Memorial board ideas. And the photos everyone else brings.

A memorial board is a display of photographs from a person's life, shown at a funeral, memorial, wake or celebration of life. It is usually a foam or poster board of 20 to 40 printed photos, arranged by life chapter or in order from childhood, and placed on an easel by the entrance, beside the guest book or near the casket or urn. Families often make two or three boards and add a memory table of objects beside them.

A memorial board shows the life the family knows. A live memory wall adds the life everyone else saw: a screen at the gathering where friends, colleagues and relatives scan a QR code and add their own photos and a few words from their phones. The two work best together — the board curated in advance, the wall filling up while people are there.

12 memorial board and photo display ideas

Memorial board ideas range from a single poster collage to a room of displays. Each idea below says what it needs and what it suits; most families choose two or three, not all twelve.

1. A poster-board collage

   The classic: 20 to 40 prints on a 20×30-inch foam board, with one larger portrait in the centre. Use photo corners or removable mounting putty, never glue, so the prints can go home with family afterwards. About $30–60 and an evening's work.

2. Boards by life chapter

   Instead of one crowded board, make three: growing up, work and friendship, family. Add a short label at the top of each. Guests find the chapter they shared and stay there, which is where the stories start.

3. A timeline, from childhood to last year

   Arrange photos in order with the year and a few words under each: "1968, the first house", "1994, fiftieth birthday". A timeline helps younger relatives see the whole person, not only the one they knew.

4. A framed photo grid

   Six to twelve matching frames on easels or a table, one photo each. It looks finished, it takes an afternoon, and the family keeps the frames afterwards. Ready-made frames at 8×10 inches cost about $5–15 each.

5. A photo string or clothesline board

   Twine and small wooden pegs across a trifold board, a window frame or a wall. Nothing is glued or taped, prints can be added on the day, and it suits a relaxed celebration of life.

6. A board of the things they loved

   Photos of them doing the thing they were known for — gardening, fishing, cooking, coaching — with one or two real objects beside the board: the garden gloves, the reel, the recipe card in their handwriting.

7. Then and now pairs

   Pairs of photos of the same person, place or friendship decades apart: the same beach in 1975 and 2015, the same two friends at 20 and at 70. People stop at these longer than at any other part of a display.

8. A printed collage poster

   Arrange the photos digitally — any free collage tool will do — and have it printed as one 20×30-inch poster at a photo shop. About $25–60, often same or next day. Neat, and easy to frame and keep.

9. A memory table beside the boards

   A small table in front of the easels with a few framed photos, the objects that were theirs, the guest book and a candle. It gives people somewhere to stand and something to talk about.

10. A digital photo frame or quiet slideshow

    A frame or a TV looping 100 to 200 of the family's photos at five to eight seconds each, with music low or off. It holds far more than a board, and it suits the reception more than the ceremony.

11. A live memory wall guests add to

    A screen where guests scan a QR code and add their own photos and a few words from their phones; each appears in about a second, and relatives who can't travel post through the same link. In our data, memorial walls with at least 10 posts collected a median of 179 — the photos the family never had. The family keeps every one afterwards.

12. Blank cards and a board for guests' prints

    Leave an empty board, pins and blank cards on the memory table with one line: "Add a photo or a memory." Some guests bring prints; others write. Either way the family takes home something it didn't make itself.

Memorial photo displays compared

Typical US costs and effort, for planning. Check prices locally; many funeral homes lend easels and a screen.

The free wall shows five posts at a time, rotating; Premium and Professional show every post and let the family download them all.

The board is the family's story. The wall is everyone else's.

A memorial board can only show the photos the family already has, and those are mostly family photos: birthdays, holidays, the wedding. The colleague who worked beside them for twenty years has different ones. So does the friend from the darts team, the neighbour, the cousin who lives abroad. Nothing on a printed board asks for those.

A live memory wall does. Put it on a screen in the reception room or the hall where people gather after the ceremony, with the QR code on the screen and on a small card by the boards. Guests open their phone camera, scan, and add a photo and a few words; there is no app and no account. Photos appear on the screen in about a second, so the room sees them as they arrive. On Professional, nothing appears until the person running the wall approves it.

Afterwards the family downloads every photo and message, or shares a private gallery link with those who could not come. The board goes home on the easel; the wall goes home as a folder of photographs nobody in the family had seen. For more on running one, see how to set up a funeral photo wall.

Making the board: photos, layout and placement

Choosing photos. Cover every stage of life — childhood, young adulthood, work, family, the later years — and choose candid photos over posed portraits: the person laughing, working, holding a grandchild. Include other people; a board of solo portraits says less than one full of the people they loved. If you are short of photos from a decade, ask siblings and old friends early, or collect them with a shared link.

Printing and protecting originals. Scan or photograph old prints with a phone and print copies; keep originals in an envelope with one named family member. Pharmacy and photo-shop counters print 4×6 copies the same day for well under a dollar each. Use 5×7 or 8×10 for the centre portrait and the photos you want seen from a distance.

Layout. Lay everything out on the floor before attaching anything, and leave a finger's width between photos. Put the clearest, largest photo at eye level in the centre. Small typed captions — a year, a place, a name — help guests who knew only one part of the life.

Placement. Stand the boards where people naturally pause: by the entrance, beside the guest book, or near the casket or urn at a visitation. A screen for a slideshow or memory wall belongs where people gather afterwards — the reception, the repast, the hall — rather than in the ceremony itself.

Afterwards. Photograph each board before it is taken down, and decide in advance who takes the boards home. Many families scan the boards and the guests' photos into a single album or memorial book.

Memorial board questions

What families ask while putting the photos together.

What is a memorial board at a funeral?

A memorial board is a display of photographs from the person's life, shown at a funeral, memorial, wake or celebration of life. It is usually a foam or poster board of 20 to 40 photos from every stage of life, arranged in order or by chapter, and stands on an easel by the entrance, beside the guest book or near the casket or urn.

How many photos should be on a memorial board?

20 to 40 photos at 4×6 inches suits a 20×30-inch board, with a larger portrait in the centre. Use fewer, larger prints (10 to 15 at 5×7 or 8×10) for a framed display. If you have more photos than fit, make two or three boards by life chapter, or put the rest in a slideshow.

Can guests add photos to a memorial display?

Yes, in two ways. Leave an empty board, pins and blank cards on the memory table so guests can add prints or written memories. Or use a live memory wall: guests scan a QR code on a screen and add photos and a few words from their phones, which appear on the screen in about a second; the family can download everything afterwards.

What's the difference between a memorial board and a photo slideshow?

A memorial board is a printed display the family prepares in advance and guests look at up close. A slideshow loops the family's photos on a screen and can hold 100 to 200 or more. A live memory wall is a screen guests add to during the gathering, so it shows photos the family did not have.

How do you display photos at a celebration of life?

Use a mix: one to three memorial boards or a framed grid on easels near the entrance for the family's photos, a memory table with objects that were theirs, and a screen in the room where people gather — a slideshow of the family's photos, or a live memory wall where guests add their own. Celebrations of life suit candid, everyday photos more than formal portraits.

How much does it cost to make a memorial board?

About $30 to $60 for a DIY board: a 20×30-inch foam board ($5–15), photo corners or mounting putty, and 20 to 40 prints at 4×6 inches from a pharmacy photo counter. A printed collage poster costs about $25 to $60. Many funeral homes lend easels.