The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Hologram Eulogies: Recording a 3D Message for Your Own Funeral (How the Tech Works)

Hologram Eulogies: Recording a 3D Message for Your Own Funeral (How the Tech Works)

There’s a moment that arrives for many families—sometimes quietly, sometimes all at once—when the conversation shifts from “What happened?” to “What do we do now?” In the past, that moment...

Writing a Song or Poem for Someone Who Died: Prompts to Start Even If You’re Not a Writer

Writing a Song or Poem for Someone Who Died: Prompts to Start Even If You’re Not a Writer

When someone dies, language can feel both too small and too heavy. People hand you sympathy cards with perfect sentences, and somehow your own mouth can’t find a single one...

Living Funeral Explained: How to Plan a Celebration of Life Before Death - Funeral.com, Inc.

Living Funeral Explained: How to Plan a Celebration of Life Before Death

There are moments in serious illness and advanced age when time feels both precious and strangely unreal. Conversations get postponed because everyone is trying to stay hopeful, and yet the...

Creating a Goodbye Video Message to Send After You Die: A Practical, Private Guide - Funeral.com, Inc.

Creating a Goodbye Video Message to Send After You Die: A Practical, Private Guide

Most people don’t set out to make a “legacy video.” They start with something simpler: the wish that the people they love won’t feel alone in the quiet weeks after....

How to Ask Someone to Speak at a Memorial (Ask to Give a Eulogy) - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Ask Someone to Speak at a Memorial (Ask to Give a Eulogy)

There’s a particular kind of nervousness that shows up when you’re planning a memorial service. It’s not only the logistics. It’s the human part: deciding who should speak, and then...

Eulogies at Home: How to Deliver One Simply, Even If You’re Nervous - Funeral.com, Inc.

Eulogies at Home: How to Deliver One Simply, Even If You’re Nervous

The day a family gathers at home, grief often arrives as ordinary logistics. Someone moves the coffee table. A neighbor drops off food. A cousin brings extra chairs. And in...

Framed Handwriting With Vinyl Decals: How to Turn a Loved One’s Note Into Wall Art - Funeral.com, Inc.

Framed Handwriting With Vinyl Decals: How to Turn a Loved One’s Note Into Wall Art

You might find it folded into a cookbook, tucked in a desk drawer, or slipped inside a birthday card you couldn’t throw away. It’s small, ordinary paper—just a quick line,...

Holograms at Funerals and Eulogies: What’s Possible, What It Costs, and When It Feels Right - Funeral.com, Inc.

Holograms at Funerals and Eulogies: What’s Possible, What It Costs, and When It Feels Right

A funeral or celebration of life is one of the few gatherings where the room itself matters. People arrive carrying stories, guilt about what they didn’t say, gratitude for what...

How Long Should a Eulogy Be? Typical Time Limits and How to Stay Within Them - Funeral.com, Inc.

How Long Should a Eulogy Be? Typical Time Limits and How to Stay Within Them

When someone you love dies, the pressure to “say it right” can feel enormous. A eulogy is one of the few moments in a service where ordinary language is allowed...

Humor in a Eulogy: When It Works, When It Doesn’t, and Examples of “Safe” Warmth - Funeral.com, Inc.

Humor in a Eulogy: When It Works, When It Doesn’t, and Examples of “Safe” Warmth

Most people don’t worry about being “funny” at a funeral. They worry about getting through the first sentence without shaking, about saying something true without falling apart, and about honoring...

How to Write a Memorial Program: What to Include and What to Skip - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Write a Memorial Program: What to Include and What to Skip

A memorial program is one of those small details that ends up doing big work. It gives people something steady to hold in their hands when emotions are high. It...

How to Write an Inscription for a Marker: Short Wording Examples - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Write an Inscription for a Marker: Short Wording Examples

There are a few tasks in grief and funeral planning that look simple on a checklist and then feel unexpectedly heavy when you sit down to do them. Writing an...

How to Write a Note to Include With Keepsake Urns: Gentle Phrasing - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Write a Note to Include With Keepsake Urns: Gentle Phrasing

There are moments in grief where the “practical” choice carries a surprising amount of emotional weight. Sharing a portion of cremated remains is one of those moments. You might be...

Celebration of Life Quotes: Short, Uplifting Sayings for Programs, Speeches, and Tributes - Funeral.com, Inc.

Celebration of Life Quotes: Short, Uplifting Sayings for Programs, Speeches, and Tributes

In grief, you can know exactly who someone was and still feel stuck when you’re asked to “choose a few words.” A blank line on a program. A caption under...

The Cardinal’s Message in Grief: Meaning, Stories, and Sympathy Quotes You Can Share - Funeral.com, Inc.

The Cardinal’s Message in Grief: Meaning, Stories, and Sympathy Quotes You Can Share

Sometimes grief arrives like a wave. Other times it arrives like a small, bright flash at the edge of your vision—a red bird on a fence post, a cardinal in...

Sympathy Messages That Don’t Sound Generic: Examples for Cards, Texts, and Flowers - Funeral.com, Inc.

Sympathy Messages That Don’t Sound Generic: Examples for Cards, Texts, and Flowers

There’s a particular kind of awkward silence that shows up after a death when you want to reach out, your heart is in the right place, and yet every sentence...