Hints and tips for your funeral memorial slideshow

There are a few decisions to make regarding your funeral / memorial slideshow.

Where to place it in the order of service

There are basically two logical places to insert the slideshow into a funeral or memorial. You can place it at the end of the service if…

• There is music with it
• It’s under 10 minutes long
• Everyone can see it well from their seats

You can play before and after the service as people are walking in and out of the room too.  Particularly good idea if…

• It’s longer than 10 minutes in length
• You want something for your guests to watch and enjoy as they are waiting for the service to start
• The screen or TV is too small to be seen from the back of the room.

If you play it before and after the service, it may be best to NOT attach music to the slideshow.  Listening to the same 2-5 songs may become too repetitive.  It may be best to simply play a couple different CDs that are not directly associated with the photos in the slideshow.

Length of each slide

If you show a photo too long, it becomes a little boring.  If the photos move to quickly, no one will enjoy the photo and take it in.  The length of how long you show each photo is preference, but generally speaking anything between 3-4.5 seconds tends to work the best.

Format of video

If you can at all help it, DO NOT depend on a DVD to play (show) your slideshow.  DVD players can have issues much more often than playing off a jump drive or computer in the format of MOV or MP4 format.  DVD players tend not to be made well and tend to be glitchy and or not even play at all.  Talk to the church or mortuary and find out what kind of equipment they use.  You may also want to find out if you can show it directly from your computer.  If so, try to use an HDMI cable from the computer into the device.

How does it get done

You should expect to pay between $200 – $350 for an 8 minute show.  However, anymore, it’s become much easier to use a Mac or even a newer Windows machine for free.  Programs often have templates so all you have to do is drop the photos and text in and you’re done.