Creative ideas of how to make a loved one’s funeral special

Funerals tend to be services that are deeply rooted in tradition and heritage. Whilst following traditions can provide great comfort during times of grief, many families also like to recognise and pay tribute to the unique and special factors that made up an individual. Incorporating some creative funeral ideas into the service can be a lovely way to personalise the service and make it a more special and meaningful way to honour and remember your loved one.

 

Here are some creative ideas of how to make a loved one’s funeral special.

It is becoming more and more common for families to forgo the traditional black mourning colours and instead invite the guests to attend wearing the favourite colours of their loved one.

There are several classic songs which are often played at funerals, but you don’t have to choose the traditional hymns or songs. Why not pick a couple of your loved one’s favourite songs and incorporate them into the funeral service as a way to personalise it and make it more special? This post can give you more inspiration on how to use music within a funeral service. 

 

One way in which you can personalise a funeral service is by offering the favourite food and drink of the person that has passed away. If that happens to be pizza and a cosmopolitan – why not? It’s a good way to lift the mood and help celebrate by sharing in the things that were especially enjoyed in life. You might be worried about whether humour has a place at a funeral, but it is often the wish of families that the funeral be an uplifting celebration of life, and sometimes humour can be appropriate in that respect.

Have a freestanding display board, or a table decorated with pictures of the loved one throughout their life. Include pens and card so people can write down their special memories. This is a great way for people to relive and remember good times, and also makes a lovely keepsake for the family to read and look back on time and time again.

 

Butterflies are seen as symbolising both beauty and transformation. Releasing butterflies at a funeral can be a beautiful and poignant way to honour and remember a loved one. 

An unusual way to remember a loved one is asking the guests to create memorial stones. Ask them to use markers to write on stones a favourite memory, phrase, special quote or something that reminds them of the deceased. These can then be placed in gardens, or spread around in places with special meaning.

Fireworks are used for celebrations and marking occasions all over the world, and having a firework display could be a special and uplifting way of honouring your loved one’s memory. You can even have your loved one’s ashes added to fireworks for a truly unique send off.

Giving a gift to guests at the funeral can be a lovely way to honour the memory of a loved one. Ideas for this might be seeds for planting trees or flowers to remember the loved one as they grow, or perhaps a copy of their favourite book. It could simply be a little card with a printing of a well used quote or phrase. It’s a great way to give people something physical to remember their loved one by.