Using video tributes to honour a lost loved one has become a popular feature of funerals in recent years. It serves as a chance to tell a person's life story in an intimate and unforgettable way. Using the following tips, you can ensure that your loved one's tribute video is the best it can be.

Ask plenty of questions

If you're aiming to capture the true essence of a loved one through images, you're not going to do them justice by making do with the photos in your possession. Use this opportunity to find out anything and everything you can about this person from friends and family to create a video that best tells their stories. You could enquire about things like:

• Their favourite hobbies
• Proudest achievements
• Favourite childhood memories
• Happiest/funniest moments
• Most cherished items

Bring their story alive by sourcing the images or footage that can relate to these moments. If this isn't possible, try to go beyond photos of the person and instead, scan or take snaps of treasured items and locations that may help tell the story too. The more you ask, the more material you'll have at your disposal to truly capture their spirit and make the day everything they would have hoped for.

Weave the tribute into the eulogy

Your loved one deserves far better than a dull, impersonal slideshow, which is why you could consider making the video tribute part and parcel of the eulogy itself. Throughout the eulogy, for example, you could have the vicar or eulogy reader refer to appropriate images or footage as they recount the life story of your loved one. If time allows, relevant photo captions could also be read to pinpoint their best moments and memories.

Whether this is done in a random, humorous manner or referenced in chronological order to tell their life from beginning to end, this will enhance the experience and may help provide greater closure for those closest to the deceased. To further extend the tribute, you could also consider creating a companion memory book containing the images and eulogy transcript for family members to take home with them.

Experiment with video effects

A steady slideshow pace may be appropriate for such a sombre occasion, but there's no harm in mixing things up when creating your tribute. Playing with different effects can inject personality into your offering and achieve a more positive emotional impact. Ditch the samey, monotonous effects and instead try out varying colours and transition speeds for each photo. For example, use colour in more light-hearted/humorous photos and use clean, crisp greyscale for others. Video clips will also benefit from varying speeds of slow motion and regular to keep the video engaging.

Providing this little extra detail can make your tribute more memorable and leave more of a lasting impression on guests. This tribute may well be converted into a DVD to provide a comforting keepsake for family members, so bear this in mind in relation to how much effort is put into it.

However you decide to celebrate your loved one's life through a tribute video, funeral directors like Tony Hollands Funerals can provide further assistance in the timing and organisation of the service—ensuring the end result is perfectly tailored to your lost loved one.