What goes into a bereavement photo book

Short answer: a bereavement photo book holds a life in order. It starts with childhood, moves through the people and places they loved, and ends with the last years. A few words sit on the pages that need them. It is made to be held and passed from hand to hand, long after the service is over.

Here is what families put inside one, how to choose the photographs, and how to keep the words simple.

What a bereavement photo book is

It is a printed, bound book of photographs made after a loss. Some families call it a memorial book or a remembrance album. It often sits on a table at the service, and then it stays in the home.

A book does something a video cannot. A tribute video plays once, for a whole room, at the pace of the music. A book is held by one person at a time, who turns the pages as slowly as they need to. That is why many families want both.

What goes inside

• The story in order. Childhood, growing up, the people they loved, work, home, and the later years. A timeline is the easiest shape for a reader to follow.
• A few clear photographs of them alone. These are the pages people look for first. Choose ones where their face is easy to see.
• The people around them. A partner, children, grandchildren, close friends, and the pets. A life is told through the people in it.
• Ordinary days. The kitchen, the garden, the car, the chair they always sat in. These are often the pages people linger on longest.
• Something in their own hand. A photograph of a birthday card, a recipe card, or a note they left on the fridge. Handwriting brings a person back like nothing else.

How many photographs to choose

Fewer than you think. Most pages read best with one to three photographs, and the occasional page given to a single picture that deserves the space. A crowded page asks the reader to work. A quiet page lets them remember.

If you are also making a tribute video, start from the same set. Our guide to how many photos you need for a funeral slideshow walks through narrowing a big collection down, and the same thinking works for a book.

Choosing the photographs

• Start with the ones you would save first. Ask each close relative for their three favorites. Those picks usually agree more than you expect.
• Faces over scenery. A wide shot of a beach says little. A close photo of them laughing on that beach says everything.
• Ask for the phone photos. The recent years often live only on someone's phone. Ask the grandchildren too.
• Do not wait for perfect quality. A slightly faded print often carries more feeling than a sharp one. Use the photograph that matters.
• Leave out anything that would hurt someone. A book gets passed around the family for years. Every page should be safe for everyone to turn.

Words on the page

Keep captions short. A place, a year, a name. The photographs carry the story, and long captions pull the eye away from them.

Many families add one longer passage, at the start or the end. It might be the obituary, a few lines from the eulogy, or a note written by the grandchildren. One passage is plenty. More than that and the book starts to read like a letter instead of an album.

When to make it

Some families want the book ready for the service. Others make it in the weeks after, when there is finally time to sit with the photographs. Both are right.

A book made after the service has one real advantage. Relatives often bring photographs to the gathering that nobody in the family had seen. Those can go in.

How we make ours

At Tribute Montage, our hardcover photo books are made alongside a tribute video. You have already sent us the photographs for the video, so our designers use that same set to lay out the book. We work with you on the layouts, fonts and captions, and the pages are printed at high resolution in a durable hardcover.

Our photo books are offered only as an add-on to a tribute video, not on their own. You can see the details on our photo books and albums page.

Located in Westchester, NY, we serve families nationwide through our fully remote platform. Everything is sent digitally, and nobody needs to travel.

A book that stays

The service ends. The flowers are gone within a week. A book stays on the shelf, and years from now a grandchild will take it down and ask who that is on the porch. That is what it is for.