When someone you love dies, the last thing you want to think about is technology. But a memorial tribute video — a slideshow of their photos set to music — is one of the most moving things you can do to honour their life at a funeral, wake, or celebration of life.
This guide walks you through exactly how to create one. What photos to use, how to organise them, what music to choose, and how to have it ready in time — even if you have very little time.
You can create and preview a tribute video for free using our tool. No account needed, no technical skills required.
What is a memorial tribute video?
A memorial tribute video — sometimes called a funeral slideshow, a life tribute, or a celebration of life video — is a short video that tells the story of someone's life through their photos, set to music that was meaningful to them.
They're typically played at the funeral service, at the wake afterwards, or shared with family members who couldn't attend. They can also be kept as a permanent digital record — something the family can watch together for years to come.
A good tribute video doesn't need to be long or complicated. 10 to 20 photos, the right music, and a short message from the family is enough to create something genuinely moving.
Step 1 — Gather the photos
This is usually the hardest step — not technically, but emotionally. Going through someone's photos when you're grieving is difficult. Here's how to approach it.
Ask multiple family members
Different relatives will have different photos from different eras. A sibling might have childhood photos. A child might have recent ones. A friend might have photos from a part of their life you never saw. Cast the net wide.
Use your phone's shared album feature
Create a shared album on iCloud or Google Photos and send the link to family members. They can add photos directly without emailing files back and forth. It's the fastest way to collect photos from multiple people quickly.
Scan physical photos if needed
For older relatives, the best photos are often physical prints. A phone camera pointed at a flat photo in good light is enough — you don't need a scanner. The Microsoft Lens app (free) does this particularly well.
Aim for 15-25 photos
More isn't always better. 15-25 well-chosen photos tells a fuller story than 50 random ones. Try to include photos from across their whole life — childhood, young adulthood, family life, and recent years.
Step 2 — Choose the order
Chronological order — from earliest to most recent — almost always works best for a tribute video. It tells the story of a life from beginning to end, which gives the video a natural emotional arc.
A few things worth thinking about:
Open with a striking photo
The first photo sets the tone for everything that follows. A clear, well-lit photo of their face — from any era — tends to work best as the opening frame.
End with something recent and warm
The final photo is the one people will sit with longest. A photo of them laughing, surrounded by family, or doing something they loved tends to leave the right feeling.
Group photos by chapter
Childhood photos together, then young adult years, then family life, then later years. Even without titles or text, this creates a sense of a life unfolding naturally.
Step 3 — Write the tribute message
A short tribute message — a paragraph or two — becomes a beautiful quote slide woven through the video. It doesn't need to be long or perfectly written. It just needs to be true.
If you're struggling to write it, here are some prompts that help:
Things worth including in a tribute:
✦ What they were like — a few words that capture their personality
✦ What they loved — people, places, things, hobbies
✦ What they gave to others — how they made people feel
✦ What they would want to be remembered for
✦ A sentence that feels like them — something they'd say, or something only your family would know
You don't have to write it alone. Ask a family member to contribute a line. Sometimes the best tributes are written together.
Step 4 — Choose the music
The music carries more emotional weight than almost anything else in a tribute video. The right song can make a room full of people cry. The wrong one can feel jarring.
The best approach is to use music that was meaningful to them — a song they loved, something from their era, or a piece of music associated with a memory your family shares.
Ask family what music they loved
Even if you don't know the specific song, someone in the family will. A piece of music from their youth, their wedding song, or something they always had on — these choices feel personal in a way that generic music never does.
Instrumental tends to work better than vocal
Songs with lyrics compete with people's thoughts and emotions. A piano piece, a string arrangement, or an instrumental version of a favourite song lets people feel without distraction.
Match the pace to the mood
A celebration of life for someone who lived fully and joyfully can handle something warmer and more uplifting. A funeral service for someone taken too soon needs something quieter and more contemplative.
Step 5 — Create the video
Once you have your photos, message, and music, creating the actual video takes minutes. You don't need video editing software or any technical skills.
We built a free tribute video creator specifically for this. Here's how it works:
Enter their name and dates
Add their full name, birth year, year of passing, and your tribute message.
Upload your photos
Drag and drop up to 30 photos. Arrange them in the order you want them to appear. The first photo becomes the opening frame.
Choose music and style
Select from gentle curated tracks or upload your own MP3. Choose how long each photo stays on screen and how photos transition between each other.
Preview free, download for £19.99
Preview your tribute video with a watermark at no cost. When you're happy with it, download the full HD version for £19.99 — no account needed.
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Create a tribute video — it's free to previewHow to play the video at a funeral service
Once you've downloaded your tribute video as an MP4 file, here's how to make sure it plays smoothly at the service.
Test it the day before
Play the video on the actual screen or projector you'll be using at the venue. Check the aspect ratio looks right and the audio volume is appropriate for the room.
Bring it on a USB stick
Most funeral venues and crematoria have a USB port you can plug into. This is more reliable than streaming from a phone or laptop over WiFi.
Have a backup
Save the video in two places — USB stick and your phone. Technology can fail at the worst moments. Having a backup means you're covered.
Tell the funeral director in advance
Most funeral directors are experienced with tribute videos and can help set it up. Let them know in advance that you're bringing one so they can prepare the equipment.
Share it with family afterwards
Send the MP4 file to family members who couldn't attend, or upload it to a private YouTube or Google Drive link so everyone can watch it in their own time.
"We played it at the wake. People who hadn't seen photos of him as a young man were in tears. It felt like we gave him his whole life back, just for a few minutes."
— From a Tell Me Your Story family
After the funeral — keeping the tribute
A memorial tribute video isn't just for the funeral. Once you've created it, it becomes a permanent record — something the family can return to on anniversaries, birthdays, or whenever they want to feel close to the person they've lost.
Consider uploading it to a private YouTube playlist, saving it to a shared family folder, or burning it to a DVD for elderly relatives who prefer physical formats.
And when you're ready — when the grief has settled a little — consider capturing their full life story. The photos in the tribute video tell part of the story. Their words, their memories, their answers to the questions nobody ever thought to ask — those tell the rest.
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