Funeral program help

When my grandma died, my grandpa was at a totally loss. We had to completely help him deal with the death and funeral, while also grieving ourselves. There wasn’t much money, but we wanted to ensure her memory was properly presented to her community and the rest of the family. For such an important day… it is nice to have someone to help. Before the Internet, there wasn’t much you could do. So, I wanted to highlight this article Sample Funeral Program because something like this would have helped my dad deal with the large task of planning his mother’s funeral. I only wish we had something like this that day…

I haven’t had to plan a funeral myself, but these are great resources mentioned in this article. In the middle of grief and tragedy, it must be so hard to plan an event at the same time. When you think about how much planning just goes into a small, non-emotional event like a picnic or party, it just seems so compounded when you are trying to make decisions and honor a loved one while dealing with grief.

I have come to realize that one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is to tell them what you do (and don’t!) want your funeral to include. When my father died, my mother, sister and I struggled through planning a memorial service and burial while we were still trying to come to grips with his death. He was a retired military man who was very proud of his military service; so, the format of the services were somewhat predetermined by the military tradition.

When my mother became ill she made it a point one day to tell me exactly what she did and didn’t want when she died. She was a very organized woman and even gave me a list! She died five years later after a long illness during which time she would not discuss death or dying. Already knowing what she wanted made all the decisions so much easier. It truely was a gift she game me.

Thanks, Debbie, for Posting that link…

When my dad died, I designed his funeral program. Besides making sure all of the correct information was in there, it was very healing to do something for my dad when he was gone. It was created in a way that I knew he would like. It’s also good to have this information on hand because when a loved one does die, many times, you are too grief-stricken to remember everything.

I like the idea of the list- I think that helps tremendously.  This way you don’t have to figure out if the loved one wouldn’t have wanted this or that.  It’s much better to tell people exactly what you want so that they don’t have to grapple with that. On the other hand, though, I know a lot of people who prefer to do something as it helps them process/deal with their emotions, so I can see the benefits of both.

When my grandfather died, we had made a funeral program and put some good things. Funeral is the great idea to healing our grief. After funeral died person goes rest in peace. Our family members had some relief after his funeral.

Hi Healing,

I’m sure it was a wonderful service.  I think that dependng on the kind of service, is can go a long way in helping to find closure. What kind of funeral was it? Large or small?

We are never really prepared to plan a funeral but it is something all of us must face at some point in our lives. Creating a funeral program does not need to be a long and lengthy process. There are shortcuts you can take and still have that healing process take place.

Utilizing funeral program templates are the best time saver during a time of loss. There are many who have used these types of templates and are able to create beautiful funeral memorials and tributes for their loved one. The healing still begins during the compilation of information that will need to be placed within the program and the end result is a wonderful keepsake that summarizes and highlights a loved one forever. It’s a fact that people keep the funeral program for many years after the service. It is a small item to include but it has lasting effects.

Hello,

Welcome to the forum! I think a template is a great suggestion, and may be a great way to go. As you said, you can still make it memorable and personalize it, but you don’t have to have all the pressure of doing something from scratch- that might really help someone who is suffering through a loss. I’m sure that many just don’t feel up to creating something new- it might feel like a lot of pressure, especially at such a trying time.

Thanks Jacqueline, glad to be here!

Another special type of funeral program that is rising in popularity is the graduated fold funeral programs. Don’t know if anyone has ever seen them but they are really beautiful. We created one for a friend of ours and she was just brought to tears at how special they looked. It just makes me feel good to be able to bring a bit of happiness by providing these programs for her so she can have a keepsake of her husband’s day of tribute (memorial service).

You can get pretty creative these days on the production of funeral programs, there really is no set way to make one. I think as long as it provides a special memory for the loved one, than it can be very special…even if it is as simple as a handwritten program folded in half.

I think it’s great that you joined this forum because you are helping me to see all of the different and creative ways one can go about creating a funeral program. One of things that always strikes me about this particular aspect is that it just seems so hard. To be honest, it also seems a bit overwhelming. The way you put it though, makes it seem as if it’s something that the person can do and do well, so I like that.

Yes, it is true that it can seem overwhelming, especially since we are already dealing with emotions of the loss. Most people find that is enough to deal with but yet they yearn to have a keepsake of their loved one’s life even after the service.

That is why I am such an advocate of using shortcuts when we can, in anything! But finding quality shortcuts can be a challenge. I think the reason why more people are using templates nowadays is because the ground work has already been done and yet you can take 100% of the credit. Ya gotta love that.

It’s hard to try and think creativity when your in shock and in the beginning stages of the loss. It’s really good to have a support system (friends and family) to help us think through the planning stages. There are so many details! But one detail to not forget is producing a program. But sadly, some do forget or choose not to have one. I recently went to a memorial service in which there was no program. There was a difference, hard to explain but I definitely felt it.