Helping Grieving Guests When Hosting A Funeral

If you recently had a family member pass away, and you are in the process of planning a funeral to honor the life they lived, it is likely you will be thinking about your guests during this process. Making sure guests are provided with a caring atmosphere and comforts to help them deal with the situation at hand is important. Here are some tips you can use to aid in keeping your guests calm when attending the funeral for your loved one.

Make Sure An Attentive Person Walks Around

At a mortuary or funeral home, there will usually be a caretaker on the premises during a wake and funeral service to walk around and help any guests with problems that arise. This person is used to looking for the signs of grieving and will go out of their way to help a person who appears to be struggling with the funeral process. If a funeral home does not provide this service, make sure to have one of your friends or family members on hand to do the job for you. They should be on the lookout for those coming to a funeral on their own, who will not have readily available the support of someone to lean upon.

Provide Items Showing Happier Times

One way to lighten the mood of a funeral is with the sharing of positive events that happened during the deceased's life. Collect several photographs of the person who had passed away, and display them on pieces of poster board in a collage style. Set up easels to hold the poster board pieces, or see if the funeral home will allow you to tape them to a wall. These memories will be bound to cause a few smiles to pop up, helping to keeping people attending the funeral in relatively good spirits.

Make Sure To Have An Area For Solitude

Many do not like to grieve openly in front of others. If someone needs to get away from the crowd to grieve in seclusion, a room to use for this action is appreciated. Make sure the funeral home has a small room with chairs and tables available for those who wish to relax in a quiet area. This spot is welcome for those with small children, as they can remain here while their caretakers pay their respects to the deceased. Provide guests with boxes of tissues and bowls of light snacks for added comfort.


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