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.

What Is a Typical Funeral Program?

What Is a Typical Funeral Program?

Funerals are moments filled with profound reflection, remembrance, and love, times when families and friends come together to honor a life that has left a lasting mark. They are both...

What Is the Proper Etiquette for Thank You Cards for Funerals?

What Is the Proper Etiquette for Thank You Cards for Funerals?

Grief can feel like an unrelenting tide, pulling you in different directions as you navigate the days after a funeral. Each morning may bring the ache of absence, while the...

Is a Black Dress OK for a Funeral?

Is a Black Dress OK for a Funeral?

Funerals are moments of profound reflection and heartfelt remembrance, where emotions run high and even the smallest gestures carry deep meaning. During these times, what you wear can communicate empathy,...

Funeral Scams and High-Pressure Tactics: Red Flags to Watch For and How to Push Back

Funeral Scams and High-Pressure Tactics: Red Flags to Watch For and How to Push Back

You’re grieving, and you’re making expensive decisions you’ve probably never had to make before. That combination is exactly why funeral scams and high-pressure funeral sales tactics can work so well,...

Choosing Funeral Flowers: What to Pick and Why It Matters

Choosing Funeral Flowers: What to Pick and Why It Matters

Choosing funeral flowers can feel heavier than it sounds. You are not just picking something that looks nice—you are selecting a symbol meant to sit quietly beside grief. When people...

Wake, Viewing, Visitation, and Funeral: What Each One Means and How They’re Different

Wake, Viewing, Visitation, and Funeral: What Each One Means and How They’re Different

If you’ve ever found yourself Googling wake vs viewing or visitation vs funeral at 1 a.m., you’re not alone. Families often inherit a swirl of terms in the days after...

Types of Headstones and Grave Markers: Materials, Styles, and How They Age

Types of Headstones and Grave Markers: Materials, Styles, and How They Age

Choosing a headstone can feel strangely difficult. Not because you don’t love your person enough to decide—because you do—but because you’re being asked to translate a whole life into a...

Traveling to a Funeral: Etiquette, Planning, and Making the Most of Time with Family

Traveling to a Funeral: Etiquette, Planning, and Making the Most of Time with Family

Traveling for a funeral is one of those trips you never wanted to make and yet feel deeply compelled to take. You may be staring at flight prices, juggling childcare...

What to Write in a Sympathy Card: Messages for Friends, Coworkers, and Acquaintances

What to Write in a Sympathy Card: Messages for Friends, Coworkers, and Acquaintances

Staring at a blank sympathy card can feel strangely intimidating. You care about the person who is grieving, you want to say the right thing, and yet every phrase you...

Cremation vs. Burial: A Guide to Aftercare Options

Cremation vs. Burial: A Guide to Aftercare Options

The hardest decisions after a loss often arrive quietly—after the appointment, after the goodbyes, after the first night when the house feels different. For many families, that’s when “aftercare” becomes...

Memorial Service: A Gentle, Practical Guide to Planning One That Feels Like Them

Memorial Service: A Gentle, Practical Guide to Planning One That Feels Like Them

There’s a particular kind of quiet that follows a loss. It’s the quiet after the calls are made, after the immediate logistics begin to settle, and you realize you still...

Digital Legacy Planning: Passwords, Social Media, and What Happens to Your Online Life After Death

Digital Legacy Planning: Passwords, Social Media, and What Happens to Your Online Life After Death

The first time you notice it, it can feel strangely ordinary: a phone lights up with a “Memories” notification, a calendar reminder pings, an auto-payment emails a receipt. Grief is...

Moving a Grave: Laws, Permits, and Costs of Exhuming and Reburying a Loved One

Moving a Grave: Laws, Permits, and Costs of Exhuming and Reburying a Loved One

Most families don’t set out expecting to think about moving a grave. It usually starts with a quieter truth: someone can’t travel anymore, the family has scattered across states, a spouse...

Good Sympathy Gifts That Actually Help

Good Sympathy Gifts That Actually Help

When someone is grieving, the most meaningful sympathy gifts are rarely elaborate. What helps most are gestures that quietly reduce emotional and practical strain while reminding the person they are...

Helping a Friend or Relative with Funeral Planning: What’s Actually Helpful vs Overstepping

Helping a Friend or Relative with Funeral Planning: What’s Actually Helpful vs Overstepping

When someone you love is suddenly in the middle of funeral planning, help often arrives in a rush—texts that say “Anything you need,” phone calls that go unanswered, offers that...

Green Cremation and Alkaline Hydrolysis: Newer Options Beyond Flame Cremation

Green Cremation and Alkaline Hydrolysis: Newer Options Beyond Flame Cremation

When a family chooses cremation, it’s rarely just a “method” in the abstract. It’s usually a cluster of hopes and practical needs held together by love: a desire for simplicity,...