Funeral Homes in Wall and Brick, NJ
2028 Rte 35 , Wall , NJ 07719 |
732-449-6900
505 Burnt Tavern Road @ Hwy. 70 , Brick , NJ 08724 | 732-899-8600
Our staff has years of experience providing quality memorial services to families in our community. Below, we have provided you with a breakdown explaining what a memorial service is as well as some tips to help you come up with great memorial service ideas for your loved one. If you have any questions about what you read here, please do not hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience.
Unlike a traditional funeral , A memorial service is a ceremony that memorializes and honors the deceased after the body has been cremated or buried. A memorial service has the same meaning of any other type of funeral service; honor and pay tribute to the deceased. The memorial service often takes place weeks or even months after the death has occurred.
A memorial service can be held in a church, the funeral home or a community hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration-of-life.
We find the most common reason people choose a memorial service is that they want the extra time to plan a ceremony. Since a memorial service can take place after the body has been buried or cremation, there is no rush to organize a ceremony. Immediately following a death, families are not emotionally ready to have a ceremony – They need time to grieve. Relatives and friends that live far away can organize their schedule to travel for the memorial service.
- Often those not religious choose to have a memorial service as opposed to a traditional funeral because traditional funerals are more often associated with religion.
- Memorial services tend to be cheaper than holding a traditional funeral
- As mentioned above, for some people memorial services serve as the perfect compromise between a celebration of life and traditional funeral service.
- Some people find celebrations of life do not pay enough attention to the deceased and turn into solely a party
Our experience has shown us that many of today's families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service can become more personal and meaningful.
Planning a memorial service can be challenging, we have provided some prompting questions to help you better personalize your loved one's memorial service:
Was your loved one a caring and charitable person? If so, you could organize an event around celebrating the life of the deceased while raising money for a charity they loved. The charity event could be an elaborate event or a casual party where people can leave a donation to be pooled together and donated in the deceased’s name.
Did your loved one love food? If they were the type of person who loved to make or eat delicious food and appreciated trying new things, organize a dinner party that serves their favorite foods. This will allow guests to eat the foods your loved one loved, and feel a connection to them. You could even turn the service into a potluck and ask guests to try and recreate your loved one’s signature dishes.
Often memorial services are led by celebrants. A celebrant is a person who has been trained to conduct formal ceremonies, such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. They are not clergy; instead they are experienced masters-of-ceremony and story-tellers. A celebrant works closely with surviving family to create a ceremony which reflects the beliefs, cultural background, values and aspirations of your deceased loved one, and your family. If you think you would be best served by a celebrant, please speak with your funeral director.
You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to a location especially since the body will not be present. We have had families hold memorial services at beaches, community centers, parks, restaurants, banquet halls, and at family homes. For some that want some religious facets it is probably best choose a place of worship. Keep mind that you want a space/location that can hold a large group of people and that has the amenities for any of the features you have planned. For example, if you want a photo slideshow, choosing the beach as your location would not be ideal.
Unlike a traditional funeral, a memorial service is a gathering where a casket is not present (although the urn with the cremated remains may be on display). A memorial service can be held weeks or even months after the death.
A memorial service can be held in a church, the funeral home or a community hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration-of-life.
A celebration of life is an event that truly celebrates the loved one’s passions, intellectual pursuits, personality, and personal accomplishments. A celebration of life can really have no structure at all and can be really anything you want.
A memorial service could be best described as a gentle mix of a traditional funeral and celebration of life. A memorial service has some structure, but it still allows you the flexibility to make the ceremony unique and personalized to fit the individual being honored. Also the mood generally lies somewhere in the middle of completely somber and celebratory.
732-449-6900
O'Brien Funeral Home
2028 Rte 35 @ New Bedford Road
Wall, NJ 07719
O'Brien Funeral Home - Brick
505 Burnt Tavern Road @ Hwy. 70
Brick , NJ 08724