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.

Funeral Etiquette for Immediate Family: What to Wear, Where to Sit, and How to Navigate the Service

Funeral Etiquette for Immediate Family: What to Wear, Where to Sit, and How to Navigate the Service

If you are immediate family at a funeral, you are rarely “just attending.” You are grieving, you are being watched with gentle concern, and you are often carrying invisible responsibilities—answering...

Keepsake Jewelry Gift Etiquette: When It’s Appropriate

Keepsake Jewelry Gift Etiquette: When It’s Appropriate

There is a particular kind of love that shows up in grief: the quiet urge to do something tangible when words feel thin. You want the person you care about...

Hugging at Funerals: Reading Body Language and Offering Comfort Without Overstepping

Hugging at Funerals: Reading Body Language and Offering Comfort Without Overstepping

In a funeral home lobby or a church foyer, grief has its own tempo. You can feel it in the hush of the receiving line and the split-second hesitation before...

Arriving Late to a Funeral: Seating Etiquette and What to Do at the Door

Arriving Late to a Funeral: Seating Etiquette and What to Do at the Door

Traffic happens. Parking lots fill up. Schedules collide. If you are arriving late to a funeral, the worry is usually not “Will anyone notice?” so much as “How do I...

Cell Phone Etiquette at Funerals: Silence, Photos, Emergencies, and When It’s Okay to Text

Cell Phone Etiquette at Funerals: Silence, Photos, Emergencies, and When It’s Okay to Text

A funeral has a particular kind of silence—one built from respect and the effort people make to hold themselves together. A ringtone or bright screen can cut through that quiet...

Eastern Orthodox “Mercy Meal” After a Funeral: What It Is and Guest Etiquette

Eastern Orthodox “Mercy Meal” After a Funeral: What It Is and Guest Etiquette

After an Eastern Orthodox funeral and burial, there is often a moment that feels both quiet and surprisingly tender. The prayers have been offered. The committal has been made. People...

Buddhist Funeral Etiquette: Offering Incense, Bowing, and What to Do If You’re Unsure

Buddhist Funeral Etiquette: Offering Incense, Bowing, and What to Do If You’re Unsure

You arrive a few minutes early, because it feels safer to be early when you’re walking into unfamiliar rituals. The room is quiet in the specific way grief makes a...

Irish Wake Drinking Etiquette: What’s Normal, What to Avoid, and How to Be Respectful

Irish Wake Drinking Etiquette: What’s Normal, What to Avoid, and How to Be Respectful

The first time you walk into an Irish wake, you may feel two emotions at once: grief for the family, and uncertainty about what’s expected of you. You might hear...

Virtual Funerals on Zoom: Step-by-Step Setup, Privacy Settings, and Host Checklist

Virtual Funerals on Zoom: Step-by-Step Setup, Privacy Settings, and Host Checklist

A zoom funeral or virtual memorial service Zoom can feel surprisingly intimate. When travel isn’t possible, when health concerns make gathering complicated, or when family is spread across time zones,...

Venmo for Funeral Donations: Etiquette, Notes, and Privacy Settings

Venmo for Funeral Donations: Etiquette, Notes, and Privacy Settings

When someone dies, many families experience a strange mix of urgency and fog. There are calls to make, decisions to sign, and costs that arrive before grief has even had...

Is Cremation Jewelry Tacky or Beautiful? Etiquette, Style, and Talking with Family

Is Cremation Jewelry Tacky or Beautiful? Etiquette, Style, and Talking with Family

The question usually arrives in a whisper, not a declaration. Someone scrolls late at night, sees a pendant that can hold ashes, and thinks, “That might help.” Then another voice—sometimes...

Where Should Flowers Go? Sending to the Funeral Home vs. Sending to the Family’s Home

Where Should Flowers Go? Sending to the Funeral Home vs. Sending to the Family’s Home

If you have ever found yourself staring at a checkout page thinking, “I want to be kind, but I do not want to make this harder,” you are in very...

Tipping Funeral Musicians: When the Fee Is Enough (and When an Extra Honorarium Makes Sense)

Tipping Funeral Musicians: When the Fee Is Enough (and When an Extra Honorarium Makes Sense)

If you are planning a funeral or memorial, there is a particular kind of stress that shows up in the small, practical questions. Music is one of them. A singer...

Do You Tip the Funeral Director? Etiquette, When to Skip It, and Better Ways to Show Appreciation

Do You Tip the Funeral Director? Etiquette, When to Skip It, and Better Ways to Show Appreciation

If you are asking do you tip the funeral director, it usually means something important happened: someone treated your family with steadiness and care at a moment when you were...

What to Bring When Visiting a Grave Later: Flowers, Keepsakes, and Etiquette

What to Bring When Visiting a Grave Later: Flowers, Keepsakes, and Etiquette

Weeks or months after a funeral, life has usually resumed on the outside. Work emails arrive. Grocery lists still need to be made. People ask how you’re doing and expect...

When (and Whether) to Remove a Wedding Ring After a Spouse Dies

When (and Whether) to Remove a Wedding Ring After a Spouse Dies

In the days after a spouse dies, the smallest objects can feel impossibly heavy. A mug they always used. A sweater still holding their scent. And, often, the wedding ring...