Now that the Memorial Day Weekend festivities have officially come to a close and June is nearly upon us, that can only mean one thing — the summer season is practically here.

Let’s face it… there is nothing quite like a beautiful summer day or a long, celebratory holiday weekend to bring light and cheerfulness into the workplace. Yes, even when you work in the funeral profession. After all, funeral service is all about celebrating life and sharing meaningful stories and memories, right? So what better way to do that then on a picture perfect summer day.

So before you go shutting your funeral home doors to the big, bright world outside, thinking that there is no place for cheerfulness and sunshine in a professional funeral service, think again. We’re here to tell you that a dark, cold, gloomy summer is not your destiny. There are a number of valuable ways that you can welcome summer into your funeral home and create an uplifting, beautiful service that your families will remember for summers to come.

Here are just a few ways in which you can get started…

1. Bring the storytelling and celebration outdoors

The popularity of life celebrations have thrown all traditional funeral service rules and expectations out the door. One rule that was first to go (and for good reason) was the idea that families need to have their funeral service inside of a funeral home or a church. That’s simply not true anymore.

In fact, nearly half of all funeral directors (49%) have arranged a funeral outside of a religious setting, and many are beginning to create new service packages for the one in three people who say that they want their funeral to take place at home.

So what is so great about hosting a funeral service outside of the funeral home? Namely, it gets families to let loose, take a breath and forget that they are even at a funeral in the first place. And when this happens, the stories start to come out, they begin to swap memories and photos, and they slowly start out on the path towards healing.

To learn more about how funeral homes can take back ownership over memories and healing, check out this article next → How To Bring Storytelling And Celebration Back Into The Funeral Home

2. Create a comfortable outdoor space for friends and family to gather

When we say that funeral homes should invite family and friends outside to share stories and celebration, that doesn’t necessarily mean away from the funeral home. In fact, they don’t even have to leave your premises to enjoy the benefits of stepping outside in the summer sun with friends and family. All you have to do is create designated places outside of your funeral home that invite families to sit down, relax, get comfortable and open up.

John McQueen, President and Owner of Anderson-McQueen funeral home, has adopted this very principle into several of his funeral home locations by investing in nice outdoor seating areas, placing benches next to the entrances of his funeral homes, and even creating intimate, inviting courtyards with relaxing fountains outside of his facilities. Why? Because those are the type of service standards that people expect from other facilities, and people will be delighted to find elements of comfort and ease at your funeral home.

As McQueen said in our sit down interview, ““People aren’t going to compare you to other funeral homes because those aren’t the places they frequent. They’re going to compare you to the local hotel, or the local yacht club or restaurant. Your facilities have to be up to those standards.”

3. Host families for holiday celebrations and memorial events

There is no season more jam-packed full of memorial festivities and celebrations than summer. From Memorial Day to Labor Day (and all of the holidays in between), there is no shortage of excuses for friends, families and communities to get together… and where better to do this at than your funeral home? After all, there is no community space in town that is between equipped to host celebrations.

This summer, invite your community into your funeral home to celebrate meaningful memorial events such as Memorial Day or Veterans Day, and sponsor activities that will help them celebrate and remember their loved ones.

However, remembrance events aren’t the only type of event that your funeral home is allowed to sponsor this summer. Consider hosting an outdoor barbeque for community members that your funeral home works with regularly, such as local hospice centers, hospital workers or grief counselors. This is the perfect opportunity to show off your facilities, your services and your value in a comfortable, relaxed setting that grows meaningful connections.

Want to learn more about different types of memorial activities and events that you can host at your funeral home? Steal some of our recent Mother’s Day tips here → 3 Ways Your Funeral Home Can Sponsor Mother’s Day Remembrance

4. Embrace outdoor funeral personalization ideas

It’s no secret that personalization and customization are all the rage when it comes to today’s funeral service… and with good reason. I mean, who really wants to go to a cookie-cutter funeral service where the only things that change are the name on the program and the person in the casket? We’d much rather have a completely unique celebration of life that told a person’s true individual story.

Thankfully, there are an endless number of picture-perfect personalization ideas that funeral directors can embrace to help tell the unique story of a person’s life, and many of our favorites are perfect for the summer months. Some of our all-time favorite outdoor funeral personalization ideas include water lantern notes and planting seeds of love, and even ideas stolen from wedding planners, such as quote boards and saved seats.

One of our all-time favorite personalization ideas to offer families, memorial videos, can even be adapted into the outdoor summer setting by playing these meaningful tribute videos on a big screen outside your funeral home. All you need to do is project the video on a white wall or roll out the big screen, bring some blankets onto the lawn and voilà! You have your own personalized memorial movie night for the families in your community.

Ready to create your own meaningful, magical memorial videos to share with families, whether it’s on the big screen or even during traditional funeral services? Click here for a free 30-day trial of Life Tributes Memorial Video software! With this simple to use setup, you’ll be creating summer movie magic in a matter of minutes.

How is your funeral home embracing summer this season?! Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Rilee Chastain

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