Memorial Services in Saginaw

Memorial Services in Saginaw MI

At Snow Funeral Home, we take pride in providing families in Saginaw, MI with quality memorial services.

What is a Memorial Service?

A memorial service is a ceremony that memorializes and honors the deceased after the body has been cremated or buried. A memorial service has the same meaning of any other type of funeral service; honor and pay tribute to the deceased. The memorial service often takes place weeks or even months after the death has occurred.

Additionally, you will learn how to create a memorial service with ideas that will help you honor your loved one in a special way.


Memorial Service vs. Funeral


The biggest difference of a traditional funeral and a memorial service is that the body is not present in a casket at a memorial service. However, an urn with the loved one’s ashes may be present at a memorial service. Both traditional funeral services and memorial services have structure, and both bring the community together in support and remembrance. However, a traditional funeral service is much more structured and formal. A traditional funeral service is often associated with religion so it is often led by a member of clergy, whereas a memorial service is led by a celebrant or master of ceremonies. Memorial services often allow for each guest to participate to some level, where guests of a traditional funeral are really just there to observe and reflect.

Memorial Service vs. Celebration of Life


A celebration of life is an event that truly celebrates the loved one’s passions, intellectual pursuits, personality, and personal accomplishments. A celebration of life can really have no structure at all and can be really anything you want.

 

A memorial service could be best described as a gentle mix of a traditional funeral and celebration of life. A memorial service has some structure, but it still allows you the flexibility to make the ceremony unique and personalized to fit the individual being honored. Also the mood generally lies somewhere in the middle of completely somber and celebratory.


Why Choose a Memorial Service?

Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. Many funeral service professionals see this change as one of the many contributions to social change made by  "Baby Boomers". The National Funeral Directors Association notes, "As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful." If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on.

4 Benefits of Having a Memorial

We find the most common reason people choose a memorial service is that they want the extra time to plan a ceremony. Since a memorial service can take place after the body has been buried or cremation, there is no rush to organize a ceremony. Immediately following a death, families are not emotionally ready to have a ceremony – They need time to grieve. Relatives and friends that live far away can organize their schedule to travel for the memorial service.


  • Often those not religious choose to have a memorial service as opposed to a traditional funeral because traditional funerals are more often associated with religion.
  • Memorial services tend to be cheaper than holding a traditional funeral
  • As mentioned above, for some people memorial services serve as the perfect compromise between a celebration of life and traditional funeral service.
  • Some people find celebrations of life do not pay enough attention to the deceased and turn into solely a party


Use of a Civil Celebrant

Often memorial services are led by celebrants. A celebrant is a person who has been trained to conduct formal ceremonies, such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. They are not clergy; instead they are experienced masters-of-ceremony and story-tellers. A celebrant works closely with surviving family to create a ceremony which reflects the beliefs, cultural background, values and aspirations of your deceased loved one, and your family. If you think you would be best served by a celebrant, please speak with your funeral director.

Places to Hold a Memorial Service

You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to a location especially since the body will not be present. We have had families hold memorial services at beaches, community centers, parks, restaurants, banquet halls, and at family homes. For some that want some religious facets it is probably best choose a place of worship. Keep mind that you want a space/location that can hold a large group of people and that has the amenities for any of the features you have planned. For example, if you want a photo slideshow, choosing the beach as your location would not be ideal. 

How to Come Up With Memorial Service Ideas


Our experience has shown us that many of today's families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service can become more personal and meaningful.

Memorial services offer some more flexibility than traditional funerals. This flexibility allows families to personalize the services and honor the life of their loved one in a truly unique fashion. Before deciding what to add to a service to make it unique, you should ask yourself and others questions like these:
  • What did your loved one like to do?
  • What was he or she like as an individual?
  • What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
  • Was your loved one spiritual?
  • Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage? 
  • What did they enjoy doing in their free time?
  • Were there any causes or charities that they held close to their heart?
  • Did they have a favorite sports team?
  • What kind of music did they enjoy?
  • What made them special?

    Need Help With Memorial Services in Saginaw? Call Us.

    Whether you need to plan a memorial service now, pre-plan, or you are just interested in learning more about memorial services, we can help you. We have years of experience assisting families with memorial services, and we would be honored to help yours. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any inquiries you may have about memorial services.

    Contact Us
    Share by: