A memorial photo book or a tribute video: choosing between them
Short answer: a tribute video is made for the service, where a room full of people watches a life together, set to music. A memorial photo book is made for afterwards, when one person at a time wants to sit with the photographs at their own pace. If you can only choose one, choose by where you need it first. Many families do both, from the same photographs.
What a tribute video does well
- It brings a room together. Everyone watches the same story at the same moment, and the music carries it.
- It holds a lot. A few minutes of video comfortably holds a hundred photographs or more, along with short clips from phones.
- It travels. Relatives who could not come can watch it from a private link, wherever they are.
- It can be ready in time. A video can be finished for a service that is only days away.
What a memorial photo book does well
- It is held, not watched. One person turns the pages as slowly as they need to.
- It needs no screen. A grandparent who never opens a link can pick it up from the coffee table.
- It stays. A video is played now and then. A book sits on the shelf, and years later someone takes it down and asks who that is on the porch.
- It holds words well. Captions, the obituary, or a note from the grandchildren sit comfortably on a page.
Four questions that decide it
- When is the service? If it is days away, start with the video. A book can follow in the weeks after, and the photographs relatives bring to the gathering can still go in.
- Who will look at it most? Younger relatives tend to watch. Older relatives often prefer pages they can hold.
- How many photographs are there? Hundreds suit a video. A book reads best with fewer, one to three on a page.
- Is the family spread out? A video link reaches everyone at once. A book lives in one home.
Why many families choose both
Both are made from the same photographs, so the hardest part, gathering and choosing them, only happens once. The video serves the day. The book serves the years after it.
That is how we offer ours. At Tribute Montage, our hardcover photo books are an add-on to a tribute video, not a separate product. Our designers lay out the book from the photographs you already sent for the video, and you approve the layouts, fonts and captions. You can see the details on our photo books and albums page, and how our memorial videos are made.
If you are choosing the photographs now
Build one set for both. Our guides to how many photos you need and how long a funeral slideshow should be help you narrow a big collection down. Then mark the ten or fifteen you would want on a page of their own. Those are the heart of your book, and our guide to what goes into a bereavement photo book covers the rest.
Located in Westchester, NY, we serve families nationwide through our fully remote platform. Everything is sent digitally, and nobody needs to travel.