If you are planning a memorial service after your loved one’s cremation services in Rockford, IL, and want a unique and personalized way to honor them, consider a life tribute video. These are sometimes referred to as memorial videos and are a chance for you to let your loved one’s life and personality shine.

These videos are played during the memorial service and act as a keepsake for the family once the service is over. They typically include photo montages as well as background music tracks. Video clips can also be added. To help you get the most from this tribute, we are going to go over some ideas that will truly help capture your loved one’s life.

To get started, it helps to ask yourself some questions. Things like:

• What were they most proud of?
• Did they have any favorite photos?
• What hobbies did they have?
• Did they have any big achievements?
• How would they want to be remembered?
• Did they have a favorite memory?
• What stood out about their personality?

Asking questions like this can provide direction and focus on how the video should be. It will also help narrow down the choices when you are looking through all the photos.

Making it Personal

Once you have an idea of the direction of the video, it’s time to gather and create the content. Other than photos of memories, things you can include are:

• Music – Most times when the photos are being displayed, background music will be playing. This is a perfect opportunity to add your loved one’s personality by playing one of their favorite songs.
• Artistic Creations – Did you love one paint or drawing? If so, take pictures of their artwork to include in the photomontages.
• Poems or Notes – If your loved one composed any poems or wrote a funny or meaningful note, add that in.
• Personal Videos or Images – If you can access your loved one’s phone, you might find pictures or videos on there that are appropriate for use.
• Ribbons/Awards – Did your loved one have a display of ribbons or trophies? Snap a pic
• Use Captions – Using a line or two of text on an image can help the guests connect to the moment and the memory of the image
• Content from Others – You can ask family members and close friends to look through their phones and see if they have any videos or photos to share

Putting it All Together

If you are creating the video yourself, you will be able to find software that can help. While some of this software can be a little confusing at first to learn, it can be done. If you are not very technical, you may wish to ask another family member to help. You can also give the content to the funeral home and have them create the video for you. Many families opt for this as it’s the easiest option.

Having a video like this to play at your loved one’s memorial service is such a meaningful way to honor their life and show what they were all about. If you are making arrangements for cremation services in Rockford, IL, and would like to talk more about a video, contact us anytime as we are happy to answer all of your questions.