How to Plan a Memorial Service for a Loved One

A memorial service for a loved one is celebrated right after the funeral and this celebration is to honor and remember the life and memory of the deceased. Memorial services must be planned well in advance and should be scheduled at a certain date and time wherein the family members and friends are available in order to celebrate the deceased person's life. So here's how to plan a memorial service.

Set the Date and Time

Memorial services must be planned well in accordance to the schedule of the family members and friends who need to travel from other countries and from those who are out of town. It is a good idea to set a date that is close enough for the funeral event that visiting friends and family will be able to attend.

Choose a Location

The location is also another important thing to consider when planning a memorial service. It should be huge enough to be able to accommodate all the people that you plan to invite. Find out how many chairs you will need for the event, including the foods and the arrangement. It is also important to consider whether you want a religious or non religious memorial service.  If the deceased person is Catholic, then a Catholic memorial service should be planned.

Send out Invitations

Come up with a list of friends that you plan on inviting for the memorial service and then prepare the invitations. Make sure that your list will include all of the deceased person's friends and family members. You can choose to create the invitations on your own and you can refer online for the template. You may also purchase printable memorial programs as invitations.

Ask Ideas from Friends and Family

It is also a good idea to ask advice and ideas from friends and family members for the memorial service. The people who personally know the deceased person should be able to give you ideas on his or her favorite color and songs and other mementos that you can use for the memorial service.

Assign Speakers

The most important component of the memorial service is to have some guest speakers who can share their personal perspectives about the deceased person's life and legacy that were left behind. So get in touch with those individuals that you want to be the speaker for the service and make sure that you call them ahead of time so they can include the event on their schedule. It is also a good idea to ask them if there are any resources that they might need such as a screen, microphone, etc.

Ask Help if Needed

It is definitely not easy to plan a memorial service for a loved one especially if the deceased is a family member, friend or your significant other. If you are having trouble with the bereavement process because of the death and you don’t know anything about how to plan a memorial service program, then you may want to ask help from another person or company in preparation of the program.