It’s common for families to show a slideshow of their loved ones when they pass. It’s a great way to honor their lives and shift the focus from how they died to how they lived. Many families come to us for help since it can be especially difficult to put a slideshow together when they’re grieving. Over the years of creating photo montages for memorials, we have some tips that we share with our clients to make the process easier:
*Choose photos that show how your loved one lived. Don’t dwell on making sure that you include a photo of every family member or friend in the slideshow. It’s not about them.
*Consider showing the photos in random order. Many of our clients get hung up on trying to get their photos into chronological order, however it’s actually more interesting to your guests to see them mixed up. The photos have more impact when you change it up since it’s more obvious how they changed over the years.
* Sometimes there are guests who have great stories to share about your loved one, but they feel either too shy or emotional to stand up in front of a crowd. Consider making a video of them sharing their story, and then show that at the memorial.
* As difficult as it is, limit your photo slideshow to 8 minutes, with each photo showing for about 5 seconds. It’s better to have fewer really special photos than a bunch of mediocre ones.