Funeral Planning Checklist: Steps to Honor Your Loved One
This checklist can help you organize a meaningful and well-structured funeral service that honors your loved one's memory during this challenging time.
- Schedule Funeral Date and Time:
- Consider religious customs, funeral home availability, and the convenience of family and friends when choosing the date and time.
- Write Invitations:
- Include all essential ceremony details, such as dress code.
- Consider adding your loved one's photo and a brief statement about their life to personalize the invitations.
- Select an Officiant:
- Choose a trusted officiant responsible for organizing and structuring the service.
- The officiant may deliver the eulogy and lead any religious elements, so it's essential to feel comfortable sharing your family's stories with them.
- Invite Speakers:
- Reach out to close friends and family members who can eloquently memorialize your loved one with words.
- Consider asking the person who wrote your loved one's obituary to speak.
- Note that some religious traditions may not include eulogies, or they may only allow one.
- Prepare Personal Elements:
- Gather music, scriptures, poems, photographs, and videos to personalize the service.
- Enlist the help of others close to your loved one for preparation, recitation, or display.
- Arrange for Flowers:
- Use flowers to further personalize the service for your mother, friends, and family.
- Think about meaningful flowers and where to place them.
- Assign Pallbearers:
- Designate six to eight pallbearers to assist in carrying the casket to its final resting place.
- If there is no casket, assign pallbearers for other important responsibilities.
- Pallbearers can be men or women, friends or family, and this role is considered an honor.
There is a consumer advocacy “Bill of Rights” to guide your rights as a consumer in this process.
A more in depth blog on this topic can be found here - Step-By-Step Guide to Planning a Funeral from Beginning to End
Funeral Planning Checklist: Steps to Honor Your Loved One
This checklist can help you organize a meaningful and well-structured funeral service that honors your loved one's memory during this challenging time.
- Schedule Funeral Date and Time:
- Consider religious customs, funeral home availability, and the convenience of family and friends when choosing the date and time.
- Write Invitations:
- Include all essential ceremony details, such as dress code.
- Consider adding your loved one's photo and a brief statement about their life to personalize the invitations.
- Select an Officiant:
- Choose a trusted officiant responsible for organizing and structuring the service.
- The officiant may deliver the eulogy and lead any religious elements, so it's essential to feel comfortable sharing your family's stories with them.
- Invite Speakers:
- Reach out to close friends and family members who can eloquently memorialize your loved one with words.
- Consider asking the person who wrote your loved one's obituary to speak.
- Note that some religious traditions may not include eulogies, or they may only allow one.
- Prepare Personal Elements:
- Gather music, scriptures, poems, photographs, and videos to personalize the service.
- Enlist the help of others close to your loved one for preparation, recitation, or display.
- Arrange for Flowers:
- Use flowers to further personalize the service for your mother, friends, and family.
- Think about meaningful flowers and where to place them.
- Assign Pallbearers:
- Designate six to eight pallbearers to assist in carrying the casket to its final resting place.
- If there is no casket, assign pallbearers for other important responsibilities.
- Pallbearers can be men or women, friends or family, and this role is considered an honor.
There is a consumer advocacy “Bill of Rights” to guide your rights as a consumer in this process.
A more in depth blog on this topic can be found here - Step-By-Step Guide to Planning a Funeral from Beginning to End