Testimonials
“My wife passed away recently, and I engaged Emily Karp to prepare a suitable Eulogy to be delivered at her burial. I gave Emily a copy of the obituary that I had written, plus she interviewed me and our two children to try to get a fuller impression of our family and their love for their wife/mother. As the time to bury my wife got closer to the day of the event we did some final iterations of the text resulting in a Eulogy that was ready to go and represented my wife’s life in a very positive, loving, yet honest way. When Emily actually delivered the Eulogy at graveside I was very impressed with the way she emphasized various aspects of my wife’s life, as were many others who were present at the burial ceremony. I heartily encourage you to consider her whenever you have a need for this type of service where it feels daunting to do it yourself. You will not be disappointed.”
-Bill T.
Annapolis, Maryland
“Emily did a lovely job developing a slideshow for my husband’s memorial service. She was extremely responsive and accommodating, ensuring that the slideshow was exactly what I wanted. It’s a beautiful pictorial depiction of my husband’s amazing life and was an extremely emotional and moving part of his service. When I decided to retain Emily’s services, she sent an agreement that clearly set forth the responsibilities of each party and the dates by which certain things would be accomplished (which she honored). She traveled to my home to get the non-digital photos I had selected for scanning and returned the originals promptly. Because I had given Emily far more photos than she could include in the 5-minute slideshow, she selected certain photos she thought would be good and then emailed a draft to me. I viewed the draft and contacted Emily about photos that had not been included but were important to me. She was able to include those photos in the slideshow, tweaking the length and accompanying music. She also included photo captions I had provided and made all requested edits. Working with Emily was extremely easy. She’s conscientious, hard-working, and kind. I highly recommend Emily and Grief Pictured if you’re looking to present a slideshow at your loved one’s service.”
-Tammy R.
Alexandria, Virginia
"Emily went above and beyond to help my stepmom, sister, and me honor our father at a beautiful memorial service this past weekend. She thoughtfully interviewed several family members and friends, then crafted a moving and accurate representation of our father’s life. She also collaborated with us to create a slideshow that we will always cherish. Throughout the process, Emily was communicative, compassionate, and deeply thoughtful. The care she put into both the eulogy and the slideshow truly shone through. We’re so grateful to have had the chance to work with her."
-Jacqueline B.
“This summer we enlisted Emily Karp to officiate our dad’s celebration of life ceremony, and we cannot express how grateful we are for her heartfelt service. Though Emily only got to learn about our dad through a zoom call, it felt as if she truly understood our dad’s spirit.
A touching moment was when Emily quoted a passage from my dad's favorite book. It was unexpected touch, to find a beautiful and meaningful quote that encapsulated his character. Her ability to find such a personal reference made the service feel intimate and special. She created an atmosphere of remembrance and celebration, allowing us to reflect on the joy he brought into our lives while cherishing the memories we hold dear.
Emily’s professionalism and genuine care made a difficult day so much easier to navigate. We are thankful for her ability to honor our dad in such a beautiful way. I highly recommend Emily Karp as an officiant for anyone seeking a heartfelt celebration of life. Thank you, Emily, for helping us celebrate the wonderful person he was.”
-Molly M.
Ellicott City, Maryland
“Emily Karp served as the Life-Cycle Celebrant at our son's Celebration of Life ceremony. My husband and I were drawn to Emily due to the story she shares about herself on her website and due to her providing an option for non-religious individuals. Emily's approach honored, in an authentic fashion, how our son lived his life. Emily took a great deal of time to interview our family and our son's friends and meticulously crafted a beautiful eulogy that captured the essence of our son. Emily also took the time to craft an obituary for our son, as we found it too difficult to do so ourselves. Emily's process was prompt and responsive. She provided us with a draft of the eulogy and was extremely open to feedback. The day of our son's Celebration of Life, Emily officiated the ceremony with a great deal of compassion and professionalism. Organized and well prepared, Emily provided our family with comfort throughout the entire process. Our guests were very complimentary of Emily, and a great number of them stated how beautiful and moving the ceremony was. My husband and I are so thankful to Emily for the time, the attention to detail, and the care that she provided. Thank you, Emily.”
-Sandra S.
Severna Park, Maryland
“Emily created a wonderful slide show for my husband's Celebration of Life. She took over 100 pictures that I gave her and put them to music in a slideshow that everyone enjoyed. I have watched it many times and know that my daughters have done so as well. Putting it all together was a great help to me. It made me realize just how many wonderful times we had together as a family and gave me a lot of comfort.”
-Sheila G.
Alexandria, Virginia
“Grief Pictured provided a valuable service when time and energy are limited. Emily created a beautiful slideshow of my loved one that I will always treasure! She was highly communicative, sensitive, provided flexible solutions, reasonable fees and kept things moving when I was pulled in dozens of directions. Having created a slideshow of my own years before, I knew that the time and stress saved could be redirected in other ways. I highly recommend Grief Pictured for any memorial or celebratory slideshow needs!”
-Robyn A.
Chicago, Illinois
“I have used Emily's services as a 'Celebration of Life' Celebrant for my mother, who is 87 and in my care, in a pre-planning capacity. I selected Emily from a list of celebrants, local to me, on the 'Funeralwise' website. I was drawn to the amount of detail about herself, the process and her fees on her own website. I connected to the concepts and ideas she projected about the process, which clarified my own perceptions of what I envisioned a 'Celebration of Life' event for my mother could be. The fact that Emily is also a digitographer and offers slideshow creation as part of the service really synched my selection of her, as I myself had decided to create a slideshow as part of the event (and in fact, had already done so). After having now collaborated with Emily to complete the 'Celebration of Life' script and planning, I can say that the experience has exceeded my expectations. Emily is professional and a pleasure to work with. I look forward to having her officiate my mother's tribute event when the time comes.”
-Monica T.
Columbia, Maryland
"My uncle had lived and worked in Maryland for most of his life, though his entire family remained in the UK. When I was given the task of organising a remembrance for his friends and colleagues in Maryland, I reached out to Emily, a non-religious funeral officiant. Our family had already prepared a carefully written service. I was able to secure her services remotely, from overseas in the UK. At the event, my cousin traveled out to attend in person, and while there she set up an iPad to record the entire funeral service, so it could be shared with the family members back home. Emily moderated the event beautifully. We are very grateful for Emily’s support throughout the process. She read out the words we had written so well, and brought the words to life! It was wonderful to have her there."
-Pearse L.
Banbury, Oxfordshire (England)
“I want to offer my deepest thanks to Celebrant Emily Karp of Grief Pictured for her assistance with the interment of my loved one's ashes. At an emotionally trying time, Emily served as the calm, compassionate, and knowledgeable center our family needed to find peace. Emily took the time to learn about our loved one, working collaboratively with us and demonstrating deep respect for his final wishes. She proved to be extremely responsive, flexible, dependable, and detail-oriented. I cannot recommend Emily highly enough to anyone looking for an empathetic and creative Celebrant.”
-Laurie B.
Manassas, VA
“Emily did a great job on the slideshow for my father’s memorial service. She was timely and professional throughout the easy process. It was such a relief to have this aspect taken care of while grieving and organizing the service itself. I would highly recommend her!”
-Liane M.
Annapolis, Maryland
"Last Sunday, I attended a celebration of life for my brother-in-law, and I was deeply moved by the impact of the service. The eulogy was beautifully and professionally delivered by Emily Karp of Grief Pictured, LLC. It was clear that she invested a lot of time and care into preparing the presentation, thoughtfully covering all the important moments in my loved one’s life.
Emily spoke with compassion and clarity throughout. She also incorporated messages on the screen from friends who couldn’t attend, allowing us to hear directly from them about what my brother-in-law meant to them. This integration of eulogies was seamless and held everyone’s attention. The montage at the end of the service left not a dry eye in the crowd.
I can’t say enough good things about Emily’s services, and I’d be happy to provide a personal recommendation if you’d like to get in touch with me.
Emily also interviewed close family and friends, weaving their stories into her eulogy. When I asked to add a few photos, she was more than accommodating. The interview she conducted with me and my wife, the deceased’s sister, was professional and the thoughtful questions allowed us to share meaningful memories of his amazing life.
Congratulations to Emily for a job very well done!"
-George F.
"Emily Karp officiated my friend's Celebration of Life. Through interviews with her family, Emily managed to weave all the various threads of my friend's life into a well-crafted, personal and original piece of art - creatively and thoughtfully written. It was an absolute joy for me to sit back and hear Emily honour her as she talked about the impact my friend's life had on so many - including mine. My friend valued and respected good penmanship and she would have said 'well said, Emily!' May you continue to touch many people with your gift."
-Lory B.
"My family was thrilled with the services we received from Emily at Grief Pictured following the untimely death of my father earlier this year. Emily is incredibly professional while maintaining such a tender empathy at the same time. We hired her services for the eulogy and the memorial slideshow. The dedication Emily demonstrated towards writing the detailed eulogy was absolutely unparalleled. She interviewed numerous family members and friends, ultimately crafting a truly meaningful and accurate eulogy which allowed everyone at the service to appreciate the essence of my father. She utilized the dozens of photos we provided to create a stunning memorial slideshow, incorporating thoughtful touches like targeted zooming and photo change timing to take advantage of musical factors. When I used AI to write my own speech, Emily provided thoughtful feedback encouraging me to rewrite it from a more personal perspective, which made it much more special. And finally, Emily was extremely reliable and timely. Every product was provided on time or early, and communicating was very easy and seamless. While I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to the next death in my family, I do know I will feel comfortable knowing Emily at Grief Pictured will do an amazing job with end of life services. Highly, highly recommend -- you won't regret it."
-Tania B.
"Emily went so far above and beyond our family's expectations for the eulogy for my stepfather. She carefully interviewed family members and wrote a moving tribute to him, weaving in themes from throughout his life. Many people at the service commented on what a beautiful job she did. I would definitely recommend her."
-Anya W.
"When my father died my brother and sister and I started to put together a memorial but soon realized we weren’t really sure what was best to do. We had never done this before and we aren’t religious, didn’t want to engage a member of the clergy and we were a little emotionally exhausted.
Working with Emily was the perfect solution. With her training and experience, and kind manner she worked with us closely to prepare a cohesive memorial that flowed so nicely. Between Emily’s carefully prepared eulogy built from interviews with the three siblings and our aunt, thoughtfully placed poem readings by the grandkids, and our personal remarks, the service had moments of laughter, sadness, whimsy and love. It was also so welcome to be observers and participants of the service instead of being responsible for delivering it.
It was clear throughout the process that Emily would prepare and decide as little or as much of the content and elements of the service as we chose. She was very patient but kept us on schedule especially when decisions and other responsibilities were challenging.
Everyone was very touched by the experience and having Emily’s service making it gel and adding a personalized grief ritual helped round it all out.
All who attended remarked how beautiful the service was and how they learned so much about our father’s life. He was celebrated.
Thank you Emily."
-Gwyn M.
"This summer we enlisted Emily Karp to officiate our dad’s celebration of life ceremony, and we cannot express how grateful we are for her heartfelt service. Though Emily only got to learn about our dad through a zoom call, it felt as if she truly understood our dad’s spirit.
A touching moment was when Emily quoted a passage from my dad's favorite book. It was unexpected touch, to find a beautiful and meaningful quote that encapsulated his character. Her ability to find such a personal reference made the service feel intimate and special. She created an atmosphere of remembrance and celebration, allowing us to reflect on the joy he brought into our lives while cherishing the memories we hold dear.
Emily’s professionalism and genuine care made a difficult day so much easier to navigate. We are thankful for her ability to honor our dad in such a beautiful way. I highly recommend Emily Karp as an officiant for anyone seeking a heartfelt celebration of life. Thank you, Emily, for helping us celebrate the wonderful person he was."
-Mo M.
"I am beyond impressed with Emily’s ability to create a beautifully thoughtful eulogy with stories, poems and quotes that weave together a meaningful tapestry of a life lived.
Emily wrote and delivered a graveside eulogy for my 64-year-old brother under a tight deadline. It was truly amazing and a gift to be able to save and share the script.
Chosen from a list of celebrants provided by the funeral home, she met and wildly exceeded by expectations. It’s difficult to articulate the depth of my gratitude.
She demonstrated a high level of kindness and steadiness during the fact-finding phase, expanded on what she learned about our loved one, and tied everything together into a cohesive story with an artful sense of timing, connection and flow.
Logistically, Emily also met every deadline, provided opportunity for editing feedback and gave the family final approval. I highly recommend her services. Emily is very talented and well suited for this work."
-Amelia T.
"Emily was able to make an incredible slideshow for my grandfather’s memorial on a crazy short schedule. We were late getting photos to her and despite that she managed to make an incredibly touching final product. Her communication was thorough and consistent, and she paid close attention to our creative preferences. Highly recommend this service!!"
-Jeremy P.
"A few months ago my husband of 45 years passed away. My son and I soon found ourselves trying to make arrangements and all we knew was that we didn't want a traditional funeral. We had heard about a Celebration of Life, but we really knew nothing about it. Fortunately my son remembered a friend who was in this line of work.
We soon connected with Emily Karp of Grief Pictured. After our first talk our dread of planning a funeral or service was gone. Emily explained everything we needed to know about the celebration and she set up a timeline for what needed to be done. She was soon interviewing us and our closest family and friends. She collected wonderful stories and memories. Emily was also putting together what turned out to be a beautiful video, complete with captions and music that she helped us choose. She was very easy to work with, guiding us through the process in a professional yet compassionate way. And before we knew it, everything was finished and we were ready to go.
Emily began the service with her eulogy. The stories she told took us from when my husband , Danny, was a teenager up until his last weeks of life. Then a few of us got up and shared our personal stories about Danny. Emily explained and led our special 'flashlight tribute ' we had planned. Emily introduced and shared the beautiful video she had made for us. We laughed, we cried and most of all we shared the most precious of memories.
Everyone who was there came up to us afterwards with compliments, saying how lovely and touching the service was. For my son and me, even though we were and are still grieving, it was a beautiful day. And the video Emily made for us is helping to make each day a little brighter."
-Danny F.
