How to Have a Meaningful Funeral While Socially Distancing

Having a funeral at any time can be extremely difficult to handle, but having a funeral during the COVID-19 pandemic is even more stressful. It may seem impossible to have a truly meaningful funeral whilst socially distancing, however we believe that it is possible.

Here are our top tips:

Guest List

Unfortunately, you will have to keep funeral guests to a minimum. Funerals can now have up to 30 guests, so you can have most of the friends and family of the deceased there.

To make sure the funeral feels extra meaningful, be sure to invite the people who were closest to the deceased, not just family members - especially those who the deceased wasn't close with.

People who not able to be invited due to the guest number restrictions may feel very upset about this. However, there are ways to make sure they feel involved:

Streaming

Many people that have been planning funerals throughout the past few months have opted to stream the service online. This means that friends and family who are unable to attend the funeral can still watch and pay their respects.

You may also want to have a session where everyone lights a candle from home and has a few minutes of silence to remember your loved one. This is a great way to keep connected, and for people to show they care.

Keepsakes

After most funerals, you would hand out keepsakes. If you do choose to do this then you will want to make sure that the keepsakes, such as funeral bookmarks, are kept in a basket where guests can collect them to avoid skin to skin contact.

After the funeral, you can also choose to post keepsakes to the houses of anyone who was unable to attend. This is another meaningful way to make sure they are kept involved.

A funeral bookmark makes a sweet and simple keepsake that friends and family will cherish.

Venue

When choosing your venue, make sure you have considered the two metre distance rule. If you decide on a smaller venue, you will have to invite less guests to abide by the rules.

You will also want to make sure that there are enough hygiene precautions at your venue, such as hand sanitiser and spare masks. The last thing you want is for anyone to get ill after attending the funeral.

Celebration of Life

Due to less people being able to attend the funeral, you may wish to hold a 'Celebration of Life' event a few months later. This gives everyone the chance to celebrate the life of the deceased.

As you can see, there are many ways that you can still host a meaningful funeral whilst social distancing.

We hope you have found this blog useful. For more funeral help and advice, check out our other blogs.

Information was correct as of 07/09/20.