You want unique mementos to celebrate the life of someone who has passed; that’s why you’re here on our website. You aren’t willing to settle for ‘run of the mill’ or ‘one style fits all’ funeral programs and other keepsakes, because the person who has died was one of a kind. Our new clipart borders package is an easy way to do just that—create unique, attractive funeral programs without being a graphic designer.

If you haven’t thought about the ways clipart borders can enhance the appearance of your funeral programs, here are some ideas to consider:

• You can use funeral program clipart borders to give the pages of your programs a more finished, professional appearance.

View our Frames Clipart

• Clipart borders can be used to emphasize photos and collages that you include in your program design.

• The addition of clipart borders to our funeral program templates creates even more visual interest.

• Because each person’s creative ideas are unique, your funeral programs, using tools such as clipart borders, can be one of a kind, as well.

• Design elements such as borders can also be used to reflect the personality and interests of the person who has passed. What were their favorite colors? Were they elegant and stylish or modern and colorful? Do you see how knowing details like that could help you design an appropriate memento?

But just how difficult is it to add clipart borders to a funeral program template? The answer—it’s not difficult at all! Because the borders included in our new package are in PNG format, they’ll blend seamlessly into your program templates, without a lot of ‘tweaking’.

They’re also easy to customize, thanks to the selection of colors and styles available. We’ve even included a Microsoft Word document with smaller images you may want to cut and paste into your program.

One more advantage to using funeral program and memorial clipart borders is that they are designed to be easy to mix and match, allowing hundreds of possible combinations. You won’t have to worry that, even if you’re designing funeral programs for many clients, you will duplicate a program that was meant to be personalized.

Having the right tools available makes all the difference when designing something as intimate as the program for a funeral or memorial service. These new clipart borders for funeral programs are just such a tool—easy to use, simple to customize and very affordable.

As you build your funeral program design business, or when you need to design funeral keepsakes for a loved one, consider using our new clipart borders package to create just the right look for a final tribute.

Five New Funeral Program Templates Offer Even More Choice

Creating personalized funeral publications is now even easier, thanks to five new templates we’ve created for designing funeral programs. Having the flexibility to add special touches to any of these new templates means the funeral program or bulletin you create is one-of-a-kind. Here are the details on these new offerings, and links to make ordering them simple.

Bible Roses Funeral Program Template

A bouquet of gorgeous yellow roses above an open Bible provides the perfect backdrop for the funeral program cover. The sky blue background nicely frames a special photo of the deceased and, by using the easy to follow template, it’s a simple thing to insert additional text.

Tastefully framed text boxes inside the program allow you to add an order of service and obituary, as well as photos or clipart to further personalize the publication. The back cover provides plenty of space for a special poem, quote or song lyrics, information about interment and notes of thanks or acknowledgment.

Beautiful enough to honor the most feminine woman while flexible enough to allow fonts, clipart and other elements to design almost anyone’s funeral program, the Bible Roses template helps you create an appropriate memento using Microsoft Word or Publisher.

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Cherished White Roses Funeral Program Template

This bi-fold program template also offers great flexibility in designing a personalized funeral program. Lovely white roses topped with a gold filigree banner allow you to create a program that is appropriate for either a religious or non-religious service.

As with all our templates, inserting the deceased’s photo, name, dates of birth and death and location of final service is a simple task. Inside the template, you’ll find coordinating frames for adding the elements of a funeral program such as order of service, an obituary, additional photos and special notes about the person who has died. The back cover includes a gold filigree embellishment and additional space for adding personal touches such as quotes, poetry and clipart or photographs.

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Church Funeral Program Template

The peaceful cover of this new template, featuring a sunlit sky and the image of a church, is an appropriate memento for a Christian funeral service. Add personal touches such as photos, hymns and Scripture to design a unique tribute to the person who has died.

A smaller image of a church accents whatever personalized text you choose to add to the back cover of the bi-fold template. You can also easily add special photographs and tributes to the deceased to enhance the home-going service.

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Honorable Funeral Program Template

 

This funeral program template is especially convenient for those who are designing memorial publications for clients, thanks to the ability to change the background color of the cover. With that flexibility, the funeral program can be designed for a man or woman, for a religious or secular service and for any age person. The cover graphics include a cross that can be used as part of the program or removed, if you wish.

Use your creative skills to choose an appropriate background color, graphics and wording to best honor the person who has passed. Some elements of a funeral program you may wish to include are poetry, photographs of the deceased, order of service, favorite quotes and details of the interment.

 

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Fancy Border Funeral Program Template

Those of you looking for a simple yet elegant cover design will appreciate the Fancy Border template. We’ve also designed this funeral program so that the color of the cover scrollwork can easily be changed through Microsoft Word or Publisher.

Whether you’re hoping to create a personalized tribute to your loved one or need the ability to offer a wide range of options to your funeral publications clients, this template provides what you need. As with all our funeral program templates, the text you insert is completely customizable, allowing you to create a distinctive memento.

Using funeral program templates to design respectful remembrances of a loved one (or for a client) makes the task simpler. These new template designs offer even more possibilities for creating the exact memento you want. Use the links above to review the features of each and select the ones that work best for your situation.

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Funeral programs can be a treasured keepsake when a memorial photo collage is added. You could, of course use Microsoft Word or Publisher to make your collage. However, if you are working with many photos, and want something a little quick and easier for layout, you may want to try some of the free collage making software websites. You can quickly make photo collages, save them into one photo, and then easily inserted into your funeral program.

We’ve reviewed four collage making websites to help you decide which will work best for your project.

Four Free Photo Editing and Collage Design Programs

PicMonkey

Picmonkey is a popular and well known free graphics program. It’s very simple to use. Simply click the collage button at the top of the website page and the file upload window comes up immediately. Upload your photos first, then drag and drop into pre-formatted collage sheets. There are many different collage layouts to choose from and you can easily round the corners of your photos and change spacing and background colors. When done, save the file to your computer and insert into your program or keepsake.

Fotoflexer

This website is pretty easy as well. To get started, click the Upload Photo Button. Photos can be positioned on blank canvas where you can control the layout, or you can use the EZ collage feature for pre-formatted collage feature. It’s a little awkward getting to the EZ collage/editor. They make you upload a photo first. Once a photo is uploaded, you can click the EZ collage button. These collage templates are pretty basic, mostly square shapes. Once you have inserted your photos into the collage, hit the “customize” button to use a wide variety of features, including special graphic effects and styles, borders, and text captions. There seems to be a lot of functionality, but the interface isn’t as easy as it could be. You can probably get good results; you just have to spend time learning the system.

You can save your creation to your computer.

piZap

Pizap has a robust collage editor. It had many different shapes, including hearts, puzzle and many different collage designs. It also had an extensive collections of decorate collage sheets, frames and borders. I really enjoyed testing different collage designs on this website.  It also has other more advanced enhancement features like frames and borders.

When saving my finished image, they wanted you to log into Facebook or Twitter Account to save. Create an account beforehand to avoid using your Facebook or Twitter account to save.

PhotoCat

Very simple interface, simply click the “Web” option, then choose the collage option and begin making a collage immediately in the editor window. The collage sheets are primarily square shapes, however, this website does have nicely decorated collage sheets. You can also add frames, text and other enhancements to your photos from here. I like the photo background sheets because you can freely move the photos around.  This program has a good balance between ease of use and functionality. I loved the collage background design pages.  They could have a few more collage sheet designs.

New Funeral Program Template Designs

Elegant Memorials now has 4 new designs.

Vintage Rose Funeral Program Template

This funeral program design features a delicate pink swirl border with a conservative white background.  It has a green vine and pink vintage-like rose at the top of the page.  The cover photo is displayed in a pink border oval, but can be changed if needed.  The cover has plenty of space for funeral program title, full name and service information.  The back cover also features the swirl border.  This template is also offered in purple, red and yellow.

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Silk Curtain Funeral Program Template

This funeral program design features an elegant silk curtain that reveals an oval for the cover photo.  The cover is highlighted with a gold top and bottom border.   The cover has space for funeral program title, full name and service information.  This template is also offered in purple, red, blue and green.  This template is perfect for a homegoing or memorial service

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Peaceful Waters Funeral Program Template

This funeral program design has a calm nature scape cover featuring a pale blue sky with billowy white clouds and a soft gold sunlight and a beautiful white dove flying over a calm blue ocean.  The cover extends to the back cover for full coverage   The cover has space for funeral program title, full name and service information.  This template is perfect for both religious and secular services.

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Music Memories Funeral Program Template

For the special music lover, this funeral program design has pale blue and tan light bokeh background with golden musical notes.  The cover has space for funeral program title, full name and service information.  This template is perfect for both religious and secular services.

View Template

Elegant Memorials now sells funeral program templates which allow you to change the color of the background with just a few simple clicks.

There are many ways of personalizing a funeral program from adding sentimental pictures and graphics to adjusting the size and style of font. Now, users can further customize a program by choosing templates that allow you to change background colors as well.

This option makes the funeral program templates more versatile by giving customers the opportunity to change the program’s colors to one more desirable. Many prefer to have the program highlighted with their loved one’s favorite color or a hue that will fit the theme of the funeral, memorial or Celebration of Life ceremony.

You can change a single color or create a beautiful gradient of colors. What’s great is that you can experiment to get whatever color scheme you want. Users can select to change the color of the borders, background and text.

Changing Background Colors
Changing the background color is easy:
1. Select the top lavender background box; right click and choose “Format Autoshape.”
2. Choose the “Colors and Lines” tab.
3. Click the down arrow on the fill color box and choose the color that you want.
5. Hit OK to save changes.
6. Do the same for the bottom lavender box.
7. Make sure to delete this box when done by selecting the edge of the box and pressing delete or backspace.

The backgrounds use autofill shapes, so you can easily change colors by accessing the shape properties.

Changing Border Colors
The colors of borders or picture frames can easily be changed to correspond to the rest of the funeral program’s color scheme. This can be done by:
1. Select and right click inside the grey picture box and choose “Format Autoshape.”
2. Choose “Colors and Lines” tab.
3. Under “Fill,” click “Fill Effects.”
4. Click “Picture” tab and select picture. Click OK.
5. Click OK to save changes.
6. Delete this box when done by selecting the edge of the box and pressing “backspace” or “delete.”

Make The Perfect Funeral Program ... It's Easy

• Professional Designs formatted using Microsoft Word or Publisher
• All test can be changed, including the program title
• Flexible Designs and Layout
• Instant Download and Live customer support

Choose a Program

Over the years, customers have asked about using copyrighted quotes or poems in funeral programs or booklets or similar materials. On the surface while it may seem harmless, there really are some legal issues surrounding using others' works, even for personal reasons such as a funeral program.

It's called the U.S. Copyright Law, which is set of exclusive rights granted to an author or creator of an original work, such as a poem, song, news article, etc. This copyright allows the author to copy and distribute his or her work as needed; however, it also protects him or her from having others do that. So, if you see a poem online that you just love, you cannot just cut and paste the entire piece to your own work.

However, there is a way around this. It's called Fair Use. As part of the U.S. Copyright Law, this doctrine allows others to use excerpts of copyrighted material, under certain circumstances, such as noncommercial use. Funeral programs fall under this category. Fair use allows individuals to copy a poem for non-financial gain if the poem is fewer than 250 words, or if longer, up to 250 words. No more than five poems or excerpts from an anthology of different poets or only three poems or excerpts per poet are allowed at one time.

How can you tell whether a poem is copyrighted?

It does not need to have a copyright symbol (©) to be protected. As long as the author can prove ownership, then it is copy-written. This goes for poems written and placed on Facebook, Pinterest, etc. So, if the poem you want has an author, you can either contact him or her for permission, or just assume it's a copyright and move on.

There are several provisions regarding the length of time a copyright is in effect:

• Original works created on or after Jan. 1, 1978, expires after the author's death plus 70 years. The duration for anonymous pieces is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
• Original works created before Jan. 1, 1978, but not published or registered by that date, are protected under the same federal copyright laws. 
• Original works created or published before Jan. 1, 1978, have a total of 95 years of copyright protection. The copyright can be renewed as well.

So, what does all this mean? It means that poems, whether found online or in a book, are protected by copyright law. You can use excerpts for a funeral program, or ones that are fewer than 250 words. You can also obtain written consent from the author, which for many older poems, may be difficult to do. Or you can write your own poem and put all your personal feelings about your loved one on paper.

One of the more somber, yet important, funeral programs to design are ones for a baby or child who died. Chances are his or her death was unexpected, so creating a funeral program to go along with what will most likely be an extremely sad affair will be quite difficult. But it's not impossible.

For starters, make sure to add as many images of the young one as you can to program as this will conjure up good memories. It is unnecessary to add a cause of death, unless the family insists. Also, don't forget to include everyone in the obituary that you use.

Keep the funeral program light-hearted. Seriousness during this time can only lead to more heartache by the family. A religious theme is a good idea if the family wants it. Some may be too grief-stricken to think of their children in heaven.

Finally, make extra copies, and give the immediate family quite a few copies to keep and reflect upon in years to come.

For more resources on planning a child's service or creating a funeral program for a child please see:

Planning a Child's Memorial Service

Children's Funeral Poems

Funeral programs honor and celebrate the life of the deceased. Programs usually contain photos information about the funeral or memorial service, poems, scriptures and an obituary. The obituary can be a very imporant part of the funeral or memorial program or bulletin. Writing an obituary for the funeral program can seem challenging, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some tips to help you write the perfect obituary for your funeral or memorial bulletin.

1. Start off with a few key points, and build on it
You may have already written a short obituary for the newspaper or funeral home as an announcent. You can start with that. The short obituary probably already has full name, place of residence, date of birth and death, and funeral or memorial details.

2. Add in personal details
You can then include more details in describing the person's life. It can include hobbies, interests or special qualities that they possessed. Did they enjoy traveling or writing poetry? Were they well-known among friends and family for telling jokes? Did they work for a special cause? These are the kinds of details you can add to the standard obituary to help those attending a memorial service to remember the person's life.

3. List family members
This is an important and sometimes tedious part of the obituary. Of course, include the spouse of the deceased and their children. You should also list siblings. Depending on the size of the family, you may want to stop there, or you may continue and list extended family members.

4. Look at examples
There are many obituary examples on the internet. You can also consult the newspaper or funeral homes to read examples of obituaries to help you get started.

Elegant Memorials has many resources to help you write an obituary.

How to Write an Obituary

Obituary for Newspapers

Sample Obituaries

One of the growing trends in the funeral industry is end of life celebrations or living funerals. These events are often similar to traditional funerals, memorial services or celebration of life ceremonies, except the intended individual is not deceased. He or she typically has a terminal disease or another ailment and senses that his or her life will soon end.

Living funerals allow individuals to do more than just pre-plan a funeral. They allow people to reunite, say good-bye, show gratitude and mend broken relationships. A good example of a living funeral can be found in the 1997 classic, "Tuesdays with Morrie." The title character, dying from ALS, arranges his own living funeral because traditional ceremonies, as he states, are a waste. "All those people saying all those wonderful things, and [his friend] never got to hear any of it." Morrie invited his friends, students and family members to his living funeral so can say good-bye to everyone. He died without any regrets.

Living funerals can be whatever you want. There aren't rules or guidelines to follow. They can be large and public or small and intimate. Family reunions are a popular venue in which to hold an end of life celebration because they bring everyone together in a casual environment.

There are many benefits to this type of celebration. Having a gathering where everything is upbeat is good for a dying person's psyche. It boosts their spirits and helps their psychological well-being. It is also a good way to get someone's affairs in order such as finalizing the will and organizing the estate. Finally, a living funeral can help the dying person move on peacefully.

If you are thinking of holding a living funeral for yourself or a loved one, you can put one together just as you would a traditional service. A funeral home director can guide you or you can simply have your family and friends help with arrangements.

Also See:

Celebration of Life Service

Memorial Service Ideas

Memorial Poems

If you've ever planned a funeral when a loved one died, you know it can cause heartache and hard feelings for the family members who need to handle the final arrangements. If nothing were prearranged or clarified ahead of time, there may be some conflicting details about the burial or service. Everybody will want to do what they "think" is best, which you know is not always true. Preplanning your own funeral ensures that your final wishes are carried out to their fullest.

By preplanning your funeral, you can spend time shopping around for the best prices and burial options on items such as caskets, urns, cemetery plots and insurance. You can also make sure that any special requests and preferences, such as songs and readings at your services, and funeral program and keepsakes are incorporated into your service.  Just think about much less stress your family will have when your time does come. Wouldn't you rather have them celebrate your memory instead worrying about where to hold the service or even how to pay for it?

Not sure where to begin? If you have a funeral home in mind, start there. Then make sure you visit several more to comparison shop. Once you have an idea of what things cost now, set up a funeral plan either by purchasing a funeral insurance policy, putting money aside, or by paying for what you can. Remember to leave a buffer for inflation, as funeral prices generally increase every year. Talk to your family and express your wishes, including the type of service and burial you want.

Finally, once you have all this in place, contact an attorney, and have the details added to your will or estate planning documents.

Here are more resources to help you get started planning your own funeral or memorial service:

Funeral Pre-planning Article

Funeral Planning

Memorial Service Ideas

Funeral Program Samples

Memorial celebrations aren't the solemn services made popular by past generations. Though they honor and remember a person's life, today's memorials can celebrate it too. The goal is to make this celebration unique and personal. Instead of focusing on the sadness and what could have been, have it be about how your loved one lived, and how his or her life affected others. You can do this in a number of ways including the location it is held, the theme you choose, and the keepsakes that make it personable. Family members and friends can help plan the service, or you can turn to sites such as Pinterest for some amazing ideas.

To start with, the service need not be in a church or funeral home. Memorial celebrations can be held just about everywhere from your home to a baseball field, golf course or botanical garden. Dress is casual or formal, and the mood of the celebration should be somewhat upbeat. A theme is not always needed, but acceptable in many instances. It all depends on your loved one's hobbies and lifestyle.

There are many ways to make the celebration unique. You can display family photos on poster boards, create a video montage set to your loved one's preferred music and serve his or her favorite food. Provide memory cards (index cards will work too) so guests can jot down and share their memories of the person who died. There really aren't rules to decide what is right or wrong. For keepsakes, you can create some beautiful memorial bookmarks, or even use the dried flowers from the funeral and make them into beads, key chains, etc.

If you want to take the memorial celebration to the next level, consider a butterfly or ladybug release either outdoors at the park or at the cemetery. It is more environmentally sound than releasing balloons. These natural releases are becoming extremely popular because they serve as reminders of a loved one's spirit being carried off to the heavens. Do you have a favorite memorial celebration idea?

Also See:  Memorial Service Ideas, Personalizing a Funeral or Memorial