Virtual Memorial Service or a Celebration of Life

Planning a Virtual Memorial Service or a Celebration of Life

Planning a memorial service or a celebration of life can be tough, especially when you are trying to do it all virtually. To make it easier for you, we have created a detailed guide on planning your virtual memorial service or a celebration of life. 

Step 1: Choose Your Date and Time

The first step to planning a virtual memorial service or a celebration of life is to choose your date and time. No different than an in-person memorial service or a celebration of life, you have to pick a date and time to have the virtual event. We have a couple of tips about picking your date and time. First, do not worry about trying to accommodate everyone’s schedule. Trying to accommodate everyone’s schedule can make planning more stressful and confusing. If some family members work shift work, such as at hospitals, you may choose to accommodate their schedules. However, most important is to pick a date that works for the deceased’s immediate family.


Tip number two is to think about planning the virtual memorial service or celebration of life for the evening. Most people will have finished work for the day around 6 p.m., so choosing a time in the evening might be best. Tip number three is, when possible, give yourself time to get everything together prior to the service or celebration; we recommend 3-5 days. This way, you can give everyone the date and time, and still have time to plan out the details. 


Step 2: Distribute/Assign Roles

Delegating roles out to multiple people can relieve the stress of having to run the entire service by yourself, which means more family and friends can feel involved. Below is a list of rolls we sugar you have. More roles can be added to fit your service or celebration to fit your needs.

Roles:

Host

This person will host and moderate the virtual memorial service or celebration of life.


Before the event, the host should:
  • Prepare the program for the service. This includes the order of events for the service, who will be speaking and when, any memorial tributes, etc. 
  • They should also prepare an introduction to the service. 
During the service, the host should:
  • Lead the service by introducing each speaker before they are about to speak. This tells the others attending the event who that person is (even if most will already know them); it also keeps the service or celebration organized; everyone knows when to speak.
  • Don’t forget to thank each speaker for sharing their message before introducing the next speaker.

Speakers

It's a good idea to have a minimum of two people speak at the event. Having multiple people speaking will provide a greater variety of stories and memories of the deceased. It also helps ensure that the virtual memorial service or celebration of life will not be too short. However, having too many speakers can make people feel like they do not have enough time to speak or can have people tuning out. We suggest having the virtual memorial service or celebration of life organizer suggest a few people speak.



Before the event, the speakers should:
  • Prepare what they are going to say. Speeches can be written by the speaker or as a collaborative process; see writers below for more details. 
  • Send and visual components of the speech to the technical person.
During the service, the host should:
  • Bring any notes they need to remember their speech. 
  • Wait to be introduced by the host before saying their speech.

Writers

Most of the time, the speakers will write their speeches, eulogies; however, to include more family members or friends, you can have multiple people collaborate on what to say. This ensures that everyone feels included, even if they are not speaking during the service or celebration. 

The Technical Person

For a virtual memorial service or celebration of life, it would be a good idea to have a technical person who understands the platform you are using to host the event.



In advance, the technical person should:
  • Decide on the tool(s) you will use for the service and make sure they are familiar with them all. 
  • Schedule the memorial service or celebration of life video meeting in the application.
  • Help those who may have a harder time using the application. 
During the service, the technical person should:
  • Have the control, be the manager, of the video conferencing service you are using. 
  • Mute and unmute the attendees, control the spotlighting, run any slideshows or videos, and manage the screen sharing during the event.


Step 3: Share The Details Online

Use an online platform to share the celebration of life or memorial service details. These can include a memorial company such as Keeper, or you can make an event on Facebook with the details on how to attend the virtual event. It may be possible to add this information to the obituary on the funeral homes website.

Step 4: Platform for the celebration or service

There are a large number of video conferencing, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, etc., available for people to use. We suggest that you use the one you are most familiar with. If you are not sure, there are many resources that compare the qualities of each Program. Make sure to read participant numbers and time limits the programs have for their free versions. 

Step 5: Send Invitations

Since you are holding a virtual service, it would be a good idea to send online invitations. Online invitations can be sent by email, through social media, text message, etc. No matter your invitation format, make sure you include every detail and clear instructions. This will help you avoid having to answer the same questions over and over.

Step 6: personalize the service and celebration

Consider personalizing the decedent's service by using a slideshow, videos, or any other type of memorial tribute.

Step 7: Practice

It's a good idea for all of the host, speakers and technical person to do a practice run in order to ensure there are no technical problems.

List of Virtual Memorial & Celebration of Life Ideas

  1. Create a memorial website 
  2. Share stories and photos collaboratively with family and friends.
  3. Share comforting Scripture verses.
  4. Social Media 
  5. Create an album of photos captioned with the stories of when they were taken (done on an event page or the deceased person’s social media).
  6. Share a funny, sad, heartwarming, exciting, etc., story about the deceased every day for a week or more if desired.
  7. Share stories and photos with family and friends.
  8. Make a meme social media memorial. 
  9. Share images with comforting Scripture verses.
  10. Share your grief journal through a social media page or blog.
  11. Gather their favourite songs into a playlist and share it.
  12. Set up a trust fund or start a campaign to cover funeral expenses and help the family of the deceased 
  13. Live tweet, chat with family/friends, create blogs or posts as you read their favourite books, or watch their favourite movies. 
  14. Some streaming services let you have watch parties and interact through the streaming service itself. 
  15. Facebook Live streaming
  16. Facebook: great for larger numbers of people wanting to attend; you can create an event page linked to the live stream. 
  17. You are able to respond to live comments.
  18. You can save the live stream to share later.
  19. Host a Virtual Memorial Serviceor celebration of life 
  20. You can schedule a meeting many days/weeks in advance and send an invitation with all the details on how to join the service.
  21. You are able to record your virtual service and share it with those who could not attend.
  22. Share presentations and videos during the service or celebration
  23. Have a virtual religious service 
  24. Video Game Memorial Service 
  25. One way to honour a person who loved video games is to schedule a memorial service in the form of their favourite online game. Like other forms of virtual services, you can arrange for people to sign in on a designated date and time. 
  26. The video game service can end by having everyone play a game together in honour of the deceased.
  27. Create a Memorial Hashtag
  28. Reimagine is a nonprofit organization that is currently hosting virtual events. It strives to inspire people to transform their feelings about death, grief, and life. The companies hold events where people can have support from others feeling the same way. 
  29. Sing or play music together
  30. Live or prerecorded to share during the service 
  31. Create a memorial in your garden New Paragraph
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