Here’s 4 reasons to make a funeral video tribute yourself (Instead of outsourcing it).
When my grandmother passed away the thought of an overly mournful funeral service just didn’t seem right. She was an exuberant character and we wanted to celebrate that. It turns out this is a very common idea for modern funerals.
With this trend toward a celebration of the life, rather than just mourning the loss, the format of funerals has changed. One very common feature is a visual presentation of the deceased, a funeral video tribute, a slideshow played over music. Some families I’ve spoken to felt it was even one of the most important parts of their service.
It fell to me to prepare the video tribute. A daunting task while in the midst of grief for this wonderful person. I considered hiring a video company to make it, but the cost was hefty and somehow it felt like I should do it myself. What surprised me was how rewarding I found it to be.
I share my experience here and offer some tips I learned along the way. However in this post, I wanted to share my thoughts on why it’s so good to create the memorial video yourself, and why you’ll be glad you did.
It’s easy to do.
The costs for a funeral service can add up very quickly. The funeral video tribute can be a vital part of a life celebration or funeral service, but it shouldn’t cost you a fortune. Some suppliers can charge several thousand dollars for a memorial video, including expensive scanning which really isn’t required.
With Eulogize, In four simple steps, you can be on your way to creating a beautiful, touching remembrance video as good as any professional service.
1. Upload your pictures
2. Choose your theme
3. Arrange the pictures
4. Select your music
And you’re done.
It takes less time than you think. You can easily collect pictures from other family members through the website and share video and booklet previews with them for feedback. And we have a simple solution for digitising your printed photographs.
A Focus for your grief.
In the days immediately following the death of someone you love, the waves of sadness can be unpredictable and overwhelming. When my grandmother died, I found it really helped to have this task to focus on. Something meaningful to do, that would help the whole family and help me process my grief.
Even times where we’re not close to the deceased, we can still feel the deep sorrow of those around us. Preparing the memorial video for the family can be both rewarding for yourself and provide great relief to those taking it the hardest.
Take back control.
Annie Broadbent, counsellor and author of Speaking of Death says, “We tend to like to feel in control of things, and indeed it is possible to control certain aspects of our life. Losing a loved one confronts us with the reality that some things are beyond our control and this can feel frightening and overwhelming. At such times, starting with small tasks that can be achieved, day by day, can be really helpful in easing the sense of powerlessness, giving a sense of agency over the whole experience.”
This was certainly true for my experience. I’ve prepared a video tribute for two funerals in the space of a year and both times, found myself thankful I had this task. By channelling my feelings into the creation of the slideshow, I felt a little more in control of myself and how I expressed my feelings. My emotions had somewhere to go and I created something positive for everyone at the end of it.
Bring the family together.
Annie says, “It’s important that each individual builds their own relationship with their grief and finds their own way of responding to the many feelings that are likely to emerge. This might mean spending time alone, connecting with their pain privately. For others, it will be more about staying close to people, particularly others who are experiencing the same loss”.
The time I felt most at ease in that week leading up to the service, was when, as a family, we were looking through the photos together. I found this a cathartic experience. Where just looking through pictures sparked conversations and sharing of memories. There was even some laughter at such a sad time. It brought a renewed understanding and appreciation of who they were. This process was hugely rewarding. It smoothed out the ragged edges of my sadness. I felt more connected to my family. Others felt it prepared them for the day of the service.
Eulogize provides a simple way for all the family to contribute pictures and collaborate on the design of the order of service booklet and a funeral video tribute.
Eulogize – helps you capture their spirit
Creating a funeral video tribute should be easy to do yourself, to capture the spirit of the one you’ve lost. Eulogize is an online memorialiser created specifically to help families preparing the tributes and stationery for the funeral for a loved one.
It includes features to easily collect pictures from all the family, notify loved ones of your loss, prepare a personalised funeral service booklet and create a memorial video.
The funeral video tribute editor works online in your web browser. You don’t need to download any software and it’s really easy to use. The downloaded video file is an mp4 that will play on any modern TV, computer or device. We took the features of all the professional tools and automated them, so all you need to do is select a theme, arrange your pictures and choose your music. Then download it and you’re done.
You can do it yourself, or collaborate with family and we’ve made it really easy for anyone to add pictures for you to use. Even printed pictures are a snap. Just follow our guide using Google PhotoScan on your smartphone.
If you’re unfortunate enough to have lost someone close to you, I hope some of the information here can be of help.