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.

Planning a Memorial in a Park: Permits and Practical Tips - Funeral.com, Inc.

Planning a Memorial in a Park: Permits and Practical Tips

A memorial service in park can feel like the right kind of simple. The air is open. There’s room to breathe. The setting is familiar in a way that a...

Photo Displays and Memory Tables: What Works - Funeral.com, Inc.

Photo Displays and Memory Tables: What Works

A photo display and a thoughtfully arranged memory table can do something that words alone often cannot: it gives people a place to land. At a visitation, a celebration of...

Music Choices for a Memorial: How to Decide - Funeral.com, Inc.

Music Choices for a Memorial: How to Decide

When you’re planning a memorial, music can feel like the most personal decision and the most exhausting one at the same time. The right song can say what people can’t....

Memorial Reception Planning: Food, Seating, and Timing - Funeral.com, Inc.

Memorial Reception Planning: Food, Seating, and Timing

A memorial reception is one of those gatherings that families rarely “feel ready” to plan, even when they know it will help. You may be coordinating people who loved the...

How to Host a Celebration of Life at Home - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Host a Celebration of Life at Home

A celebration of life at home can be one of the most comforting ways to gather after a loss, because it lets people show up in a space that already...

How to Ask Someone to Speak at a Memorial (Ask to Give a Eulogy) - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Ask Someone to Speak at a Memorial (Ask to Give a Eulogy)

There’s a particular kind of nervousness that shows up when you’re planning a memorial service. It’s not only the logistics. It’s the human part: deciding who should speak, and then...

Mailing Ashes: USPS Rules and Safer Packaging - Funeral.com, Inc.

Mailing Ashes: USPS Rules and Safer Packaging

There are moments in grief when the practical details feel almost surreal. You may be holding a temporary container from the crematory, trying to make decisions through a haze, and...

Recording a Memorial Service: Privacy and Permissions - Funeral.com, Inc.

Recording a Memorial Service: Privacy and Permissions

When someone you love dies, grief can make time feel unreliable. Details blur. Voices you would give anything to hear again fade faster than you expect. That is why so...

Memorial Service Ideas for Families Who Don’t Want “Traditional” - Funeral.com, Inc.

Memorial Service Ideas for Families Who Don’t Want “Traditional”

If you’re reading this, you may already know what you don’t want. You don’t want a room that feels stiff or scripted. You don’t want traditions that don’t fit your...

Traveling With Ashes: What TSA Typically Requires - Funeral.com, Inc.

Traveling With Ashes: What TSA Typically Requires

There are trips you pack for with excitement, and there are trips you pack for with a quieter kind of courage. If you’re preparing to fly with cremated remains, you’re...

Obituary vs Death Notice: What’s the Difference - Funeral.com, Inc.

Obituary vs Death Notice: What’s the Difference

When someone dies, the first writing task families face is often not the eulogy, not the thank-you notes, and not even the paperwork. It’s the announcement. People are waiting for...

How to Create a Small Memorial Space at Home - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Create a Small Memorial Space at Home

A home memorial doesn’t have to be a full room, a formal altar, or something you need to “get right” the first time. For many families, the most helpful memorial...

How Long Should an Obituary Be? - Funeral.com, Inc.

How Long Should an Obituary Be?

If you’ve found yourself staring at a blank page and wondering how long an obituary is “supposed” to be, you’re in very good company. The question sounds practical, like you’re...

What to Do If a Family Member Is Uncomfortable With Ashes at Home - Funeral.com, Inc.

What to Do If a Family Member Is Uncomfortable With Ashes at Home

After a cremation, families often assume the “hard decisions” are over. And then the ashes come home, and a different kind of decision begins—one that can feel surprisingly loaded. One...

Ash Storage Safety: Humidity, Heat, and Pets - Funeral.com, Inc.

Ash Storage Safety: Humidity, Heat, and Pets

After cremation, there’s often a quiet moment that doesn’t feel like it belongs in the same week as everything else. The calls slow down. The paperwork starts to stack neatly...

Temporary Urns vs Permanent Urns: When to Upgrade - Funeral.com, Inc.

Temporary Urns vs Permanent Urns: When to Upgrade

There is a moment after cremation that many families don’t expect. The calls and paperwork are done, you finally have the cremated remains back, and what’s in your hands is...