Has your funeral director or arranger asked you to provide photos for a slideshow to be played during the ceremony? These tips will help you get started.
Consider - who is the slideshow for?
The photo tribute or slideshow at a memorial or funeral provides an opportunity to reflect, look back and cherish moments and memories. It is for you, the bereaved to get a snapshot of your person's life and at all the significant things that were unique and memorable about them.
In most instances, the person themselves will have favorite pics. Perhaps photos that have been proudly on display, some they've kept on their phone, some that feature memories that were important to them. It's useful to consider the images they loved as a starting point, then add in others that are meaningful to close family and friends. Acknowledge long friendships or important moments in time by including a pic of them.
Choosing photos
Hunt around and find photos that reflect the different aspects of your loved one's life. Ask family/close friends to send you photos of your person from their phone, scanned hard copies and/or short video clips. Sort through and select about 15-50 images to include.
It's ok to include grainy or blurry pics, sometimes that's all that's available and everyone will understand!
Consider images of your person's favourite animals, holidays, sporting moments, pics of places they've been/lived, family pics, experiences that were significant to them. (Tip: The person doesn't need to feature in every photo, it's fine to include some pictures that illustrate your person's story without them in the actual photo if necessary).
Load the pictures into a PowerPoint slideshow or simply onto a USB in your preferred order. If you need help, ask me anytime.
Arranging the pics
One idea is to sort the pictures into an order that is roughly chronological to get a storyline of their life i.e. baby photos, childhood, adulthood and some recent pics.
An alternative to this is to have a random mix of old and new images. This arrangement can be more emotionally soothing as the viewer doesn't progress through the photos seeing their person rapidly age in pictorial form, knowing the last pics will be the most recent, just prior to their passing away (and potentially very sad).
Just something to consider. I have seen the 'mixed order' photo tributes ending with something lovely like a sweet baby photo. The upwelling of fondness, affection and remembrance this creates can be seen in the guests faces.
Music considerations
Consider 2-3 songs to be played as a backdrop to the slideshow.
Again, choose music that suits your person's preferences with a sense of uplift. The slideshow is a particularly emotional aspect of the ceremony and music can promote a range of feelings from soothing to deeply triggering and anything in between, so please give the music choice a good amount of thought.
Also remember
No-one expects you to know what you're doing as very few people have organised a funeral at short notice before. It's normal to feel overwhelmed at times.
Give yourself time to rest and take breaks. Share the load with others, particularly tech-savvy relatives as they will complete the task quicker and would most likely love to help.
Need help? Ask me, I'm here for you throughout the process.
Carolyn X
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