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Creative Funeral Guest Register Ideas
By Mary Hickey
Most funeral or memorial services have a guest book or
register book. A typical funeral guest book has a place
for the loved one's photo and then lined pages for
friends and family to sign in.
While this is traditionally the way it's been done, I
believe there are some ways to improve the books to make
them more of a keepsake for generations to come. What
value will a book with people's names in it have to the
next generation?
Personally, I've lost both sets of grandparents, and I'm
sure my parents have not kept the register book from
their parent's funerals. Why? Not because they intended
to dispose of it, but perhaps because they didn't see
the importance in it, since names written in a book
simply don't have much value. So what kind of guest book
would capture the essence of the person and then have
great value? How about if friends and family wrote their
memories of the departed on cards and then the cards
were added to the book? Grief counselors suggest that
people write down their thoughts and have found the
writing of thoughts and memories is very cathartic.
I would love to have such a book to have a glimpse of my
grandparents' and great grandparents' lives. It would
have been so interesting to hear what people remembered
most about them. Imagine what I could have learned about
them and perhaps about myself in the process.
It would also be nice to have a summary of their
passions and interest, what food they liked, where they
went to school, where they worked, what clubs they
belonged to, and what their hobbies were. You can create
a book like this yourself using a plain scrapbook,
allowing people to write a message or memory inside. Or
you can buy a memorial book online which includes cards
for writing memories and pages for listing other
information about your loved one.
Some unique guest book or funeral book ideas include:
* A place to add memories - where attendee's memories
are shared
* A place for photos. Ideally if the person who wrote on
the memory card is in the photo, the memory card can be
placed next to the photo in the book
* Ring binding, so the pages where guests sign in can be
located in two or three places at the service, and there
is not a long line of people waiting to sign in. The
pages can be added back into the book after the service
* Removable pages in case you choose not to fill out
some pages
* An area to add your own thoughts or your own farewell
message to your loved one
* Extra pages to include additional photos
* A place to keep track of those who sent flowers,
brought over a meal or helped you through this difficult
time so you can be sure to send a thank-you note
I hope you find the ideas helpful and you're able to
create a one-of-a-kind tribute book to your loved one.
Find memorial books and more at Funeral Gifts and
Memorial Cards
Wooden guest book with space for cards and photos:
Memorial Guest Book
Mary Hickey is an urn designer and thought leader in the
funeral industry. For some drastically needed new life
celebration ideas, contemporary memorial poems and
verses visit her site Next Gen Memorials. She is
co-founder of Renaissance Urn Company, based in San
Francisco. |
