Resources
Useful resources for collating ideas for a funeral or memorial ceremony
Funeral planning books
Funerals Your Way: A Person Centred Approach to Planning a Funeral, Sarah Jones, 2018. Available in paperback, on Kindle or on audio.
We Need to Talk About the Funeral: 101 Practical Ways to Commemorate and Celebrate Life, Jane Morell & Simon Smith, 2007. Available in paperback.
The Complete Book of Funeral Planning, Readings & Music, Rachel Johnstone-Burt, Alison Gibbs and Rev John Wynburne, 2005. Available on Kindle.
Funeral planning websites
Poetry and readings - books
Readings for Funerals compiled by Mark Oakley, 2015. Available in paperback.
Messages, a Companion in Grief through Poetry and Verse, Caroline L Wilkes, 2017.
Loss - Poems to Better Weather the Many Waves of Grief, Donna Ashworth, 2022.
Non-Religious Funeral Readings: Philosophy and Poetry for Secular Services, Hugh Morrison, 2014. Available in paperback, on Kindle or on audio.
Poems and Readings for Funerals, Julia Watson, 2004. Available in paperback or on Kindle.
The Complete Book of Funeral Planning, Readings & Music, Rachel Johnstone-Burt, Alison Gibbs and Rev John Wynburne, 2005. Available on Kindle.
Poetry & readings - websites
Music suggestions - books
The Complete Book of Funeral Planning, Readings & Music, Rachel Johnstone-Burt, Alison Gibbs and Rev John Wynburne, 2005. Available on Kindle. Contains suggestions of hymns, organ music, piano music, choral pieces and more contemporary choices.
Readings for Funerals compiled by Mark Oakley, 2015. Available in paperback. Contains suggestions of hymns.
Music suggestions - websites
musicnotes.com - suggestions of hymns / military / cultural / gospel / classic pop / modern pop / country / musicals.
Lasting Post - suggestions of hymns, classical & contemporary music.
Scattering / interring ashes - books
Celebrating the life of a loved one: what to do with their ashes, Richard Marton
Scattering / interring ashes - websites
Supporting young children who have been bereaved
Water Bugs and Dragon Flies - Explaining Death to Young Children, Doris Stickney, 2009. Available as paperback and as colouring book.
Addressing fears about death
Staring at the Sun: being at peace with your own mortality, Irvin Yalom. Available in paperback, on Kindle or audio.