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.
Crowdfunding a Funeral: Best Platforms, Common Fees, and Tips for a Successful Fundraiser
Most families don’t plan to become fundraisers. You’re trying to answer calls, choose a date, locate paperwork, and figure out what kind of goodbye fits the person you love. And...
Funeral Assistance Programs: Where to Get Help Paying for a Funeral or Cremation
If you’re reading this because you can’t afford a funeral right now, you’re not alone—and you’re not doing anything wrong. Death has a way of arriving alongside bills, deadlines, and...
Funeral Insurance vs Life Insurance vs Payable-on-Death Accounts: How to Cover Final Expenses
When someone dies, the paperwork is heavy—but the first pressure families often feel is simpler: money, fast. Funeral homes commonly need payment on a short timeline, and even when relatives...
Your Funeral Consumer Rights: How the FTC Funeral Rule Helps You Get Clear Prices
When you’re making funeral arrangements, it can feel like you’re learning a new language in the middle of grief. You’re trying to do the right thing, protect your family, and...
Funeral Planning Checklist: Step-by-Step From the First Call to Final Arrangements
Planning a funeral or memorial can feel like you’re being asked to make decisions with a heavy heart and a tired brain. Even families who are organized in everyday life...
How to Choose a Funeral Home: 10 Questions to Ask and Red Flags to Avoid
If you are searching how to choose a funeral home, you are probably doing it under pressure. A death has just happened (or is close), and you may feel like...
Pre-Need vs. At-Need Funeral Planning: Key Differences, Costs, and Pros & Cons
Most families don’t start funeral planning because they feel “ready.” They start because a life is changing, a diagnosis is clarifying priorities, a parent is getting older, or they’ve watched...
Living Funerals: What They Are, Why People Hold Them, and How to Plan One
A “living funeral” sounds like a contradiction until you hear what it really means. It’s a gathering held while someone is still alive—often because time feels precious, or because the...
Legacy Projects: Writing Letters to Your Children for Future Milestones
There’s a certain kind of love that doesn’t fit neatly into the present tense. It’s the love behind a lunchbox note, a late-night “text me when you get there,” and...
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....
Is Alkaline Hydrolysis Legal in Your State?: Status Map + How to Verify
If you’re reading this, you’re probably doing one of the hardest kinds of research: the kind you do while grieving, or while trying to plan ahead so your family doesn’t...
GBC-Certified Green Burial Cemeteries Serving Wyoming (2026): Provider Map, Costs & Alternatives
When a family in Wyoming starts searching for green burial Wyoming or natural burial Wyoming, it usually isn’t because they want something trendy. It’s because a loss has made everything feel...
GBC-Certified Green Burial Cemeteries Serving Wisconsin (2026): Provider Map, Costs & Alternatives
Most families don’t start with a philosophy. They start with a person. Someone who loved the outdoors, someone who asked for “no fuss,” someone who always worried about waste. When...
GBC-Certified Green Burial Cemeteries Serving West Virginia (2026): Provider Map, Costs & Alternatives
If you’re reading this, you’re probably doing two hard things at once: caring about someone you love, and trying to make practical decisions that won’t create more stress later. When...