How To Plan A Virtual Funeral
Planning a virtual funeral
Technology has positively impacted funeral services, memorial events, and celebrations of life. Now that we have been accustomed to using virtual platforms to connect, such as Zoom and Youtube, groups now have the opportunity to participate in events.
There are many reasons to include alternatives to the traditional in-person gatherings. Sometimes guests are unable to travel because of health limitations, financial constraints, or scheduling difficulties. Including a virtual component gives an opportunity for guests to participate and offer support from anywhere in the world.
Virtual funeral services are still important in 2023
Whether you have family or friends unable to travel due to health issues, weather or economic difficulties, or other personal commitments, there is still a way to include them into a celebration of life or funeral service. Many families and groups are still looking for alternatives to in-person gatherings in order to include their entire community. Hosting a virtual memorial is one way to ensure that everyone who would like to attend is able to be present with you.
If you know you would like to inquire about a virtual memorial, click here to read about our virtual celebration of life services. We can help you create a tailored and inclusive experience for your entire community.
What is a virtual funeral?
A virtual funeral or virtual celebration of life is just like an in-person event but takes place entirely online over video conference. These events are hosted online, often using Zoom Video for it’s collaborative and interactive features. In a virtual memorial service, family and friends can participate in an online remembrance where family and friends can attend, celebrate, and participate in sharing stories and memories from anywhere in the world.
How do I attend a virtual funeral service?
The process is as easy as clicking the event link from your smartphone, tablet, or computer, and watching the program unfold from your own home. During the service, you may be asked to leave your camera on so that you can see everyone on the screen during the event. It is best to leave your microphone off during the service, but you can use the chat to leave a condolence message, a favourite story, or memory for the family to read after.
The celebration of life or virtual funeral is a stream that takes place in real time that can be streamed or broadcast from a venue like a church or community centre or you can connect your laptop or computer to a TV screen for family watching at home. This allows those who cannot be physically present to still participate in a meaningful way.
Hiring a virtual event planning company like New Narrative means that you can leave the technical management to the professionals, giving you a chance to participate in the event without worrying about fixing any technical glitches or hiccups.
The benefits to hosting a virtual funeral
Whether you are thinking about hosting an entirely virtual funeral service or incorporating a virtual stream into an in-person event, here are a few benefits to consider with a virtual funeral service:
Inviting your international community: With a virtual funeral service, you can open up the event to friends, family, colleagues, or others in your community from wherever they are in the world. We have welcomed guests from all over North America, Europe, Australia, and beyond. In one case, a family was able to participate while vacationing in Disneyland during a virtual celebration of life. A virtual memorial or virtual funeral can also be a wonderful way to incorporate clients, as we saw with an international trade lawyer’s celebration in 2020.
Accommodating travel restrictions and illness: Even with in-persons events coming back again, you may find that many of your guests are either unable to travel due to illness, economic restrictions, or even a tight work schedule. Incorporating a virtual element or taking your entire service online gives these attendees a chance to meaningfully participate while they are unable to physically travel to be with you in person. Consider this accessible alternative to give your community a chance to be a part of the service in whichever way feels the most comfortable.
Cost-Savings: In some cases, a virtual funeral service or virtual celebration of life can be much more cost effective than hosting an in-person event. With a virtual celebration of life, the New Narrative fee costs less than most in-person venue rentals. You will also save money on catering and bar costs, decor costs, and additional rentals. The cost-savings is not a make or break for everyone, but if you are looking for an economical and meaningful way to incorporate everyone in your community, look no further.
What happens during a virtual funeral service?
Events will have different needs depending on the tone, style, and desired structure of the service. We find that the format below is a great starting point when putting together a virtual memorial program:
Virtual Waiting Room - 15 minutes before the start
During a virtual memorial service hosted by New Narrative, guests log in to a Zoom event with their videos on and microphones off. There is an order of events playing to music of your choice.
Welcome and Technical Notes - The virtual moderator will give a brief technical introduction before we start the event. They will go slow, so that all of your guests can follow along and understand the controls on their screen.
Opening Remarks - This could be a welcome from the family, a few opening words from your event host or celebrant, or a short speech from a close friend or family member.
Reflections from selected speakers - One by one, each speaker will be brought front and centre and their microphones opened up. In every New Narrative event, our technical team will take care of this for each guest so they can focus on their own remarks. We will determine the speakers and the order before the event day, so everyone knows where they come during the program.
Slideshow - At the end of the reflections, we will often suggest placing your Featured Sldieshow, or a 9 - 12 minute photo montage set to the music of your choice. We recommend placing the slideshow later in the program in order to let guests settle in to the virtual event format and prepare for sharing stories and memories.
Group Toast or Group Activity - For the same reason we recommend the slideshow at the end of the program (guest comfort and familiarity), we recommend having a group toast, candle lighting, or other activity placed after the formal speeches have commenced.
Open Sharing - After guests have had a chance to hear others’ reflections, see the slideshow, and participate in a group moment together, this is the perfect opportunity to give your guests the option to share their own stories and memories during an open share, or open microphone. There are lots of ways to ensure open microphone success! Click here to read our blog post on how to coordinate a successful open microphone. With every event planned by New Narrative a moderator is always included.
Closing Words - This can be performed by the immediate family, your event host, a celebrant, or a family friend. We find that the closing words are the perfect opportunity for the immediate family to thank all guests for coming and sharing.
Closing Slide - As guests log off, there is a static slide playing set to music. When you hire New Narrative, we are always the last ones to leave the event link. We will never close the link before the majority of guests have logged off (and not without ample warning!).
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are hosting this event yourself, keep in mind most guests are fully present during the entire event and may not leave a message in the chat until the very end of the service. Leave the link open for at least 10 minutes to give guests a chance to write out their memories before the room closes.
How do I start planning a virtual funeral service?
When you are ready to start planning a virtual funeral service, keep in mind that a lot of the decisions for services are the same with in-person and virtual events: you will need to take care of invitations, selecting photos, picking music, and of course deciding on your speeches and service timing.
Use the guide above to start building your program
You don’t have to do this alone, though. Book a free call with us to understand how we can help you create a meaningful and fitting tribute for your person. We will help you with putting the program together, create an invitation, make all of the graphics for you, and will seamlessly take care of the technology. With 450+ events under our belt, we can even give you a few ideas to consider.
You can also email us to get our comprehensive guide on how to plan a celebration of life.
A few last thoughts
This method of convening to celebrate a life is very new and can be very unfamiliar to some guests. Trust that this way of using technology and video conferencing will create an experience just as meaningful and as intimate as any in-person event - in some cases, even more intimate.
We are always here to help with the logistics, answering questions, or with technical help. Contact us if we can help you in any way.