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Funeral services have evolved through the years, with different generations deciding the most common ways to say goodbye to loved ones.
The Gardens of Boca Raton Cemetery and Chapel keep up with the latest trends in funeral services. Their focus is on the customer, and making sure family and loved ones have as many options as possible.
Mini-Funerals For Invited Guests Only
Rather than have a major funeral, with dozens of people filing in from all over the county, state or country, many have chosen to do a much smaller event. These invitation-only funerals are meant to really concentrate the experience on a small group of loved ones that can get special attention. A close circle of friends and family members – those who knew the deceased the most – can mourn together without distraction.
Personalization Continues to Rise in Popularity
Every person is different and we’re celebrating those differences more and more during life, so it makes sense that same acknowledgment of individuality happens in death, as well. That means making a funeral service unique in as many aspects as possible, while still being respectful. This means that the funeral services could be based around the hobbies and personal interests of the deceased, and funeral home directors are the best people to advise people on different ways to do this.
Planning Funerals in Advance
Planning your own funeral ahead of time is a smart way to get exactly what you want, and relieve your family of making tough decisions during a time when they are already struggling with grief. Choosing a funeral home and a burial plot are just two of the decisions you can make in advance. One can also figure out what type of music they’d like played, which of your life’s accomplishments you’d like the service to be focused on, and even what kind of hobbies you’d like to share.
While paying for the funeral in advance is a great help to your loved ones, as well, the mere act of planning your funeral ahead of time gives them some emotional relief. Choosing a burial or cremation and the location where you’d like to be buried is a smart, free way to assist your family with their loss.
Themed Funerals Becoming Popular
With pop culture becoming a greater part of our lives in recent generations over the past 50 years, some have chosen to hold themed funerals about the beloved hobbies of the deceased. Those themes might range from a superheroes funeral, with a Batman theme for a comic-book lover, or the purchase of a KISS casket, for those that were devout fans of the rock band. This goes beyond just decorations, as some of these themed funerals also ask visitors to dress up accordingly, making the occasion something to remember fondly.
Trends in funeral services seemingly change with every generation, but The Gardens of Boca Raton Cemetery and Chapel will continue to stay updated, in order to offer the best funeral services possible.
We’ve listed nine great ways to help personalize a funeral service while planning a funeral for a friend or for yourself.
Music
Planning a playlist that reminds people of your loved one is a great way to create a loving atmosphere. If you don’t know your friend’s personal music choices, consider putting together your own playlist of pleasant music that signifies the type of person he/she was.
Food
Many funerals involve food. Make the menu personal by cooking your loved one’s favorite recipes or offering an item that your loved one was known to make. This can be as simple as offering their favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe or planning an entire post-funeral reception around their favorite cuisine.
Photo Table
Lay out photos and memorabilia of your loved one from when he/she was alive, and ask others to bring copies of their own favorite photos to add. This becomes a loving gathering place during the funeral, where more people choose to smile than cry as they think back on wonderful memories.
Release Lanterns
A ceremonial release of lanterns can be beautiful, whether they are lanterns that fill the night sky or floating lanterns that are released out over a body of water.
Video
There are a lot of places online that can take your photos and create a special tribute video with beautiful effects to be played on a loop at the funeral. You can also create one yourself, or play home videos as the reception is starting.
Personalized Casket
There are many places that offer custom-designed caskets that can be made to look like something your lost loved one was passionate about, whether it involves sports, music or another hobby or interest.
Provide Something to Take Home
By making a small trinket to give away to those in attendance, they can take something home with them that symbolizes their last farewell to their friend. The piece could be a magnet or a piece of jewelry that has a dried flower that’s the same type as the ones at the funeral, framed photos or even just a printed quote.
Special Location
Consider what the person loved to do and see if there might be a unique location where you can hold a funeral service. Did they love to fish or visit the ocean? Consider an outdoor service. Did they love sports? Try to incorporate that into the décor at the reception or see your options about having the service at a ballpark or stadium.
Ask Others to Share a Memory
What better way to personalize a funeral than to ask their friends and family members to share a memory? Whether as part of a spoken eulogy or as something written in a memory book, it’s a great way to help everyone feel involved.
Hiring a professional photographer for a funeral service isn’t something most people think about after a loved one dies. Of course, they want the funeral to be respectful and they want to honor their lost friend of family member, so hiring a photographer might feel like inappropriate. But, in fact, funeral photography dates back centuries, and it’s something many families still choose today.
5 Reasons to Hire a Photographer For a Funeral Service
It might be difficult to imagine hiring a professional photographer for a loved one’s funeral service, but there are several reasons it’s a thoughtful—and beneficial–idea.
A Proper Record of a Proper Sendoff
A lot of thought is put into a funeral service, from the flowers sent to the people chosen to speak. A professional photographer will capture all of these things in a respectful manner and give you a keepsake to keep for your family and future generations.
Families Reunite
At the funeral and the wake afterwards, families may be seeing each other for the first time in years. Having a professional photographer there to take pictures of the reunion will make your family and friends happier about this sad event in the coming years.
Remembering All in Attendance
Since it’s such an emotional day, many people don’t remember who came to the funeral or they’re just so overwhelmed, they don’t have the ability to see everyone that came to pay their respects. Photographs will help document all that were present and ready to share in that emotional day.
Capturing the Emotions of the Day
We’ve heard the axiom, “Time heals all wounds,” and we understand how certain emotions can be dulled over several years. While we’ll never stop grieving the loss of our loved ones, it will make our hearts feel lighter to look back and see how our loved one affected so many others. Looking back to see everyone else’s emotions will help us understand just how that person impacted more people than just ourselves.
Getting a Second Chance to See Things
Since the photographer will be roaming around during the funeral service (and after if you chose), they’ll often take photographs of people and things that are happening that we might not normally see because we’re sitting up near the casket and enveloped in grief. Taking the pictures out and looking through them later on gives us a second set of eyes to notice the emotion happening behind us.
If you have decided to hire a professional photographer for a funeral for a loved one, the people at The Gardens of Boca Raton Cemetery & Funeral Services or the Boca Raton Funeral Home have worked with several photographers in the past. They’ll be happy to help you choose the right one for your loved one’s service. Call them at (561) 989-9190, or visit them at their offices in Boca Raton, Florida.
A funeral is an event that marks the end of a loved one’s life, allowing family members and friends to gather in a peaceful setting and quietly honor their loved one. However, in recent years, some people have chosen life celebration funerals, which is a more non-traditional approach to saying goodbye. But what is a life celebration funeral, and what sets it apart from the standard funerals people are used to attending?
A life celebration funeral gives people a chance to honor their loved one in a more personal way. Rather than a somber funeral that recognizes the death of an individual, attendees celebrate their lost loved one’s life by showing appreciation for the joy they brought to everyone while they were alive.
An end-of-life celebration can mean different things to different people, but here are a few things that others have done that might interest people wanting to celebrate a life.
1. Favorite Music vs. Funeral Music
Rather than playing traditional somber music before, during or after the funeral, choose music the deceased loved to listen to. Opt for music that would help others think of their lost loved one in a happy way. Whether the music is live or recorded, it can set the tone of the life celebration funeral.
2. Speakers Don’t Have to Be Somber
Whether you use several speakers or just one officiant, their tone doesn’t have to be a sad one. Instead, they can tell wonderful stories that proved how much their friend loved life. Share stories that might make people laugh and understand what type of person they were.
3. Showing a Video of the Person’s Life
There might not be many videos of the deceased, but there are probably many photos of them throughout their life. You can do it yourself or get a professional to put all the pictures together into a slideshow video that shows pictures of their life as a baby, a child, a teen, a young adult, and then through the different phases of their adulthood and places they’ve lived.
4. Memory Table
Consider putting out a table that displays a scrapbook, memorabilia and personal items that will help everyone think about the deceased in a way they’d appreciate. Were they in the military? Did they have specific hobbies or talents? Were they on some recreational sports teams? What were they known for? What did they do that they weren’t known for, but people would appreciate learning about them?
Also, ask those coming to the funeral to bring copies of some of their own pictures to add to the table, which would help them feel involved in the life celebration.
5. Nothing is Required; All Options Are Open
The most important thing to remember about a life celebration funeral is that there is no specific way that every event is done. A funeral director can help you create your own celebration of life–or one for your loved one. You don’t have to follow any specific rules–and you can even combine the features of a traditional funeral with a life celebration funeral.
For years, mausoleums were inspired by classical styles predominant in the Romans era. But, as with many design styles, trends come and go. Last year, mausoleum trends started to evolve into a more personalized style. After all, mausoleums are an ode to their occupants.
More people are opting for private, personalized, and customized mausoleums. Mausoleums are meant to make an everlasting statement, as they are the one thing that will define you as you move on. With our general aesthetic evolving to a more modern, sleek, and simple design style, so are mausoleums.
From 2017 and most likely well into 2018, mausoleum trends will gravitate toward contemporary styles that reflect their occupants’ personality and sense of style.
Mausoleums are changing styles and shape. Long gone is the traditional symmetrical, museum-like construction as a resting place. Nowadays, mausoleums are taking on new shapes and styles. From Asian-inspired to Gothic, and even Conceptual designs, everything is possible with today’s trends.
As long as the mausoleum design complies with the law, anything is possible. This means people can personalize their mausoleums to reflect on their personal style. Some mausoleum designs are highly abstract designs resembling a cube, a work of art, or even a sculpture.
Green burials have been on the rise for a couple of years now. Having a more eco-friendly resting place has resonated with many users, and it is growing to the point that a mausoleum can now be a tree. Not only are green mausoleums smaller in size, but they also use earth-friendly materials to leave the smallest footprint on Earth.
Newer generations are opting for these green burial options. As they pre-plan their arrangements, having an eco-friendly burial option is becoming increasingly important for these generations. This is also why cremation services have been on the rise since most ecological mausoleums require cremation to be effective.
However, it does not stop there. Based on our previous personalization mausoleum trend, people are also resourcing to green construction materials to make sure their mausoleum leaves less of an impact on the Earth.
Many mausoleums house art collections and display art pieces that their occupants appreciated. However, art is now taking front stage in the mausoleum design itself. Whether they choose to design it based on modern styles, baroque’s, Egyptian, or even as an ode to Moorish style, they’re indeed a work of art by themselves.
Mausoleum trends have evolved to the point that they are designed as small buildings, with the help of an architect and input from either the family or whoever is pre-planning their resting place.
Artsy mausoleums shy away from what’s considered traditional and experiment with colors, styles, décor elements, and other final details. Ideally, this trend is to express their occupant’s sense style and their personality.
We cannot tell what we will see in 2018 for mausoleums. Most likely, these mausoleum trends will continue throughout this year and evolve into more personalized design options. We also see a rise in cremation niches, which are fully customizable, meaning they can change every day. Cremation niches are offering an outlet to family members to commemorate their loved ones with small details such as photos, flowers, balloons, memorabilia, and other personal items.
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