Memorial Service Information
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.
A memorial service is an alternative to a traditional funeral service that can allow for flexibility. Memorial services do not usually include the presence of a casket. However, an urn for the individual's ashes may be present depending on the family's wishes. Memorial services do follow a structure, but it doesn't need to be followed as strictly as that of a funeral service. Having the ability to hold the service at any time following an individual's death as well as the available room for creativity makes it easier for families to come up with unforgettable memorial service ideas.
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.
Memorials 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.
Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a
celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on.
Why Choose a Memorial Service?
We find the most common reason people choose a memorial service is that they want the extra time to plan a ceremony. Since a memorial service can take place after the body has been buried or cremation, there is no rush to organize a ceremony.
Immediately following a death, families are not emotionally ready to have a ceremony – They need time to grieve. Relatives and friends that live far away can organize their schedule to travel for the memorial service.
- Often those not religious choose to have a memorial service as opposed to a traditional funeral because traditional funerals are more often associated with religion.
- Memorial services tend to be cheaper than holding a traditional funeral
- As mentioned above, for some people memorial services serve as the perfect compromise between a celebration of life and traditional funeral service.
- Some people find celebrations of life do not pay enough attention to the deceased and turn into solely a party
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 ideas can become more personal and meaningful.
If a 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?
If you answer all of these questions, you will have no trouble coming up with meaningful memorial service ideas.
Memorial Service Planning Considerations
Use of a Civil Celebrant
Often memorial services are led by celebrants. A celebrant is a person who has been trained to conduct formal ceremonies, such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. They are not clergy; instead they are experienced masters-of-ceremony and story-tellers. A celebrant works closely with surviving family to create a ceremony which reflects the beliefs, cultural background, values and aspirations of your deceased loved one, and your family. If you think you would be best served by a celebrant, please speak with your funeral director.
Places to Hold a Memorial Service
You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to a location especially since the body will not be present. We have had families hold memorial services at beaches, community centers, parks, restaurants, banquet halls, and at family homes. For some that want some religious facets it is probably best choose a place of worship. Keep mind that you want a space/location that can hold a large group of people and that has the amenities for any of the features you have planned. For example, if you want a photo slideshow, choosing the beach as your location would not be ideal.
We're Here to Help
We're here to assist and guide you in the memorial service planning process. Using the above five questions as our guide, we will spend the time to help create a fitting memorial service for your loved one. Please call us to learn the details of how to plan a memorial service.
For creative memorial service ideas, visit our celebration of life planning page.
