Memorial portrait - a framed photo with a black ribbon, ready the same day

Portrait sizes and prices

The price covers printing on matte photographic paper, a glazed frame, a black ribbon across the corner and delivery to the home or the hall anywhere in Tbilisi. If we are organising the ceremony, the coordinator brings the portrait along, with no separate trip needed.

Choosing the right photograph

Picking a photo is often a hard and emotional moment for a family, especially when there is little time to think it over. A few pointers can make it easier:

• A recent picture: guests knew the person as they were in their later years, and a photo from their youth may look unfamiliar to many of them.
• A peaceful face: a gentle smile or a calm expression looks more natural on a memorial portrait than loud laughter.
• Looking at the camera: it helps if the person is facing straight ahead with their face clearly visible.
• Quality: if the photo is on a phone, send the original file rather than a screenshot or a copy compressed by a messaging app, whenever you can.

If the family is torn between two or three photographs, we work on all of them and send the proofs together, so the choice is made between finished versions.

Step-by-step process

1. Photo: a digital file by WhatsApp or email, or a paper print that the coordinator collects from the house and returns undamaged after scanning.
2. Retouching: the designer balances light and colour, removes scratches and, where needed, replaces the background with a quiet neutral tone.
3. Approval: we send the proof to the family, and printing begins only once they agree.
4. Printing and framing: the photo is printed on matte paper, which does not glare in candlelight, and set into the frame with the ribbon.
5. Delivery: the finished portrait is brought home, to the hall or to the church - wherever the family needs it.

Restoration: what can be done

Old paper photographs often have creases, stains, yellowing and fading. Modern retouching removes most of this damage completely, and a black-and-white picture can be colourised if the family wishes. It is also possible to isolate one person from a group photo, but the result depends on how large the face is in the original. If the quality is not good enough for a big print, we say so honestly and suggest a smaller size at which the portrait stays sharp.

Sometimes a family asks us to change the clothing, for instance replacing a sports T-shirt with a suit, or to remove other people from the background. We do this carefully, without altering the face or the expression, because what matters most is that the person remains recognisable.

Frame and black ribbon

A frame for a memorial portrait is usually black or dark wood with clean lines, so the eye goes to the photograph rather than the decoration. A black ribbon is fixed diagonally across the top right or top left corner - the traditional sign of mourning. Some families ask for black fabric along the bottom edge of the frame instead of the ribbon, or both. On request the frame can be gilt or light wood, for example when the portrait shows a child or someone who died young. Every frame has a back leg for a table and a hook for the wall, and the large format comes with a separate metal stand.

Placing the portrait during the ceremony

For a farewell at home, the portrait usually stands at the head of the coffin on a small table with a candle and flowers. In a hall it goes by the entrance or on a stand near the coffin, so that arriving mourners see it at once. In the procession, by tradition, a young member of the family, often a grandchild, walks in front of the hearse holding the portrait, and at the graveside it is placed by the mound or the temporary cross. At the wake (the memorial meal, called kelekhi in Georgian) the portrait stands at the head of the table, and many families keep it in a prominent place at home until the 40th-day memorial.

When the family is far away

Quite often the photo is chosen by a son or grandchild living abroad, because the good pictures from recent years are on their phone. In that case we take the file directly from them, send the proof both to them and to a family member in Tbilisi, and print once both have agreed. You can pay by foreign bank card, or the cost goes onto the overall bill if our coordinator is organising the ceremony.

Digital portrait for the death announcement

These days, news of a funeral mostly spreads through social networks and messaging apps, and the family needs a picture for that message. From the retouched portrait we create a digital version with a black border, where we can add the name, dates and when the farewell and funeral will take place. The family sends it to relatives from their phone or posts it online. This is included in the price when you order a printed portrait.

Several portraits at one ceremony

At a large ceremony, one portrait is often not enough. Families typically order one large print for the hall entrance, a medium one for beside the coffin, and several small ones for the wake tables or for family members. Occasionally a separate portrait is also needed for the church, if the funeral service is held there and the farewell at home. All copies are printed from the same retouched file, so the colours and expression match everywhere, and an extra copy costs only the printing and the frame.

If there is no good photograph at all

Sometimes a family discovers that hardly anyone photographed the person in recent years, which happens especially with older people who lived alone. Then we look for any source we can find: an ID card or passport photo, a frame from a video of a family celebration, relatives' social media pages. After retouching, a video still or a document photo can make a perfectly dignified portrait, and if the quality is weak, a smaller format and a soft background hide the flaws. In a situation like this we do not leave the family on their own; we go through every possibility until we find the best option.

Keeping the image file

We send the family the retouched photo as a high-quality digital file, so relatives can save it on their phones or print it themselves. We keep the file for one year, which covers the memorial days and the headstone, and then delete it. We never use a family's personal photographs in advertising or as samples.

Frequently asked questions