A traditional or “analog” version of a funeral memory board uses physical items, such as poster board, glue or tape, and, of course, actual photographs.
Please note that before making a traditional memory board for use at a loved one’s wake/visitation, or funeral or memorial service, you should discuss this personalization option with your funeral director or provider, if he or she hasn’t already suggested it during the funeral arrangement conference. Often, funeral homes will provide a display easel or two, and many will even provide some of the necessary materials. In general, however, you will need the following items:
• Display Board. Typically, people buy 48" x 36" paper poster board from a local office-supply store or “superstore,” such as Target, Wal-Mart or Amazon.com, to provide enough display space, but numerous sizes are available. That said, it is not uncommon for families to use different materials, such as foam display boards, tri-fold poster boards, easel-pad sheets, cork board, dry-erase boards, corrugated cardboard, magnetic boards or even pieces of plywood cut to size.
As noted above, you should check with your funeral provider beforehand for a recommended size and how the memory board will be displayed. Ultimately, the underlying material you choose for your memory board is less important than what you will place upon it, so use whatever’s convenient or least expensive, and don’t stress about it.
Adhesive. Obviously, you’re going to need some method of affixing photos to your display board, and common methods include glue, tape, pushpins, spray adhesives, old-fashioned photo corners, and low-tack or “removable” bonding agents. While your display board material will largely dictate the best adhesive (pushpins don’t work well in thin poster board, for example), you should also decide how valuable the photographs are to you/your family before affixing them. Permanently gluing a photo you printed from a digital image is fine, but you shouldn’t use this type of adhesive on the only copy of a family photograph.
• Miscellaneous Items. Ideally, to help create a meaningful, memorable funeral memory board, you should label each image with the date/the year in which it was taken, if known. (Even “Circa ‘XXXX’” or the approximate age of the deceased is better than nothing.) Therefore, you’ll need a pen/permanent marker that works on the photograph’s border or on some less-permanent labeling surface, such as removable tape, a sticky-note, etc.
In addition, some families decorate and/or enhance their funeral memory boards using glitter, colored paper, markers, balloons, or small personal mementoes, such as ribbons/medals, ticket stubs, matchbook covers, personal letters and correspondence, etc.
• Photographs. Most families possess a shoebox stuffed with old photos, and this is the time to pull your old photographs out of the closet or from underneath the bed. Otherwise, if you or your loved ones harbor images on their smartphones, tablets, computers or other electronic devices, you should print copies of any digital image(s) you want to use. And don’t forget to check social-media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, for suitable photographs.