Memorial Services

What is a Memorial Service?

A memorial service is a ceremony that memorializes and honors the deceased after the body has been cremated or buried. A memorial service has the same meaning of any other type of funeral service; honor and pay tribute to the deceased. The memorial service often takes place weeks or even months after the death has occurred.

Affordable Memorial Services

Unlike a traditional funeral, a memorial service is a gathering where a casket is not present (although the urn with the cremated remains may be on display). A memorial service can be held weeks or even months after the death.

Our memorial services can be held in a church, our affordable funeral home or a community hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration-of-life.
Memorial Service Looking Into The Horizon
How to Plan a Memorial Service Apple Blossom

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 simple memorial service may be the perfect concept to build on.

Memorial Services vs. Funeral

The biggest difference of a traditional funeral and a memorial service is that the body is not present in a casket at a memorial service. However, an urn with the loved one’s ashes may be present at a memorial service. Both traditional funeral services and memorial services have structure, and both bring the community together in support and remembrance. However, a traditional funeral service is much more structured and formal. A traditional funeral service is often associated with religion so it is often led by a member of clergy, whereas a memorial service is led by a celebrant or master of ceremonies. Memorial services often allow for each guest to participate to some level, where guests of a traditional funeral are really just there to observe and reflect.

Memorial Services vs. Celebration of Life

A celebration of life is an event that truly celebrates the loved one’s passions, intellectual pursuits, personality, and personal accomplishments. A celebration of life can really have no structure at all and can be really anything you want.

 

A memorial service could be best described as a gentle mix of a traditional funeral and celebration of life. A memorial service has some structure, but it still allows you the flexibility to make the ceremony unique and personalized to fit the individual being honored. Also the mood generally lies somewhere in the middle of completely somber and celebratory.

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 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?
Memorial Services Ideas Sparkler

Where to Start When Planning a Memorial Service?

We have provided additional information below on planning memorial services and we hope that you'll find these pages useful. As always, we are available if you have any questions as well. Feel free to reach out to us at 201-891-4770 if we can be of service in helping plan your memorial service.
Share by: