Both Obituaries and Funeral Notices/Death Notices include the announcement of a death, but they serve very different purposes.
An Obituary is generally a memorial, giving an account of the life of the person that has died; the Funeral Notice/Death Notice is usually a more practical notification of the date, time and place of a funeral.
An obituary should be seen more as a tribute or memorial article to someone who's died. It includes the time, date and cause of death, but the bulk of the content is devoted to recording the biographical details and achievements of the deceased.
Traditionally a newspaper article announcing the death of a person, it provides information about their life, family and possibly career. For prominent individuals or celebrities, obituaries are written by the staff of the newspaper in which they appear. Obituaries for the general public are more likely to be written by the family of the deceased and published after the funeral.
Funeral Notices announce the death of a person, but also provide information on the date, time and place of their upcoming funeral. Many local newspapers treat Funeral Notices like classified advertising, offering standard sizes and placements. Some papers will charge by the word, but most charge by the number of lines printed. The day of the week the Notice appears can also affect the cost.
Increasingly Funeral Notices are also published online to make it easier for families to share funeral details through email and social media. Many Funeral Notice websites include the ability for families to include Obituary style information, space for memories and photographs, and links to charity donation websites.
Many funeral directors will offer families the opportunity to publish both a Funeral Notice and an Obituary in the same local paper.
If you’ve arranged a funeral with a funeral director listed on localfuneral.co.uk you can ask them to create an online funeral notice for you, free of charge. This includes the date, time and location of the cremation or burial along with an interactive map to make it easier for mourners to find the funeral.
Your dedicated Funeral Notice page will include the name of the deceased, their date of birth (optional) and the date of their death. You can also add a photograph, a short obituary and family requests for the funeral such as dress code. To allow you to make sure that all the information is correct, your funeral director will send you a link so you can preview your Funeral Notice before it's published.
Funeral notices on localfuneral.co.uk also allow visitors to share their memories of your loved one and, if you're accepting donations, a link to your chosen charity or fundraising page can be included.
Prominent buttons on the page make it easy to share the Funeral Notice with friends and family on Facebook, by email or by simply copying the link to the page. The Funeral Notice also contains a print button allowing visitors to easily print out a concise version of the funeral arrangements for reference.
For more information about Funeral Notices on localfuneral.co.uk you can visit our Funeral Notices FAQ or email info@localfuneral.co.uk
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