Costco Photo Collages

Not all of the gatherings in a lifetime are cheerful affairs, but funerals and memorials are still events which require thought and planning. Last weekend we hosted a memorial luncheon for hubby's grandmother, for which I put my event planning skills to work once again. I wanted to be sure and give a follow up to the post on Costo's Photo Collages I did a while back, this time with actual photos of how mine turned out. I had previously scanned in all sorts of photos from throughout Gloria's life, and separated them into groups by era - I did four collages in all, first one of her childhood (some photos over 80 years old! That one of her in the baby carriage, lower right, just amazes me). Again, I give full credit to the Heritage Makers scanner, these photos were originally wallet sized and blew up BEAUTIFULLY:



I also did one of her early marriage and raising children, one of the 70's - 90's with lots of Polaroids and funny fashions, and one with more recent photos.



I was extremely happy with the results, and I think that they really gave a sense of purpose to the memorial. Family and friends were able to reminisce about memories they shared, or gain new insight regarding her life by visiting the various boards placed around the room.

Preparing them is simple - go to costco.com and log into your photo account, choose "gifts", photo collages, and set the size at the largest. Choose your orientation and photos, you can customize your background, borders, and even add a title (I chose not to). You select your photos and the computer lays them out for you at various sizes. If you dislike the way they come up with, you can "shuffle" again. They are printed in an hour, and I just used double sided tape to adhere them to standard sheets of foam core. Total cost is around $10 each. This is MUCH easier than pasting on individual photos, and it looks very clean and professional. I highly recommend this route for funerals, memorial services, or even graduation parties.

And no, Costco didn't pay me to say any of this - THOUGH YOU ARE CERTAINLY WELCOME TO, COSTCO! :)