Our Monthly Tip: Give Guests Mourning Handkerchiefs at Your Loved One’s Memorial Service

Our Tip of the Month

Handkerchiefs — especially ones embroidered with one’s initials or decorative patterns — have had a long history both as a functional, personal hygiene item, and as a decorative fashion accessory. For memorial services, where grief is heavy and tears flow freely, embroidered mourning handkerchiefs offer a simple, elegant way to remember your loved one, say goodbye and wipe away tears.

Credit: 
doveghosthandkerchieftree.wordpress.com

How-to Suggestions

There’s a number of online businesses who offer a wide range of mourning handkerchiefs with embroidery options (often up to 200 characters, and sometimes more). Etsy is a good place to look for beautiful custom suppliers. Choose what you think is most fitting for your purposes — is it your loved one’s name or initials? Or perhaps he or she had a favorite saying, poem, or Bible verse you’d like to include? The sky’s the limit when it comes to colors, patterns, and embroidery options, but don’t let the options overwhelm you. Sometimes it is best to keep things simple with a white handkerchief and initials.

There are several online companies who offer embroidery options
Credit: etsy.com

At the memorial service, you can hand out the embroidered, mourning handkerchiefs to the guests, or simply lay them out on a table and let the guests pick their own. You can hand them out afterwards, too, but I think it’s a lovely, comforting gesture to provide guests with a personalized handkerchief they can use to dry their eyes during the memorial. 

Whether you decide to embellish your handkerchiefs with embroidered messages or leave them plain, mourning handkerchiefs are a simple, intimate keepsake that are functional in form, and comforting in spirit.