Planning for after funeral reception
After a funeral, you may always get an invitation to another ceremony that is funeral repost or funeral reception. This reception ceremony is arranged in order to console the grieving family members of the deceased.
What is a funeral repost or reception?
A funeral reception is a gathering of the immediate family members, beloved ones, co-workers and close friends of the deceased after the funeral service. This get-together is basically arranged for the consolation of the mourning family members for their great loss.
In the reception, people get the chance to gather more intimately in a less formal way to share their memories and stories about the deceased and remember him. Funeral reception has no strict schedule to follow. It is like a family gathering.
Who is in charge of arranging a funeral reception?
Normally family members like parents, spouse, brothers, sisters or children are the responsible ones to arrange a reception. It might be a huge task for one to arrange a reception after doing all the funeral service arrangements like burial, a celebration of life etc. If it is, then you can get help from others for this task.
There are caterers, funeral homes or even restaurants that support arranging a funeral repost. You can take suggestions from them. Though it is costly, you can arrange the whole program by a funeral director of any funeral home.
Personalizing the reception
A personalized funeral reception can be a great way to honor your loved one and to reflect on their life through it. Personalizing means the sharing of stories, memories, life works or favourite things of the deceased. This sharing will keep the memories of the deceased alive among the people attending the reception.
Funeral reception personalizing decor
There are different ways to personalize a funeral reception. It can start from very details like using the favorite flower of the deceased. Some more ideas are shared below:
- Photo walls
- Memory tables
- Using the favourite items of deceased
- Using his favourite music
- Sharing a slideshow or videography
- Ask funeral attending people to bring one item which reminds them of the departed.
Things to remember while planning a funeral reception
The funeral home and associates will help a lot to arrange the reception. But there are things only you should decide. This may be your first to arrange something like this. If you do not know where to start, here come some suggestions from us:
- Where to arrange the reception: Most of the families arrange post-funeral reception at their home or at the house of close relatives. Often they arrange to repost at a funeral home, restaurant or even at a church. This depends on the preferences of family members. But we would suggest arranging the ceremony at home. This will help to recollect the memories of the deceased.
- How many people to invite: This also depends on your choice and also on your financial ability. You may categorize people who you must invite such as close relatives, close friends, colleagues and co-workers, neighbors etc. These people know the deceased most and they must want to honor the departed soul of your loved one.
- How can you take other’s help: Normally when someone of dies, people offer help to console you? Take this offer of them. Because it is a huge job for you to arrange all of it all by yourself. There are dozens of tasks to do. Ask your close relatives or friends to help you. This will make the whole program very nice and flawless. It always better to use more than one brain to get wonderful ideas.
- Do something special for your beloved one: This ceremony is for honoring the departed soul of the deceased. All his or her close people will come to show respect for his or her soul for the last time. To make this event memorable, you should arrange something special. There could be some ideas like :
- Candle lighting ceremony
- Playing a tribute video or slideshow
- Open mic speeches about the memories of the deceased.
- Food or drink you should serve: For any event serving food or refreshment is a very important thing. You may arrange all the food items on your own. Or you can order it from any catering service. They will deliver the ordered food items on the selected date and time. It would be difficult for you to cook all this food for guests at such a grieving moment. So our suggestion will be to order from any catering service or restaurant.
Now the question is what food items you should arrange. It depends on your financial consideration and the number of people who would attend. Funeral directors normally suggest arranging buffet, not finger foods. Few suggestions for buffet items could be like:
- Garden salad
- Baked ziti
- Dinner rolls
- Macaroni and cheese
- Fruit and vegetable tray
- Cookie and brownie tray
- Lemonade, ice tea, coffee
Foods you should take to a funeral reception
When you are invited to any funeral reception as condolences you should provide food for the grieving family. It is a part of tradition and culture also. This shows that you care for them; you also feel sorrow for their great loss. Here are some ideas for meals you can take to a funeral reception:
Meals you can easily make at home
If you are good at cooking then there are some simple and delicious items you can easily cook for funeral:
- Baked pasta
- Chicken noodles
- Chicken pot pie
- Shepherd’s pie
- Quiche
- Egg casserole
- Meatballs
- Burritos
Meals you can order from the restaurant
If you are not a great cooker, you have nothing to worry about it. There are restaurants outside that serve very promising and tasty foods you want. Here are some ideas about the foot you can order for a funeral reception:
- Pizza
- Chinese foods
- Meat and cheese platters
- Fruits and vegetable platters
- Sandwich trays
- Fried chicken
- Barbeque
- Sweet treats
- Coffee
- Cold drinks or lemonade
Sometimes you may feel uncomfortable taking food at a funeral reception. But do not let this tradition die out completely. Whether cook it yourself or order from a restaurant, just take any food with a sympathetic note. This will comfort the grief of the family members and also show your caring for them.
Final Verdict
The death of your beloved one is like a great disaster in your life. Grieving is natural in such a condition but life must go on. You have to carry on leaving all those sorrows behind. Funeral receptions are arranged for this purpose. This event is for easing your affliction, for showing respect and honor to the deceased and to keep his memories alive forever.