If your family wants to hold a traditional funeral for a loved one right before their cremation service in Bronx, NY, you’re more than welcome to do it. Many families continue to take this approach in spite of the fact that they’re cremating their loved ones. But one of the advantages of cremating a loved one is that you can also wait until after their cremation is complete and then hold a memorial service for them. If you choose to do this, you should try to customize their memorial service as best you can. Check out some ways in which you can customize a memorial service for a loved one below.

Choose the right location for it.

If you want to keep things simple when planning a memorial service for a loved one, you can hold it right at the Bronx, NY funeral home when you’re putting together the plans for it. But you can also arrange to hold a memorial service in another place to make it feel more personal to your loved one. Some families will opt to hold memorial services at parks, beaches, and other places. You should think about which place would ultimately work best for your loved one’s specific memorial service.

Put together the right collection of readings, songs, etc. for it.

Once you know where you’re going to stage a loved one’s memorial service, you can start creating the plans for the actual service. You and your family should sit down and decide which readings, songs, etc. you want to use for it. You should choose ones that remind you of your loved one. You will have a much easier time paying tribute to them when their memorial service is filled with, say, a bunch of their favorite songs.

Incorporate photos and videos in it.

In the aftermath of your loved one’s death, you’re probably going to spend your fair share of time sifting through old photos and videos of your loved one with your family. You should take advantage of this by using some of those photos and videos in the plans for your loved one’s memorial service. You might even want to devote a portion of your loved one’s memorial service to sharing stories about some of these photos and videos. It’ll help you make the memorial service even more unique to your loved one.

Work some of your loved one’s prized possessions into it.

In addition to going through old photos and videos of your loved one, you and your family are also likely going to begin to go through some of their things right after their death. If there are items that you think would help to tell their story, you shouldn’t be shy about working them into their memorial service. For example, if they collected something, you could always show off their collection during their memorial service. It’ll allow you to showcase what their interests were.

Would you like to get additional ideas on planning a memorial service as part of a loved one’s Bronx, NY cremation? Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, Inc. would love to lend a helping hand to you. Contact us today to find out more about the cremation services we have to offer.