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The Jewish Unveiling Ceremony is a ritual that serves to consecrate a monument erected at the grave of a loved one. It is customary to cover the monument with a cloth, which is then removed when family and friends convene for the ceremony. Unveiling Ceremonies can take place any time between the thirtieth day after burial up till twelve months after burial. Many families choose to wait for the full twelve months.
A Rabbi can be invited to conduct the ceremony, or the family can do it on their own. At the time of the Unveiling, Kaddish (an ancient prayer for the dead) is usually said and the memory of the departed is honored. It is appropriate for friends and family to pay tribute to the person and to reflect upon his or her life and accomplishments. These rituals serve to help mourners achieve emotional and psychological closure.
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The basic package for Unveiling Ceremony Announcements includes personalized announcements and envelopes printed with your return address. Hebrew text is available. You will have the opportunity to view an online proof before we go to print.
Sample Unveiling Ceremony Announcement Verses, Wording.
- Please join our family for the dedication of a headstone in loving memory of [Name].
- The children of [Name] invite you to join us at an Unveiling Ceremony.
- We will recall and honor the memory of [Name] as we unveil his headstone. Please join us.
- The bonds love creates are eternal. Ours is the blessing of memory, through which the lives of our departed continue to be with us. Please join us as we reflect and unveil the headstone of [Name].
- When we think of those companions who traveled by our side down life’s road, let us not say with sadness that they left us behind, but rather say with gratitude that they once were with us.
- Please join us as we consecrate a headstone monument to the memory of [Name] as a token of our love and respect.
- An unbroken chain of memory and tradition binds us together
Through the years and through the generations. - With a full heart, we pause to remember [Name].
- Please join us as we say Kaddish and recall the memory of [Name] as we unveil his headstone.
- In the tradition of our ancestors, we ask that you join us for an Unveiling Ceremony in loving memory of [Name].
Choose one of our verses or compose one of your own!
When you place your order, please have the following information ready.
- The style number of the card
- Your choice of verse
- Name of person(s) being honored.
- Name of cemetery or venue. If you’re celebrating a religious service, and there is a reception to follow at a different location from the house of worship, please have the complete address of both venues ready.
- Date and time of your event. If there is a religious service to be followed by a reception, please have starting times available for each event. If the reception will be given at the house of worship, you may choose to state that the reception “follows immediately”. If this is an Unveiling Ceremony and there will be a kiddush at the end of the service, you may want to make this clear.
- Host signature, if you choose to use one.
- Your R.S.V.P. date and information. If you are ordering response cards, we will print the addressee’s name on the label at no extra charge. If the cards will be returned to someone other than yourself, please have that person’s name and address ready. Please decide if you want the addressee’s name to be that of an individual or a family.
If your caterer needs totals on various entrees in advance of the party, and you want to place the selection of entrees on your response card, please have the selection ready. It’s best to use the caterer’s exact names for the entrees so that your guests will have a good idea of what they’re ordering. If there is a separate children’s menu that’s already been selected, you might want to make that clear. - The return address as it will appear on the back flap of the main envelope.
- Your payment information. Please have your credit card ready.
- If you require a rush job, please let us know this up front. Our standard turn around time is three to five business days from approval of your online proof till shipping from our New York City headquarters. West Coast customers can choose from Standard Ground Shipping, 3 Day Air, 2 Day Air, or Overnight Shipping. We ship via USPS or FedEx.
- If you’re selecting a font that’s different from what’s shown on our page, please have its name ready. We can accommodate you where most standard fonts are concerned. If we can’t get an exact match, we will show you close matches. Please specify the color that you want your text to be. We can accommodate most foreign languages that are based on the Roman alphabet. We can add text in Hebrew. However, it will be the customer’s responsibility to proofread all foreign language text and make sure that it’s correct. We can transcribe letters and words, but we are not fluent in foreign languages, so we must be sure that the customer can proofread the foreign language texts. There will be a surcharge for any long verse written in any foreign language using a non-Roman alphabet.
- Finally, and we can’t say this often enough:
If you come to us at the last minute, with less than a month remaining to your affair, we will do whatever we can to help you. We do accept rush jobs (except in December) at an additional fee, and you can opt for FedEx overnight shipping. However, it is always best to allow yourself breathing room when ordering Invitations and Announcements. It will reduce the wear and tear on the host, and help you to better enjoy the anticipation of your gathering if the Invitations or Announcements are in your hands eight weeks before the party date. We find that the best rule of thumb is to set your R.S.V.P. date between two and three weeks prior to the date of the gathering.