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.

Grieving an Ex-Spouse or Estranged Family Member: Coping With Conflicted Grief

Grieving an Ex-Spouse or Estranged Family Member: Coping With Conflicted Grief

When someone you’re estranged from dies—an ex-spouse, a parent you haven’t spoken to, a sibling you kept at a distance—grief can feel tangled. You might feel sadness and relief in...

Anticipatory Grief: What It Feels Like and How to Cope Before a Loss

Anticipatory Grief: What It Feels Like and How to Cope Before a Loss

Anticipatory grief is the kind of mourning that begins while someone is still here. It can show up during a terminal diagnosis, a long decline, or the slow, complicated goodbye...

Interfaith Memorial Services: Planning a Ceremony That Honors Multiple Faith Traditions

Interfaith Memorial Services: Planning a Ceremony That Honors Multiple Faith Traditions

When a family gathers after a death, the questions are rarely only logistical. Yes, you may be choosing a date, a location, and who will speak. But in an interfaith...

Humanist Funerals Explained: Meaningful Non-Religious Services and What to Expect

Humanist Funerals Explained: Meaningful Non-Religious Services and What to Expect

When someone you love dies, decisions show up before your heart is ready. If the person wasn’t religious—or your family simply wants language that matches the way they lived—a humanist funeral...

Multifaith Funerals: How to Blend Traditions Respectfully When Families Have Different Beliefs

Multifaith Funerals: How to Blend Traditions Respectfully When Families Have Different Beliefs

When someone dies in a family with mixed beliefs, the hardest part isn’t usually the logistics. It’s the feeling that every decision carries extra weight: if you choose a prayer,...

Memorials in the Metaverse: Virtual Cemeteries, Online Shrines, and Digital Grief Spaces

Memorials in the Metaverse: Virtual Cemeteries, Online Shrines, and Digital Grief Spaces

In the hours and days after a death, many families discover something unexpected: grief now has an address. Sometimes it is a familiar one—an old voicemail saved on a phone,...

When Alexa or Siri Still Calls Their Name: Updating Voice Assistants and Smart Routines After a Death

When Alexa or Siri Still Calls Their Name: Updating Voice Assistants and Smart Routines After a Death

It can happen on an ordinary morning. You’re standing in the kitchen, the house is quiet in the particular way it becomes quiet after a loss, and then a smart...

Drones at Funerals: Aerial Video, Tribute Moments, and the Rules to Know Before You Book

Drones at Funerals: Aerial Video, Tribute Moments, and the Rules to Know Before You Book

On some days, a family wants the world to stay small. A few chairs, a familiar song, the simple steadiness of being together. On other days, families want proof that...

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...

Virtual Reality Cemetery Visits: How VR Could Help You ‘Visit’ a Grave From Far Away

Virtual Reality Cemetery Visits: How VR Could Help You ‘Visit’ a Grave From Far Away

There are days when distance feels like a second loss. Not just miles on a map, but the feeling of being unable to do the small, grounding things that help...

AI Grief Bots: Talking to a Digital Version of a Loved One (Technology, Benefits, and Concerns)

AI Grief Bots: Talking to a Digital Version of a Loved One (Technology, Benefits, and Concerns)

In the first weeks after a death, many families describe the same strange moment: you reach for your phone to text them, or you half-expect their name to appear on...

Traditional Funeral in the U.S.: What Happens, Typical Order of Service & Etiquette

Traditional Funeral in the U.S.: What Happens, Typical Order of Service & Etiquette

When you’re grieving, “tradition” can feel like the only solid thing in a week that suddenly has no ground under it. A traditional funeral service gives families a familiar structure:...

Blue Color Meaning: Psychology, Symbolism & How Blue Affects Mood

Blue Color Meaning: Psychology, Symbolism & How Blue Affects Mood

Color can feel like a small decision until you’re planning something tender, like a memorial, a celebration of life, or a quiet way to keep someone close. In those moments,...

Cremation Jewelry Guide: Necklaces, Rings & Keepsakes That Hold Ashes

Cremation Jewelry Guide: Necklaces, Rings & Keepsakes That Hold Ashes

There’s a particular kind of comfort in being able to keep someone close when you’re moving through normal life again—driving to work, standing in the grocery store aisle, walking into...

Cat Urns for Ashes: Size Guide, Materials & Meaningful Memorial Options

Cat Urns for Ashes: Size Guide, Materials & Meaningful Memorial Options

There is a particular kind of quiet after a beloved cat is gone. Their sounds were often subtle to begin with—soft paws on the floor, a small jump onto the...

Mourning Colors Around the World: Why Black, White, Purple and More Matter

Mourning Colors Around the World: Why Black, White, Purple and More Matter

When you’re grieving, even simple choices can suddenly feel heavy. You may be deciding what to wear, what flowers to send, or how to set a memorial table without making...