Multimedia Facilities at Crematoria

 - originally published 5 August 2017

There are a number of multimedia facilities available nowadays which bereaved families may not be aware of.

These have come about by fairly recent investment in crematoria and broadly fall into two categories: music and visuals.

Music

Having pieces of music played in the funeral service is very common, especially when they are favourite tracks of the deceased. This can be very evocative for the mourners.

Most crematoria use the services of a third party to provide pieces of music which can be played at various points during the service. They have a website where families can browse through music tracks and then pass on their requirements to the funeral director who will book the music. Some systems require a password to access the music library (which the funeral director will be able to provide).

For links to the third party music providers, see the information page on my website.

Visuals

Three options are usually available.

1. The funeral service can be streamed live, possibly into another chapel (some crematoria have a second chapel when the funeral has too many mourners to fit into the main chapel). It is also sometimes possible to provide a link to mourners who are unable to attend the funeral so that they can watch through the internet at home. This is very useful for those who aren’t mobile or who live too far away – even in another country.
2. The crematorium may also offer the facility to record the service and provide it to the family on a DVD.
3. Family photos can be shown on the screen. There can be as many as you wish or just a single one.

These facilities incur an extra charge, and are very dependent on the crematorium – not all of them have the full facilities available at the moment.

Conclusion

Not every family wants these facilities and there is no pressure on them to have them, but they are there when needed.

My website is intended to be a source of information for everyone and these facilities are something which families should be aware of, even if they choose not to avail themselves of them.