So, I've been writing all this time about funeral programs and how it is incorporated into the memorial service, what to put in it, where and how to distribute it, pretty much anything to do with having them within the memorial service.

I thought i'd take a different approach this time and share with you about what its like to go without them in a service. I have attended funeral services with and without funeral programs and wanted to note there is a difference and what that difference may be.

For whatever reason, be it financial or lack of time, there are families who do not include a program during a funeral ceremony for a loved one. Whether the deceased is cremated or traditionally buried, the lack of a program has some significant effects during and after the service.

During one recent funeral service I attended a few weeks ago, the deceased was cremated. The funeral was held in a funeral home and officiated by a priest. There were a few photos displayed on a table and the urn in which the cremains were kept. When a deceased has been cremated, it is important to have many forms of visuals to pay tribute because it helps family and attendees remember the milestones and accomplishments in their life. Because the body is actually not present within the service, this is even more of an important factor.

We are visual creatures! Photos, songs, and tangible items often help recall certain memories in our lives. Having these present in a service will help remind and recall these events so we can pay honor and pay tribute to a person's life they lived.

A memorial service is just what the name implies. A service that recall memories and memorializes the deceased. It's helpful to accomplish with through the aid of visual photos or tangible items.

Not including a funeral program makes the service difficult to follow, especially if it is a religious service and attendees are not necessarily of that faith. It also leaves the attendees unsure of what is to come next in the service or whether or not there will be a reception following. Most are not familiar with a funeral ceremony or flow of a ceremony and need some form of program to help guide them along. It's always helpful to have a program guide whether your attending a funeral or another type of event.

Without a funeral program, you will find in the days and months after the funeral service, there is no special keepsake that summarizes the life of the deceased in one little booklet or pamphlet. This is important because it symbolizes the ending and closure of one's life. It is also a memory of that funeral service day. The day that is chosen to publicly acknowledge and mark the end of their life.

I often wonder why the celebrity memorial service programs are so sought after? Setting aside their celebrity status, it is because it marks the closure of their life. It is a keepsake worth cherishing and treasuring.

There definitely is a difference when a service does not distribute funeral programs. Although, it may seem like a minor detail that can be done without, it truly is not. This little program and all it can contain has lasting effects for the surviving family members as well as the attendees.