When a loved one passes, a meaningful way to honor their memory is with a funeral program printing project. Often used as a keepsake at a memorial service, funeral programs give family members a place to reflect on their loved one’s life and offer family and friends a place to learn about important service details. While the circumstances surrounding funeral program printing may be difficult, the process is not complicated, and making one results in a beautiful reminder of a loved one and their life.
Who Creates a Funeral Program Printing Project?
An immediate family member most often completes this loving gesture, but occasionally family members will request that a close family friend assist with this meaningful task. But whoever is taking the primary role of creator will need the assistance of other family members to create a complete picture of the departed with confirmation of life details as well as possibly photos to accompany the necessary text on the funeral program printing.
1. Gather Content for the Funeral Program Printing
The first step in funeral program printing is collecting all of the information needed to put together a comprehensive program that will assist attendees as well as act as a memorial tribute. Three types of content will be used when creating a funeral program printing project: the vital program information, extra content that may or may not be included in the program, and photographs.
Necessary Information
Whether the program is a single page or a lengthier booklet meant to capture many details of someone’s life, basic content will be needed to show respect to the loved one’s life as well as provide necessary content to service attendees.
Full Name: First, middle and last names should be included as well as any maiden names.
Clear Photo: This singular photo is typically used on the front of the funeral program printing. Often a work headshot is a good choice, but a candid photo can also be used.
Dates of Birth and Death
Short Biography: A close family member should pen a single or multi-paragraph recap of the deceased’s life. This short bio often references immediate family names as well as those of any predeceased family members. The written content should focus on who the person was throughout their life and should include their schooling, career, family, personal interests, and the contributing factors leading to their death when appropriate.
Service information: The date, location, time, and officiant conducting the service should be confirmed with the funeral home.
Reception Details: If one is scheduled, all information regarding graveside services or post-service receptions should be included so attendees will know when and where to go. If any part of the service is for family only, the funeral program printing should indicate that. Be sure to speak directly to immediate family members when gathering this information so that the program reflects the current desires of the family.
Favorite Selections: When collecting content for the funeral program printing, organizers should ask family for favorite music, text, scriptures, poems, or sayings that may be used in the program, as part of the service or provided to the officiant to help ensure that their presentation is meaningful.
Extra Content
Some funeral program printing projects include other content, so those preparing a program will want to check with the immediate family to discern if they would like other content to be included. Oftentimes a special charity or organization will be named as the destination for contributions to be made in the departed’s name, and this extra information may be known ahead of time or simply decided based on the family’s wishes.
Photos
In addition to the primary photo, some programs include more than one photograph as a remembrance of a person’s younger years, a tribute to their past or current family, or even as a memory of a favorite activity in life. It may be appropriate to ask for submissions from the family if the funeral program printing includes informal photos as they may already be gathering pictures to be used in the service itself.
2. Choose a Template
The simplest way to complete funeral home printing projects is to begin with a program template. The funeral home or location where the services are held may offer a basic template to use or writers can access many free online templates to make the process easier.
Most templates utilize one page, printed on both sides and folded in the center to create a booklet-style program. This standard format can be lengthened or shortened, making it easy to personalize the program to fit the needs of the family and to match the anticipated services. Whether a template is used or not, many programs follow a basic structure.
- The front of a program usually includes a photo, the full name, and the birth and death dates of the deceased. Additionally, a complete list of service details is included on this front page to make it easy for attendees to attend the reception or graveside services following the main service.
- One of the inside pages is typically dedicated to the biography and may include more photographs, meaningful sayings, quotes or verses, or even references to a charitable organization that is important to the family.
- The other inside section is where the funeral service order is listed so attendees will know what to expect. Usually, each speaker is noted, any songs that are part of the service are listed, the officiant is named, and any personal aspects to the service are noted so attendees can follow along.
- The back page of a funeral program can be an extension of the inside pages or a wholly different content, depending on the family’s wishes. Often the back page features a note from the surviving family, thanking health care providers, friends, or family members that played a part in the last stages of life. This area also often includes additional candid photographs to further personalize and memorialize this day.
3. 1st Draft
When it is time to put it all together, use the template or a word processing program to create a neat first draft that includes all of the content and photos you have planned.
Content Check
Once the first draft is completed, enlist the aid of others to make sure the content is correct. The best way to do this is to ask a family member or a close friend of the family to look the draft over for errors, omissions, or missteps. Making sure that the content is correct is very important because programs are often kept as keepsakes.
Recording incorrect details, dates, or information about someone’s life can cause confusion or anger in those who are already grieving a loss. This content check should always include the immediate family to make sure that they approve of this final version of their loved one’s life. Occasionally, family members may have certain details that they do not want to be shared, so this step is vital for those who are non-family members helping with funeral program printing.
Proofread
The next phase of creating a beautiful program is proofing it for other types of errors. Look for spelling errors in words that may have been autocorrected to a common spelling, like first and last names or street names. Once your draft looks exactly like it should, save it as a PDF file so the final format won’t be shifted or changed accidentally during the printing process.
4. Confirm the service details one more time.
Before finalizing the program file, double-check the service details with the family and funeral home to ensure that nothing has changed.
5. Partner with a trusted printing company.
To ensure that your program looks great, work with a printing company like Dazzle Printing that can meet the tight timelines that sometimes come with funeral program printing A quality printer will help you through the funeral program printing process with good communication, high-quality materials, and making sure that your program looks great and is in your hands when you need it.
Printing Your Program
Funeral program printing is a thoughtful touch that most end-of-life services include as a memorial to those we have lost as well as a keepsake for family and friends to hold on to long after the services have ended. When the time comes to honor your loved one, creating a funeral program that looks lovely, reflects their life, and holds meaningful information for family and friends is important and is a beautiful way to memorialize a loved one’s life.
