Sentiment - Video and photo montage production

Here we go with this weeks installment of Music For The Soul – part 8

This is part 8 of 10 play lists complied by Sentiment staff, Sentiment clients, our social network (twitter and facebook) and  friends and family from all ages, generations and walks of life.

Perfect songs for everyone – be it funerals, bereavement, or just thinking about life.

Enjoy

If you would like to view the play lists 1- 8 please  view the links through the Sentiment blog

for those who don’t have spotify here is a copy of  the track listing

video above is one of our samples of the many funerals that we film – this one was  for a young man who died earler this year.

‘why on earth would anyone want to film a funeral’ a gentleman said to me today looking utterly shocked that this was part of our service!

When people ask me this question I always recall a lovely client, who’s husband was a  musician from the 60s. He died too soon, his funeral was kept quiet from the press, it was a fairly small service, with just close friends and family. We filmed the whole service and captured elements of the day like the grounds,  the sun shining through the trees, the dove, the flowers, the singing and the eulogies etc – it was then beautifully edited.

A few weeks later the client called to say she’d watched the DVD and was overwhelmed at how comforting it was. She went on to tell me the whole day went in such a fog she’d forgotten all the lovely parts of the funeral and the wonderful things people said. She was happy see that she’d given her husband a good funeral and glad she’d had it filmed, because watching it back  allowed her some closure.

So why do we film funerals?:

1) To capture and remember the wonderful way we say goodbye, especially if a lot of thought and effort has gone into the planning of a funeral

2) To watch back after the fog has cleared and to gain some closure

3) To remember and recall the eulogies and words and poems said

4) To send to people who cant be at the funeral

5) To film messages and stories of guest at the funeral

Ifyou woudl like to see some samples please visit our website page filming of funerals

I’v just ordered my copy of  The Good Funeral Guide by Charles Cowling – it was launched last Thursday.

I had a quick look at a copy the other day and it looked great, very clear and easy to read. I’ll review it in better detail when I’ve read the whole book

order the good funeral guide from amazon here

Poems for the Soul – unique and unusual or personal funeral poems

Here is a beautiful poem written by Jamie Porter from Wolverhampton. Jamie is only 17 years old – I was touched by his  insightful words.  what do you think?

For Now And Forever More
Don’t cry for me,
Now I’m asleep,
I’m always here,
Now please don’t weep.
I feel alive,
Now I’m set free,
You carry on,
And leave me be.
It may be hard,
But in time you’ll see,
For now I’m gone,
Don’t mourn for me.
I walk in fields,
And hear birds sing,
I’m with God’s angels,
Right under their wing.
I need you now,
To keep walking on,
To hold your head high,
And soon we’ll be one.
So now I must go,
Go back to the best,
I’m free, happy and alive,
For now, and forever more, I am at rest.

On Monday I went to a seminar by Dr Bill Webster from Greif Journeys, it was held in the Chiltern Woodland Burial Park and sponsored by Arnolds Funeral Service  and Golden Charter

 I love Chiltern Woodland Burial Park, I love the energy, the feel, the design of the buildings, and the fact it is so welcoming and beautiful so  you can just turn up  for a nice walk in the woodland.

 As I sat listening to Bill explaining that if we start to really understand someone’s loss then we can begin to understand their grief, I watched  2 squirrels chasing each other up and down the trees,  the birds flying round outside and the sunshine through the trees – sound corny? yes maybe I do, but it was  beautiful and what I feel the woodland is about- death, life, nature, peace, comfort

 I feel that the woodland brings a certain element of peace to suffering souls - loved ones will never come back  and that’s by far the one thing we want most ,  but somehow being so close to nature sends a a blanket of comfort and peace… or maybe that’s just me being sentimental! 

 Dr Bill Webster is a captivating speaker, he had a great analogy of loss being like a lined up of dominions – you lose your husband and bit by bit there is domino effect where you lose so many more elements of life, from having a cup of tea in bed every morning to your independence, lifestyles, home and even possessions. When you understand the elements of someones loss and underand that life will never ever be the same for that person again then you understand that  there is no time scale for their grief to subside, and we cannot expect people to start to ‘ just get on with life’ after 6 months…

 After Bills talk there was a horse drawn cart waiting outside with 2 stunning white horses to take  everyone round the woodland – I opted out of this due to the fact I may give birth any second and didn’t think a horse and carriage would be a great idea – and if I’m honest I’d see the spread of cakes that was laid out in the  that the gathering hall and rushed in to taste what was possibly the best Victoria sponge i have had!  - I proceeded to eat like only a heavily pregnant can get away with!

Here we go with this weeks installment of Music for the Soul Part 7

This is part 7 of 10 playlists compiled by Sentiment staff, Sentiment clients, our social network (twitter and facebook) and  friends and family from all ages, generations and walks of life.

Perfect songs for everyone – be it funerals, bereavement, or just thinking about life.  

Enjoy

If you would like to view the playlists 1- 7 please  view the links through the Sentiment blog

for those who don’t have spotify here is a copy the track listing

The key word these days is ‘personalised’ funerals – however it’s one thing saying yes I want to have / arrange a personalised funeral and it’s another thing trying to find the energy to actually create that. You could get a funeral planner like Fantastic Funerals or Sentiment Farewells to arrange a unique funeral. You could arrange alternative vehicals such as Volkswagen Funerals or you could have a  tribute photo / video montages to be played at the service.

However a great start and something many Funeral Directors will offer is the coffin – Colourful Coffins are the ‘in’ thing, and even accepted by the old school funeral industry!

We love  Colourful Coffins- because you can have whatever you want!  maybe you just want to go with one of their own from pre designs or have something total bespoke made just as you want it- they don’t even have to be colourful!

Personally I love the idea of the photo montage coffin- Please take 5 minutes to read this utterly reflective and touching story on the colourful coffins website about a mum / wife who died at 39 years old but ensured her coffin brought comfort to her loved ones both young and old… truly touching story.

 A Must Read

 The Good Funeral Guide is an incredible blog all about Funerals. It’s a fantastic resource not only for  people who need to arrange a funeral for but also fort the funeral industry to plug into to see ‘what’s hot and what’s not!

Charles Cowling has a wonderful, humorous but also serious and very fair approach to reporting back advice and information.

 There are few people out in the UK funeral industry who are  both tough enough to say what’s what (even to the old school Funeral directors),  yet gentle enough to encourage the new buds of the industry to bloom – all the while showing a fair and diplomatic opinion with the public’s interest at the forefront when sharing ideas and advise

 Therefore I’d like to raise my cup of tea… (if I wasn’t 7 month pregnant it would be a rum and coke!) to Mr Cowling and his wonderful blog The Good Funeral Guide – and wish him all the luck when we get to see this blog in print