A funeral service is both a tribute to your loved one and a chance to help friends and family come to terms with their loss. 

At Waters and Sons, we aim to help you create a balance between a highly respectful accolade and a personalised service that will lay your loved one to rest with the love and respect they deserve. 

That’s why we’ve created a guide on some of the little things you can do to ensure their life and personality are truly honoured at their funeral. 

Write a touching eulogy

A eulogy is the most common way of adding a personal touch to a funeral. It provides an opportunity to share their life events, personal anecdotes and discuss just how much they meant to the people in their life. 

Decide whether the friends and family of the deceased or the departed would want the eulogy to be formal or lighthearted and this should inform any further decisions about what to include. 

To create a truly personalised eulogy, you could: 

• Read an excerpt from their favourite poem or song 
• Read a quote from a book that meant a lot to them 
• Tell funny stories from their life that evoke positive memories 
• Speak with relatives and loved ones about their experience with the deceased 
• Include any hobbies, achievements or clubs they were a member of 
• Discuss their close relatives, or tell the story of how they met their spouse/partner 
• Talk about their passions and talents 
• Give their loved ones the opportunity to say something during the eulogy 
  

Play a musical tribute

Music can be one of the most powerful tools to unlock emotions and memories, and it is therefore a vital element of personalising a funeral. 

If your loved one was particularly humorous or liked to make people laugh, the funeral music is a great opportunity to reflect this; always Look on the Bright Side of Life by the Monty Python cast is a common choice of send off music. 

To honour the departed, you could also play their favourite song, make the music grand and powerful or use a live band, choir or musician. 

At Waters and Sons, we’re happy to accommodate any musical requests for the funeral service. We have created a list of the most popular funeral music to help you decide how best to honour your loved one. 

Design orders of service

The order of service is usually handed out to mourners upon their arrival at the ceremony, and there are plenty of ways to represent your loved one’s personality using them. 

• Include beloved photos of your loved one 
• A personalised design that has something to do with them
• The words to a poem, hymn or excerpt that meant a lot to them 
• Include a humorous quote that they were fond of 
• Choose a colour that isn’t the traditional white 
• Write a thank you note to the attendees 

Waters and Sons will assist you with the design and layout of your order of service, and can fade and watermark images to suit your requirements. Alternatively, you can print your own design to make it entirely tailored and personalised.

Waters and Sons welcome all enquiries about how our funeral directors can help you.

Please feel free to contact us at any time to discuss funeral arrangements or talk about any concerns you may have.

Host a celebration of life

A celebration of life is a modern alternative to the traditional funeral service and is used to celebrate the time you spent with your loved one rather than mourn their loss. It can be held as an alternative to a funeral or as a separate ceremony that happens on a different day or as a wake. 

A celebration of life could entail: 

• Holding a campfire gathering where loved ones share fond memories and humorous anecdotes
• Taking a class together to attempt a hobby of the deceased. This could be anything from a painting or cookery class to a skydiving lesson 
• Hosting a party, such as a BBQ or dinner party 
• Embarking on a walk together 
• Attending a live music night 
• Planting a memorial tree as a group 
  

Create personalised visual tributes

Although funerals have a traditional theme to mark respect for the deceased, it is not a requirement that you have to stick to, especially if you feel that your loved one’s life would be better honoured in other ways. 

You could choose to:

• Wear coloured clothing rather than black to brighten the day, or give mourners a colourful flower to wear as they enter.
• Decorate the venue with colourful flowers rather than lilies.
• Create a photo display that shows the deceased in their most cheerful moments.
• Represent their livelihood by displaying their favourite musical instruments, items they knitted or painted, or any item they collected.
  

Waters and Sons want to help you say goodbye to your loved one through bespoke visual tributes. 

Please feel free to contact us at any time to discover how we can personalise the funeral of your friend or relative.

Set up a memory table

In order to best pay tribute to your loved one, you could set up a memory table that includes photos, flowers or collectibles from their life. 

A memory table can evoke strong memories and nostalgic feelings, and create an atmosphere of remembrance. This can aid the mourning process of the attendees. 

Memory table ideas: 

• Chalk board where loved ones can leave messages about the deceased 
• A display surrounding a quote that they lived by 
• If they loved to read, create a display of their favourite books for mourners to browse, or even take home with them 
• Create a plant based display to symbolise life
• If they loved to travel, you could leave open suitcases filled with polaroids of them on their travels 
• Use lights to illuminate the area and make it bright and joyful 
• Lay out medals, trophies and awards that they won 

It can be best to make the memorial table simple to avoid overwhelming the mourners at the funeral. 

Set up a memory table

It is becoming more common for people to request a theme for their funeral. This could be anything from celebrating a musical artist; a culture that inspired their life such as goth or antique; or an outdoors wedding to commemorate their love of nature. 

Although having a fun or themed funeral isn’t to everyone’s tastes, it can be an incredible method of bringing people together in tribute. 

Themed funerals don’t need to be dramatic, and can be as simple as asking people to wear extravagant hats or decorating the place of service with houseplants; whatever your loved one feels represents them best. 

Usually, a theme for the funeral will be discussed by the deceased with loved ones or documented in their will. Although it may be difficult, discussing funeral plans with your loved one prior to their death can begin the process of gaining closure, and give them something to occupy them in their final days.

Waters and Sons welcome all enquiries about how our funeral directors can help you.

Please feel free to contact us at any time to discuss funeral arrangements or talk about any concerns you may have.

Hold a wake

A wake is a celebration that usually occurs in the hours following a funeral and gives you more flexibility than a funeral service. You could choose to hold it at a town hall, in a local park or even a pub. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to let go of the sadness that surrounds the funeral service and create a positive environment to remember everything you cherished about your loved one. 

Waters and Sons want you to be fully in control when planning a personalised funeral and that’s why we give you full autonomy over every detail including the hearse, coffin and little touches, as well as providing the option to turn your loved one’s ashes into keepsake jewellery with Ashes into Glass.

If you require any more information on how Waters and Sons can help honour your loved one through a personalised funeral, please feel free to contact us at any time to discuss funeral arrangements or talk about any concerns you may have.