Why a video instead of a typed message
When news is passed along by text, it changes a little with every forward. One person leaves out the end time, another writes the wrong street, someone adds a line that is not quite right. A few hours later three versions are going around and the family is answering the same questions on the phone. A funeral invitation video says the name, the time and the address the same way every time, and you checked it before it went out. It is an ordinary video file, so it plays right inside iMessage, a text thread, WhatsApp or an email on almost any phone. Older relatives do not need to tap a link or install anything. If you want to know how sending works on each phone, read how to share a funeral invitation video.
What goes into the video
At the top is the full name the family wants people to see, often with a middle name or a nickname in quotes. Under it come the dates of birth and death and a portrait. Then the service itself: the day, the date, the start time and the full address of the church, chapel or funeral home. If there is a reception or a gathering afterward, it gets its own line with its own place and time. You can add one short line of your own, such as a request for donations or a few words from a poem. Anything you do not know yet, you leave empty, and it simply does not appear. For a full list, see what to include in a funeral invitation.
Choosing the photo
A photo makes the video personal, but it is not required. The best choice is usually a picture in which the family recognizes the person as they knew them: at the kitchen table, in the garden, with a familiar smile. A formal studio portrait can feel distant. If the only good photo is a group picture, you choose which part of it shows. Ask the family to send the original file rather than a photo that has been forwarded several times, because forwarding makes images smaller and softer. Look at the preview on a phone to make sure the face is not cut off at the edge.
Background, music and the words in the video
You pick a calm moving background, such as a forest path, a field in morning light or a candle, and a style for the text. Music is optional. You can choose a quiet track from the built-in library, upload your own, or leave the video silent. Keep in mind that playing a song at a service and putting it in a video that gets shared are not the same thing; read music for a funeral invitation video before you choose a well known song. For the short text, there are ready examples in funeral invitation wording.
Preview first, pay only when it is right
Making the video and watching it as often as you like costs nothing. The preview carries the word PREVIEW across it, so it is clear it is not the final version. When the family is happy, you pay $199 for that video, once, and download it without the watermark in three shapes: vertical for phones, square for social media and landscape for a laptop or TV. Small fixes after you pay are free. The details are in funeral invitation video pricing.
Check before you send
- The name is spelled the way the family wants it
- Both dates are right, including the year
- The weekday matches the date of the service
- Start time and address are complete, with the city
- The reception has its own time and place, or is left out
- The photo came from the family
- You watched the whole video once with the sound on
About these guides
Written by Funeral Invitations, in plain language, for funeral directors and families. If anything changes about the videos or the price, we update the guides.