With cremation becoming more popular, families are now able to hold their own memorial service or ash scattering ceremony. If you wish to save money on the overall expense of a funeral, arranging your own DIY memorial service can certainly help.
Visit our Complete Guide to Memorialization and Cremation Tribute Ideas to learn all about Memorial Tributes, and how to create your own affordable Memorial.
A cremation with service from a funeral home can cost upwards of $2,000. An alternative is to arrange for a simple direct cremation, which should cost around $800-$1000, and then conduct your own memorial service.
You can gather family and friends together at home, or at a special place to the deceased and hold a ‘life celebration’, where family members can share stories. You can make it as simple, or elaborate as you desire. Choosing to personalize it as a tribute to the loved one you lost. Did he or she have a special interest or quirky hobby that you can theme your tribute around?
You can make your own ‘Memory Board’ or slideshow, or make your own guest book/board for guests to leave a memorial tribute in. Whether you decide to offer food and drink and go for a party-style send-off or just gather together quietly to pay last respects, you are completely in control.
There are so many wonderful ideas for personalizing a memorial, and if you do it yourself, then it truly IS personal.
INEXPENSIVE IDEAS FOR A PERSONALIZED MEMORIAL:
Get everyone to bring something that reminds them of the deceased
Hand everyone some memory seeds to plant
Have a butterfly or Chinese lantern release
Record a memory movie and make copies for everyone gathered
Have a themed event related to the deceased’s life
Create a ‘Memory Tree’
Have a candle-lighting ceremony
Whether you choose to keep or scatter the cremated remains is entirely up to you. Many people can scatter all the ashes and then regret that they have no ‘physical’ legacy of the deceased, so do no rush to scatter all the ashes unless you are very sure this is for you. (Or, of course, the request of the deceased)
There is a multitude of ideas for how you can inexpensively and imaginatively scatter ashes. Visit our full Guide to Scattering Cremated Remains to learn tips for how to scatter safely, legal implications, and tips on places to scatter and hold an ash scattering memorial.
All-in-all, creating your own memorial service can cost you less and prove to be much more personalized.
I have been researching and writing about the death care industry for the past fifteen years. End-of-life services and experiences are topics most people avoid thinking about until they must face them. My work provides comprehensive and independent resources for families, explaining the workings of the funeral industry, the laws governing funeral practices, and the death care trends that impact consumers. With a BA in Cultural Studies, I bring a unique perspective to analyzing cultural death care rituals, complemented by a career background in Business Management. The death care industry is undergoing significant changes, which I find fascinating. The shift towards cremation services and the emergence of sustainable alternatives like aquamation and human composting are of particular interest. I am also intrigued by how technology is reshaping the funeral planning process and experience. I write for US Funerals Online and DFS Memorials LLC, and contribute to various forums and publications within the death care industry.
