What Personal Items Should You Bring To A Funeral?

Items To Bring For Yourself

While you don’t need to bring anything to the funeral service for yourself, you may want to bring items to make you more comfortable. If you anticipate that you’ll be crying at the service, you might bring a pack of tissues or a handkerchief. If any part of the service will be outdoors, you may want to bring sunglasses and a hat, or a raincoat and an umbrella, depending on the weather.

Items To Bring For The Funeral Service

If you want to have photographs of the person who died on display at the service, you’ll want to collect those photos and bring them with you to the funeral home before the service or to the funeral service itself. If you’ll be displaying a poster-sized photo at the service, make sure that the funeral home can provide an easel, or bring one with you to the service.

Also be sure to bring a blank guestbook and pens to the service. Guestbooks can be purchased from any stationery story, and may be available for purchase from the funeral home you’re working with (which may also be able to set up the guestbook at the funeral service). Depending on the number of people you expect to attend the funeral, you may need one guestbook or you may need multiple guestbooks.

For advice on how to prepare yourself for the funeral, see our article How to Prepare Yourself for a Funeral.