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.

White Candle Meaning in Remembrance: Memorial Candle Etiquette and Simple Ritual Ideas

White Candle Meaning in Remembrance: Memorial Candle Etiquette and Simple Ritual Ideas

There’s a reason so many families reach for a white candle when words don’t come easily. In grief, the mind can feel crowded—logistics, emotions, memories, and decisions all arriving at...

What Should a Woman Wear to a Funeral? Outfit Ideas for Every Season and Setting

What Should a Woman Wear to a Funeral? Outfit Ideas for Every Season and Setting

When you’re getting dressed for a funeral, you’re often doing it with a tight chest and a busy mind. You might be grieving, supporting someone you love, or trying to...

Pet Loss After Divorce or Breakup: Who Keeps the Ashes, Keepsakes, and What’s Fair

Pet Loss After Divorce or Breakup: Who Keeps the Ashes, Keepsakes, and What’s Fair

Pet loss can be heartbreaking on its own. When it happens during a divorce or breakup, grief can collide with conflict in a way that feels almost surreal: you are...

What to Do With a Wedding Ring After a Spouse Dies: Meaningful Options and Practical Next Steps

What to Do With a Wedding Ring After a Spouse Dies: Meaningful Options and Practical Next Steps

In the first weeks after a loss, the smallest objects can feel the heaviest. A wedding ring is one of them. It’s not only jewelry; it’s a daily ritual, a...

Pet Loss and Sibling Dynamics: When One Child Was “Closer”

Pet Loss and Sibling Dynamics: When One Child Was “Closer”

When a family pet dies, it can feel like the whole household shifts—quiet bowls, unused leashes, a favorite sunny spot that suddenly looks empty. For children, that shift can be...

How to Pray at a Grave: Simple Approaches for Visits to Cemeteries and Memorial Gardens

How to Pray at a Grave: Simple Approaches for Visits to Cemeteries and Memorial Gardens

If you have ever stood at a headstone and felt the strange mix of love, numbness, and uncertainty, you are not alone. A cemetery can be quiet in a way...

Prayers for Grieving Pet Owners: Words for When You Don’t Know What to Say

Prayers for Grieving Pet Owners: Words for When You Don’t Know What to Say

Pet loss has a particular kind of silence. The house sounds different. The routines you didn’t realize you depended on—morning paws on the floor, a familiar meow at the door,...

Flag Folding and Presentation at a Veteran’s Funeral: Meaning and What to Expect

Flag Folding and Presentation at a Veteran’s Funeral: Meaning and What to Expect

There is a particular kind of quiet that settles in at the end of a veteran’s funeral. It might be at the graveside, at a committal shelter, or at the...

Coping With Pet Loss: A Compassionate Guide for the First Days and Weeks

Coping With Pet Loss: A Compassionate Guide for the First Days and Weeks

The first days after a pet dies can feel unreal—like your body is moving through normal time while your heart is still stuck in the moment everything changed. You might...

Grieving a Pet in Secret: What to Do When You Feel Ashamed of Your Grief

Grieving a Pet in Secret: What to Do When You Feel Ashamed of Your Grief

There’s a particular kind of loneliness that can settle in after a pet dies—one that doesn’t come only from the empty bed, the quiet hallway, or the way your body...

Funeral Flowers and Color Meanings: How to Choose the Right Sympathy Arrangement

Funeral Flowers and Color Meanings: How to Choose the Right Sympathy Arrangement

Standing in front of a florist’s cooler—or scrolling through pages of arrangements late at night—can make grief feel even louder. You want to show up with something kind, something appropriate,...

Famous Mothers & Symbols of Motherhood: Memorial Ideas, Flowers, and Meaningful Tributes

Famous Mothers & Symbols of Motherhood: Memorial Ideas, Flowers, and Meaningful Tributes

Some losses split time in two: the life you had with your mother, and the life you’re learning to live without her. When that happens, many families reach for the...

Infant & Child Cremation Urns: Sizing, Styles, and Compassionate Buying Tips

Infant & Child Cremation Urns: Sizing, Styles, and Compassionate Buying Tips

There are losses that rearrange time. When a baby or child dies, many families describe the days afterward as both painfully slow and impossibly fast—appointments, forms, phone calls, decisions you...

Memorial Photo Necklaces: How to Choose a Picture Pendant That Lasts

Memorial Photo Necklaces: How to Choose a Picture Pendant That Lasts

There are days when you don’t want to “move on,” you just want something steady to hold onto. A memorial photo necklace can be that—quiet, wearable, and close enough to...

15 Famous Mothers in History and Pop Culture—and How Their Memorials Keep Their Stories Alive

15 Famous Mothers in History and Pop Culture—and How Their Memorials Keep Their Stories Alive

Some mothers become famous because history recorded their choices. Others become famous because a story—on a page or a screen—captured a kind of love people recognized instantly. Either way, what...

Grief and Creativity: Art, Music, and Writing as Healing Outlets (Even If You’re ‘Not Artistic’)

Grief and Creativity: Art, Music, and Writing as Healing Outlets (Even If You’re ‘Not Artistic’)

Grief can make ordinary life feel unfamiliar. Tasks that once seemed simple may now feel overwhelming. Your attention may jump from one thought to another, your energy can plummet, and...