Slideshow & Photos
Displaying photographs of your loved one who has passed at their funeral or memorial service is a beautiful way to personalise the service and celebrate their life.
Photos that represent their personality, hobbies or happy moments in their life can be printed in the service sheet, printed and displayed at the service or wake, or be made into a slideshow or photo montage and shown during the service as a tribute and to create a moment of reflection.
Preparing a funeral slideshow
The funeral home may have equipment you can use or hire, or you may need to bring your own. Depending on the funeral home, they may offer a service producing photo montages and slideshows at an additional fee, or you can choose to prepare this yourself.
Your celebrant will also need to know whether you would like the slideshow to play before the service begins or during, and roughly how long it will be, so that they can plan the service accordingly.
There are no rules on how long or short a funeral slideshow can be. If you intend to use music in the background, you may want to select an appropriate number of photographs to allow the slideshow to run at a comfortable pace lasting one or two songs.
The photographs will only be on screen for a short period of time, so you may want to choose ones that do not have lots of people in. Aim to show a selection of images featuring your loved one at different stages of their lives and include key life moments and memories.
If you are preparing your own slideshow, you could use PowerPoint, Google Slides or find a template on Canva.
Creating a photograph wall
Some people ask friends and family members to bring along or send a copy of their favourite photograph, or a photograph of a special moment with their loved one who has passed, so that these can be incorporated into a photo collage or poster board and displayed at the service or wake.
Involving others in the selection of photographs can lead to some wonderful moments of discovery, finding out more about your loved one from their network of friends, and creating a focal point for guests to mingle around and share stories.
Directory Search
There are a number of companies in New Zealand offering professional writing services to help record people’s life stories. Use our directory to find businesses in your region.