Free funeral & memorial planning guide
A free 43-page PDF guide to planning a funeral or memorial service — with checklists you can print and use.
What's inside
- Understanding the types of services — traditional funerals, memorial services, celebrations of life, graveside services, and direct cremation with a later ceremony — with a service selection checklist.
- Logistics and essential decisions — choosing a funeral home, death certificates and permits, setting a budget, choosing a venue, working with an officiant, and a sample timeline for the first 48 hours through the day of the service.
- Crafting a personal ceremony — music, readings, writing a eulogy, rituals, and designing the order-of-service program.
- Memorial displays and keepsakes — memory tables, slideshows, guest books, keepsakes and flowers.
- After the service — thank-you note templates, final resting arrangements, a post-service paperwork checklist, and grief support.
The guide is sent by email from Serene Farewells through our email provider, AWeber. You can unsubscribe at any time. Our planning tools never require an email address. The guide is general educational information; costs and requirements vary by state and provider.
Need help right now?
If someone has just died, you don't need to read a guide first. Start with What Do I Do Now? or our funeral planning checklist.