What Do You Do At A Memorial Service?

Cake values integrity and transparency. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible. We likewise may earn committee from purchases made through chapter links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more in our affiliate disclosure.

A memorial service is a commemorative event without the body nowadays. It provides a designated time and space for loved ones to grieve and support each other. The service tin be held weeks or months after the death, assuasive loved ones more time to program and more flexibility with appointment and location.

Jump alee to these sections:

How is memorial service dissimilar from a funeral?
Is a memorial service the same as a celebration of life service?
Why accept a memorial service?
What are memorial services similar?
Where can I accept a memorial service?

A memorial service can even be in addition to a traditional funeral service, either for a broader audition, for loved ones who could not nourish the funeral or even emphasize a unlike aspect of remembrance.

COVID-19 tip: If you're planning a Zoom memorial service using a service like GatheringUs, the order of service, etiquette, and timing will vary. Consult with the funeral manager, event planner, or religious leader to see what changes will be made to the ceremony, wake, and reception. And, make sure to add the proper links, passcodes, online funeral etiquette, and troubleshooting instructions to your online guests at least a day or ii before the funeral.

Tip:If you lot are the executor for a deceased loved ane, handling their unfinished business organisation tin can be overwhelming without a way to organize your process. We take a post-loss checklist that will help y'all ensure that your loved ane's family, estate, and other affairs are taken care of.

How is memorial service different from a funeral?

More often than not speaking, the two terms tin refer to the same concept: a gathering to honor the life of the deceased. Where they differ is that the trunk or cremated remains are nowadays for a funeral, simply by and large not then for a memorial service.

In other words, a memorial service focuses on activity #i below, while a funeral combines #1 and #2.

Commemorative gathering: Horning the life of the person who died in a funeral abode, religious centre, private home, etc
Final disposition: The burial of the trunk, or scattering of the cremated remains

Memorial services that take place afterward burying or cremation are increasingly replacing or supplementing "traditional funeral services" where the trunk present.

This tin can also allow for a more individual disposition ceremony if desired.

Is a memorial service the same as a commemoration of life service?

A commemoration of life is a particular style of memorial service with a focus on celebrating the deceased's life in a positive, uplifting environment. Laughter and storytelling often find their way into this more celebratory, less somber, affair .

Celebrations of life tin can stand alone or be incorporated as a component of a more traditional service. For some, the best organisation is to hold a commemoration of life that is supplemental to a traditional funeral or memorial service.

For others, a celebration of life equally the sole memorial gathering is most plumbing equipment. Some may opt to have a smaller celebration of life gathering with family and close friends to share food, chat, laughs, photos, and a drinking glass of champagne or Guinness in honour of their loved one.

Why take a memorial service?

Text about memorial services with an image of candles in the background

We are often uncomfortable imagining others meeting to hash out our lives or anxious nigh burdening loved ones with the associated costs of an upshot like this. Many of us have been to poorly-officiated services that don't reverberate the life and values of the person being honored, and want to avoid that fate ourselves.

But many bereavement experts emphasize how important a funeral or memorial service can be in helping loved ones process a loss and work through grief. Ceremonies assist people acknowledge the reality of death and encourage expressions of grief and gratitude.

A funeral or memorial service offers the opportunity to come together to grieve in the presence of a caring customs and to fully inhabit the experience of loss.

As Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell reminds us, "If it is washed well, the service volition bring at least a partial sense of closure to the void that one feels at these times. The purpose of all ritual is transformation: Nosotros come to the service in one state, we leave in another."

What are memorial services like?

In our era of increasing personalization, memorial services are a blank slate for a highly-personalized goodbye. Generally, a memorial service is more than relaxed than a funeral, with fewer "rules."

The memorial service is usually planned by the deceased'due south loved ones and can be customized to their wishes. Typically, there is a formal component to a memorial service that will include music and remembrances from family and friends.

Slideshows with photos or video footage of the deceased can be a wonderful visual tribute. Some families create a memory table with the deceased'southward honey objects. Sometimes, a celebrant or loved one will offer a "take-abroad" memento to guests that are symbolic of the deceased's unique qualities as a treasured reminder.

For examples, check out how to programme a memorial service .

Where can I have a memorial service?

Text about where you can have a memorial service with an image of the ocean in the background

Houses of worship or funeral homes are common locations for a memorial service. However at that place is a groovy deal of flexibility as to where memorial services can be held. If you have the infinite for the anniversary, parking, and perhaps a reception, a memorial can even happen at a private home.

If the service includes a ceremonial deed, such as scattering of ashes, consider ideal locations that had meaning to the deceased (a special overlook, perhaps). Be sure the location can still support the practicalities of the service e.g., if scattering ashes offshore is part of the anniversary, be sure you have secured a boat that will fit attendees.

Planning a memorial service

If this sort of service seems like a expert fit for y'all or your loved 1, get-go working out some of the details in advance.

If you're planning for yourself or a loved 1, be sure to record your preferences as yous go. It's piece of cake to explore, document, and share all your funeral planning wishes by signing upwards for a free Cake end-of-life planning account.

Desire to learn more nigh specific burial or cremation options? Check out how does cremation work and agreement your light-green burial options.