One of the many responsibilities when it comes to organizing a service is creating a wonderful memorial folder for the family. This can mean that you are working with the close family to try and create something that will help memorialize their loved one and be a great way to celebrate their loved one’s life.
There are many tools and resources out there to help with templates and placements of your pictures and words, but the pictures and words can be some of the most important pieces. This simple memorial folder is being handed out to all that attend the funeral, it is important that it is factual and a good representation of the loved one.
Necessary Information
You can use the help of the family you are working with to help gather information about their loved one. This may be a difficult task for some, so the option of giving a deadline to the family may be easier on them if they feel the need to take their time.
Getting information like close family names, pallbearers, surviving family members, time and place of the funeral, and dates of birth and death, can be important pieces to put onto the funeral program. If you run into a situation where you have enough room, or the family wants it to be more personal, you can add things like hobbies, pets, or favorite songs and movies. In the end, your goal is to create a piece that can be treasured by the family years after this.
Pictures
Most of the time, the family will bring a picture of their loved one that they want to be used on the memorial folder and the obituary. No matter the template that you choose to use, this picture can be put into the funeral memorial folder.
If there is room, you can also put in pictures of the loved one throughout their life, baby pictures, prom, a wedding, anything that the family may find important to have in there.
This picture may also be used as the cover of the folder. The cover may be a picture of the loved one, a religious symbol, nature, or even just a quote that the family might love. The cover is the first thing they will see so it is important that it is something they enjoy.
Software and Templates
Funeral software enables funeral directors to not have to double enter information and most software comes with integrations or built-in generators that assist in making these folders. Using programs like Word or Google Docs have many templates that are available to create a trifold or bi-fold program if you need assistance. If you need help with the template itself, there are many funeral program templates online for free and Word has some available as well.
It may take a couple of tries to get it just the way you and the family are hoping for, but in the death care industry, the goal is to create a safe space for the family to mourn and remember their loved one. Creating a great funeral folder is one of the ways to do this.
Since our inception, Osiris Software has been helping funeral homes, cemetery and crematory businesses prosper through innovative solutions and world class customer service.
