Choosing Between a Funeral or Memorial
Service
By Carole Galassi
Funeral programs can be used in both the funeral and
memorial services. The question then becomes what type
of service to hold, a funeral or a memorial? There is a
difference between the two. The body is not present at
the memorial service. There are varying costs so
research both carefully. Both types of service can
equally be a very special remembrance for all.
The memorial service does not have to be performed in a
church or funeral home, it can be held anywhere that
best associates with the deceased. For example, for the
person loved sailing, the memorial service can be on a
boat, for the beach lover, or it could even be on a
favorite beach. There is more flexibility because the
body is not present. You could even have two memorial
services in different states if family and friends are
between great distances and traveling is not possible.
The funeral service is more formal, typically within a
church background. Because the body is present or
cremated (ashes), the time frame is usually within a
week to a month (if cremation occurred). The cost is
higher then a memorial service because there are
typically more components to it such as an order of
service, music, readings, prayers, body viewing and
testimonials (sharing time) about the deceased. All of
this is typically displayed on a funeral service program
which can be provided by a funeral home or a specially
predesigned program from a funeral program site.
Regardless of which type of service you choose to hold,
highlighting the deceased life and honoring their memory
is the key focus during preparations.
The best place on the web to view funeral songs and find
templates for funeral programs is The Funeral Program
Site. This website has a solid reputation of designing
quality program templates for Microsoft Word, Publisher,
and Apple iWork Pages. There is also a beautiful
selection of templates for funeral prayer cards, thank
you cards, funeral poems, and booklets. |