There are a number of points of etiquette that you want to remember when attending a funeral or memorial service. Something that can confuse people is whether or not taking pictures is allowed. To be certain that you do not bother anyone and that you are not disrespectful, you want to keep a few things in mind. Here are the guidelines that directors of funeral homes in St. Martinville, LA want you to know before attending. 

As a rule, photos at the actual service are not appropriate. People will be grieving and even crying and will not want their photograph taken at that time. If there is something specific that you want to take a picture of, like a flower arrangement, then you want to ask the family of the deceased if they are all right with that. It is crucial that you never take a picture of the casket and definitely not of the deceased at a viewing. You want to be as respectful as possible and be sure that you ask permission before photographing anything at the location. 

At the reception, it is usually allowed to take some photos. Keep in mind that you do not want to bother anyone, so be quick in the pictures you take and do not disturb conversations. You still want to ask for permission before taking pictures of anyone and ask the family first before you take any photos at all. Some people are really private and do not want to have any photos taken of the reception or even of the location of the service. 

Even if the family has given you permission to take the photos, this does not mean that they have given you permission to post them online. This is an instinct that people have, wanting to share the photos with other loved ones, but you want to ask for permission for this, as well. For the most part, you may not want to share too many of these photos online. Choose one or two, or send the images directly to the people with whom you want to share them. It is always important that you think about the family of the deceased and what their wishes are. If they are very private, then you do not want to share anything with other people. 

These are some things you want to remember when getting ready to attend the funeral or memorial service of a loved one. You need to be certain that you know when it is inappropriate to take pictures and when you want to ask permission to do so. You also want to remember that if you want to share the pictures, you want to do so discretely and privately. To learn more about the etiquette of attending a service and much more, you can reach out to a St. Martinville, LA funeral home like us. We are ready to answer all of the questions you may have, so do reach out to us to learn more. You can give us a call right now or you can stop by one of our locations to learn more about what we can offer our clients.