A memorial slideshow is often the moment people remember most from a service. A whole life plays out on the screen: baby pictures, prom photos, fishing trips, weddings, grandbabies. People laugh, they cry, and they lean over to whisper, "I remember that."
Making one can feel overwhelming, especially when you're sorting through decades of photos while grieving. This guide breaks it into simple steps, with song ideas to help you set the tone.
In This Guide
- Step 1: Gather the Photos
- Step 2: How Many Photos and How Long?
- Step 3: Put Them in Order
- Step 4: Make the Slideshow
- Funeral Slideshow Song Ideas
- Day-Of Tips
Step 1: Gather the Photos
- Ask family and friends to send their favorites. A shared online album (like Google Photos or iCloud) makes it easy for everyone to add pictures in one place.
- Scan printed photos with a free phone scanning app, or ask a local photo shop to scan a box for you.
- Look beyond posed pictures. The candid shots, like laughing at the kitchen table or asleep in the recliner with the dog, are often the ones that mean the most.
- Include their passions. The garden, the motorcycle, the quilts, the team they cheered for.
From experience: Ask for the original photo files, sent by email at full size. Photos saved from Facebook or sent as screenshots often look blurry on a big screen, and the same goes for printing them in a funeral program.
Step 2: How Many Photos and How Long?
Most memorial slideshows run 5 to 10 minutes, about 2 or 3 songs. Showing each photo for about 4 to 5 seconds feels comfortable for viewers.
| Slideshow Length | Number of Songs | About How Many Photos |
|---|---|---|
| About 4 minutes | 1 song | 50–60 |
| About 7 minutes | 2 songs | 90–110 |
| About 10 minutes | 3 songs | 130–150 |
If the slideshow plays on a loop during a visitation or reception, it can be longer, and you don't need to worry as much about timing.
Step 3: Put Them in Order
Most families go chronologically, from childhood to the most recent photos. It tells their story naturally. Other ideas:
- By chapter: childhood, young adult, marriage, parenthood, grandparenthood.
- By theme: family, friends, travels, hobbies, holidays.
- Start and end strong: open with a favorite portrait, and close with a photo that captures their spirit, like a big smile or a wave goodbye.
Step 4: Make the Slideshow
You don't need special skills. A few easy, free or low-cost options:
- Canva: If you're already editing a funeral program in Canva, you can make a slideshow there too. Create a Presentation or Video, add your photos and music, and download it as an MP4 video.
- Google Photos: Can create a simple movie from an album.
- iMovie (Apple) or Clipchamp (Windows): Free, with simple drag-and-drop editing.
- Ask the funeral home: Many will make a slideshow for you from your photos, sometimes for a small fee.
Add a title slide at the beginning with their name and dates, and a closing slide with a favorite quote or "Forever in Our Hearts." Our funeral quotes work beautifully here.
Funeral Slideshow Song Ideas
Choose songs they loved, or songs that fit who they were. Mixing one reflective song with one uplifting one often works well.
Faith and Hymns
- "Amazing Grace" (traditional hymn)
- "How Great Thou Art" (hymn)
- "It Is Well with My Soul" (hymn)
- "I'll Fly Away" (gospel)
- "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe
- "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" by Thomas A. Dorsey
Country
- "Go Rest High on That Mountain" by Vince Gill
- "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" by Steve Wariner
- "The Dance" by Garth Brooks
- "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks
- "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw
Classic and Timeless
- "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole
- "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
- "My Way" by Frank Sinatra
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler
- "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
Reflective and Tender
- "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton
- "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan
- "Supermarket Flowers" by Ed Sheeran
- "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen (or the Jeff Buckley version)
- "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban
Uplifting and Celebration of Life
- "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
- "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles
- "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley
- "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
- "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
A helpful tip: The best song is often the one they sang in the car, the one that played at their wedding, or the one they always turned up on the radio. If a song makes everyone say, "Oh, that's so them," it's the right one.
A note on music: playing songs at a private service is common, but if you post the slideshow online, some sites like YouTube or Facebook may mute or remove copyrighted music. For an online version, consider instrumental or royalty-free music.
Day-Of Tips
- Ask the venue what format they need (usually an MP4 video on a USB drive) and test it on their screen ahead of time if you can.
- Bring a backup on a second USB drive or saved to your phone.
- Check the sound. Make sure the music isn't too loud or too quiet for the room.
- Let it loop during the visitation or reception so guests can watch as they arrive.
Use Your Favorite Photos in the Program, Too
Once you've gathered the photos, you've done the hardest part of the funeral program, too. Our Canva-editable funeral program templates include photo collage pages, and since they're in Canva, you can build the program and the slideshow in the same place.
Or let us do the program for you. With our Done-For-You Service, you upload your photos and fill everything in online, and we send you a print-ready digital file.
You may also find helpful: Celebration of Life Program Template Guide and How to Make a Funeral Program.
Every photo tells a piece of their story. Together, they tell the whole thing. — Noted & Charmed