Funeral services don’t have to be serious all the time. With Cranbury, NJ, funeral homes, there are many ways to add a personal touch and make it an experience that your loved one would have loved.

With some imagination, you can come up with relatively easy ideas on how best to honor your friend or family member after they’ve passed. Here are five creative ways to personalize a funeral service:

1. Make a slideshow of your loved one’s life and play it during the service. Include pictures, videos, and audio clips of your loved one at different points in their life. You can include stories about them from family members or other people who knew them well. This is a great way to share your love for that person through their own likeness.

2. Plan a smaller gathering during which guests are asked to share personal anecdotes about the deceased rather than deliver eulogies. A simple story about a time spent together or what they meant to you will be enough to make it memorable.

3. Write a poem or song about your loved one and perform it at the funeral service. This is a very personal way to honor your loved one. It’s an excellent way of expressing what you feel about them creatively and authentically.

4. Have some fun with the eulogies by having them read by people who aren’t there. Record them beforehand to play at the funeral service. This is one way to include those who mean so much to you and the deceased, even if they aren’t physically present.

5. Host an event that celebrates who that person was in life rather than focusing on their death. This is called a celebration of life and can be done in various ways, from hosting a party with food and drinks to joint activities like games and movies.

It’s not about mourning the loss. It’s about celebrating that person and what they meant to you and others who knew them well.

6. Give memorial gifts or mementos of your loved one to others who knew them well. This can be as simple as passing out small items such as cards or photos. Or it can be more formal such as a book of memories.

Either way, keepsakes are an excellent way to help others remember the good times they had with the deceased loved one.

Even though there are standard elements to any funeral service, everyone is different. You can personalize your loved one’s funeral and give them a send-off that reflects their unique character and life.

Some people prefer to plan a traditional funeral service with standard elements and rituals. If you want something more unique, a bit of personalization makes your funeral service stand out from the rest. No matter the service you prefer, our funeral home in Cranbury, NJ, will work with you through it. Visit or give us a call today to get started.