As a funeral director, you may be looking for ways to upgrade your services. Many of your clients will want a traditional funeral service with graveside and visitation options. There are some clients that want a change of pace. If you are trying to accommodate those clients, as well as your traditional clients, you may need to take a more creative route. Here are a few of the creative upgrades you can offer to your clients and what to know about each upgrade.

Special Event Following Graveside

Memories and traditions are the things that many people hold on to during the loss of a loved one. For example, there may be a tradition to have Sunday morning brunch or to go to a specific location one day a week or month. Following the graveside service, or in place of one of the services, consider offering that tradition for everyone to participate in as a final memorial. For example, if your funeral home offers catering for larger funerals, consider offering catering a specific food that reminds people of the special event. An example of this would be if the person had weekly pancake breakfasts. You can offer an option of catering the visitation with a pancake breakfast to honour that memory.

Tree Planting Ritual

If the loved one of your client was a participant in green living endeavours, you can work with a preservation and environmental service to offer tree planting. As part of the final service, you can offer yourself or one of your funeral directors to hold a tree planting ritual in the person's honour. This can be done at the graveside if the cemetery permits it. It can also be offered as part of the service following the graveside service or in place of the graveside service at a specific location. The tree can be planted, dedicated, and a plaque placed in the honour of the person.

Video and Music Tribute

If you are a younger funeral director, you may have a specific connection to modern music and technology. This connection can play into the funeral upgrades by giving you the ability to offer a video and music tribute for the client. This can work best when you have an in house team that offers this type of digital service. The video can be played at the time of the casket being taken out of the funeral home by the pallbearers. It can then be offered to the family as a memorial option.

These are just a few of the creative upgrades you can offer to your clients as a funeral director. If any of these options sound ideal for your clients, begin making arrangements to offer the upgrades with your funeral home staff. Keep in mind, one of the best upgrades you can offer is to simply be open to your client suggestions and requests to try and offer whatever they need during this difficult time in their lives.