery, so you can wear the ashes every day and keep the person close to your heart. We mentioned art above, some artists will incorporate the ashes into a painting or sculpture. Ashes are also good nutrients for soil, so you could plant a tree or bush as a memorial and use the ashes to help it grow.
Funeral Guest Memorial Items
Some people choose to create keepsakes for guests attending a funeral. If you’d like to do this, make sure you know how many people are coming so no one is left out. Ideas for this are small plastic or laminated cards to go in wallets that have the person’s photo and dates of life on, and a meaningful poem on the back. You could also give seeds so they can think of the person as the flowers or plant grows. Another option is a candle in the person’s favourite scent, so mourners can light it when they’re thinking of the person. You could get stickers of a photo of the person and place them on the jars for a special touch.
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