A memorial service is a bittersweet event. Friends, family, and loved ones are allowed to celebrate and remember the life of someone that they loved dearly and who influenced their lives—yet they are now dealing with the reality that their loved one is no longer with us.
Unfortunately, many may not know what our loved ones would have wanted regarding a memorial, often leaving us wondering what to do and what would have suited them. Today, in this article, we'd like to share some unique ideas for a burial ceremony and memorializing a loved one to help you start your journey to remember them and celebrate their life.
The First Step
One of the first decisions you will face is whether or not you wish to hold a memorial or a funeral memorial service. When reading that sentence, you might ask yourself: what's the difference? For funeral memorials, the bodies within caskets or urns with cremated remains are usually present, while the casket or cremated remains are not ordinarily present for a memorial service. Depending on how a loved one passes, there may not be an option for a casket or urn. Whether you choose a funeral memorial or memorial service, after that first step, there can be many unique ways to honor the life of someone you loved who has passed.
A Memorial Tribute
The entire memorial or funeral is an event to honor a person's life. Family, friends, and neighbors gather together in grief and sometimes even laughter, sharing fond memories of someone who has passed and the life they led. Many of us wish to have a moment or the occasion to perform a singular act that pays tribute to them that is as unique as they were in life.
Spend Eternity Among The Stars
If a loved one was a big fan of science fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars, or a lover of all things space—did you know there are options for them to be memorialized this way? From having a star named after them, which puts their name down in history, to sending them on a legitimate space flight—you could send their ashes on a rocket that is launched into space.
Generally, a memorial service is held first. Then, a portion of a loved one's ashes is sent into space on a rocket with various options: launch into space and return to Earth, launch into space to orbit the Earth, launched into space to the lunar orbit or surface, or even launched into the deepest space possible.
Spark Memories
If space was not a favorite or an option, but your loved one was someone who could light up any room they entered or adored fireworks shows, you may be able to hold a unique evening fireworks memorial. There are options available out there to have your loved one's ashes scattered in a gorgeous, breathtaking fireworks display, with matching color schemes of their favorite color, can be choreographed to their favorite music, or you could purchase celebration of life fireworks and even ashes tribute rockets from self-fire works selections.
One With Nature
For the nature lover, the wild soul, the economically friendly and conscious loved one, there are many options for you to pay tribute to them in a way they will love. There are dozens of ways to plant a memorial tree and tribute tree; some national forests offer the ability to create a living tribute in their national forests to honor their deceased. If a national park doesn't feel right, consider looking for a memorial park or garden.
One with the Ocean
If your loved one lived on the beach, loved all things oceanic, or was all about sea life, a fantastic means to pay tribute to them might be to consider an eco-friendly reef memorial. The process has their remains placed inside a concrete reef placed in areas where reefs are struggling or needed in the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Mexico, making your loved one's final resting place the ocean floor—while your loved one's memorial is actively contributing to the environment, helping their favorite marine life thrive.
Other Ways to Pay Tribute
We've touched briefly on how to create an online memorial or tribute website page, but did you know you could also try making a tribute video? Reach out to cousins, friends, family, and coworkers and ask if they could contribute photos or videos for you to put together a slide show or video montage in honor of the deceased.
- Lighting lanterns and releasing them into the night sky.
- Creating a memory capsule.
- Plan a memorial trip to a loved one's favorite place
- Plan and hold a memorial service in a home, inviting everyone to contribute to food and music and bring photos, charms, trinkets, and memories of a loved one. Add a guest book for them to add their favorite memories or cook a loved one's favorite dish—or many of their favorite dishes, as food and memory are strongly related.
As you might guess, there are many unique ways to remember a loved one outside of traditional meals. You can honor them as spectacularly as you wish or as simply as an in-home memorial with treasured friends and family. No matter what you choose, there are many options, and we hope we have helped you find an excellent idea for your personal, unique, and intimate memorial service.