As the world experiences the challenges associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic, adjustments and changes to the way that we send off and celebrate our Loved Ones are necessary to assist in preventing the further spread of the virus. Protecting our most vulnerable and ensuring the safety of our communities is such an important thing, yet it can feel heartbreaking to have to do so with the restrictions that are in place. It doesn’t have to feel that way though, there are still so many things we can do to celebrate and farewell our Loved Ones in the most wonderful and meaningful ways.
What Are The Current Restrictions?
As it stands, 10 people are allowed to attend a funeral service. This number doesn’t change depending on location or type of funeral (cremation or burial) and it does include the funeral staff and officiant at the time of the funeral. For us, we understand the importance of having as many family and friends in attendance as possible, so we have reduced our funeral teams from two, down the one, giving our families the ability to have eight guests in attendance – plus the Officiant and the Funeral Director.How Can We Celebrate Our Loved One?
When we take a moment to think about how we connect with people in our everyday lives, we may not always connect in person. We utilise a range of different mediums; phone calls, sms, video chat, messenger, snapchat, tik tok, email, posting to social media, and whilst we might think that these have no real place at a funeral, they most certainly have a place in our current way of life. We thought we would take a minute to look at the Top 5 ways of incorporating technology into a funeral, that help keep our celebrations meaningful and special.Top 5 Technological Ways To Celebrate Life
- Live Stream – Live Streaming is an incredible way to expand the celebration to include people from wherever they may be. This means that people who most likely wouldn’t have made the funeral service due to travel, work or other commitments, now have the ability to be part of a meaningful celebration of life. Live Streaming gives us the ability to share the life of our Loved Ones all across the globe and, with our current technological capabilities, we can provide a service that is almost as close to being there in real life.
- Pre-Record Tributes – Taking some time to pre-record a tribute or eulogy is a wonderful way to give people the opportunity to say the things that they want and need to say, even when they can’t be there in person. Pre-recording can be as easy as using your mobile telephone, or as elaborate as accessing our tribute studio in Underwood to pre-record your tributes. However you decide to pre-record your tributes, it can be of additional benefit to some people who may not be confident public speakers. Pre-recording means there is no pressure of an audience, and you can record it as many times as you need to until you feel it is perfect. We have a fantastic Pre-Recording service available to all of our families, so chat to us about how to go about accessing this service for your loved ones funeral.
- Utilise A Digital Guest or Memorial Book – Giving people the ability to record a personal message in a guest book or memorial book, is a common thing at a funeral service, and just because someone’s attendance might be virtual, doesn’t mean they can’t still share their messages of love and care. We provide a Virtual Memorial Book for all of our families on our Upcoming Funerals page on our website. Virtual Guests can record their messages and these messages are then visible to family and friends. This gives people the feeling of love and support from all over and shows them the love and impact felt for their Loved One.
- Create A Social Media Tribute – There are so many social media platforms and there has never been a better way to utilise them than right now. You could create a Page on Facebook that is dedicated to the memory of your Loved One. You could include your Pre-Recorded Tributes, Photo Reflections, favourite songs and a whole range of other wonderful tributes that help to celebrate your Loved Ones life. There are a few ways you can do this, either create a public or private page, or you might like to create a private group where you can keep control of who has access to the information that is shared. However you decide to create the tribute, it is a great way of getting a number of people to help contribute to your Loved Ones legacy and a place where you can always add and continue sharing tributes well into the future.
- Include Your Loved Ones Social Media Content – Another powerful way to utilise Social media is by using your Loved Ones social content as part of their funeral service. Social Media has almost become a library of our lives and it is a great place to find videos, music ideas and thoughts that our Loved Ones have shared. They may have shared a beautiful poem, or verse, perhaps they shared their favourite music that could be used for their funeral, or they might even have videos that would be a wonderful thing to share with people at their service, ether way it could be a wonderful addition to creating a meaningful celebration of their life.
How Can Our Funeral Director’s Help?
Our Team are constantly looking for ways to innovate and make sure that our families have meaningful experiences and life celebrations. Right now we have a range of options available to our families and if there is something that you would like or that we may not have thought of, we would be more than happy to assist you to make it a reality.Why Not Just Opt For A Memorial At A Later Date?
Whilst it may feel like an easier option to plan a memorial for down the track when things have returned to normal, it is important to remember what a funeral actually does for us. A Funeral is an important step in beginning the grieving process, it helps us to accept death, the acknowledge death, and it provides us with the ability to begin to find our new normal. The ceremony of a funeral service is such an incredibly powerful part of the grieving process and is something that really shouldn’t be overlooked. What we are experiencing now is only temporary, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still incorporate all of these great ideas when things do eventually go back to normal. For now, remember to social distance and self isolate, but stay connected and share the love. Stay safe and healthy!If you have questions about how we can help you to create a meaningful and special funeral during the COVID-19 Pandemic, or at anytime at all, why not get in touch with us on 1300 043 522 or email [email protected]
*Our Funeral Blog is a place for information and learning, so if there is something that you would like to know, why not shout out to us on social media so we can answer your questions in one of our future blogs!*