Supporting Rural Irish Businesses: Why It Matters When Choosing Memorial Cards

When families are choosing memorial cards, they are often looking for more than simply a website with a selection of designs.

They want to know that there is a real person behind the business. Someone who understands how important the photographs, names, dates, verses and small details are.

At Forever Memorial Cards, we are proud to be a family run Irish memorial card business based near Lismore in County Waterford.

We operate from our own design studio and print works in rural Waterford, serving families locally and throughout Ireland.

Supporting Small Businesses in Rural Ireland

Rural businesses are an important part of communities across Ireland.

They provide employment, support other local businesses and allow specialist skills and services to remain available outside the larger cities.

The internet has also changed what is possible for small rural businesses.

A family run company based in County Waterford can now provide a specialist service to customers in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Donegal and every other part of Ireland.

For customers, this means they can still support an independent Irish business while enjoying the convenience of ordering online.

A Printing Business With Deep Roots in Waterford

Forever Memorial Cards did not begin as an anonymous online business.

I have worked in the printing and design industry since 1989.

Before setting up on my own, I worked as a production manager in a busy Cork printing company, gaining experience in design, commercial printing, finishing and production.

In 2000, I returned home to Lismore and started my own printing business.

The business later moved to Dungarvan, where I spent many years working with families, businesses, clubs and community organisations throughout West Waterford and the surrounding counties.

In 2016, we built our own purpose built design studio and print works beside our home near Lismore.

That is still where Forever Memorial Cards operates from today.

How Forever Memorial Cards Developed

Memorial cards gradually became an important part of our printing business.

We found that families appreciated dealing with somebody who understood both the technical side of printing and the personal importance of the finished card.

A memorial card is very different from ordinary commercial printing.

It may contain one of the last photographs a family has of someone they loved.

The wording may include names, dates, family details, a favourite prayer or a verse that has particular meaning.

These are details that have to be treated carefully.

That experience eventually led to the development of Forever Memorial Cards as a specialist Irish memorial card business.

Personalised Memorial Cards For Families Throughout Ireland

Today we provide a range of personalised memorial products including:

• Memorial cards
• Memorial wallet cards
• Memorial bookmarks
• Acknowledgement cards

Families can choose their photographs, wording, verses and preferred designs, and a proof is prepared before the cards are printed.

This gives families the opportunity to check the spelling of names, dates, photographs and wording before anything goes to print.

It is a simple part of the process, but one we consider extremely important.

Why Family Run Businesses Can Be Different

Small family businesses survive by building a reputation.

There is nowhere to hide if the quality is poor or customers are not looked after properly.

For Forever Memorial Cards, our reputation has been built gradually through years of working directly with customers.

We are not trying to produce as many memorial cards as possible with as little personal involvement as possible.

Our aim is to provide a professional, straightforward service while remembering that there is a family behind every order.

Rural Business With Nationwide Reach

Being located in rural Waterford does not restrict the families we can help.

Our online ordering system means families can order memorial cards anywhere in Ireland.

We regularly work with customers throughout Waterford, Cork, Tipperary, Limerick, Kerry and the wider Munster area, as well as families in Dublin, Galway and throughout the country.

For customers closer to us, appointments can also be arranged when required.

It gives us the best of both worlds.

We can remain a genuine rural Irish family business while providing a nationwide memorial card service.

Keeping Printing Skills in Rural Ireland

Printing has changed enormously since I first entered the trade in 1989.

Digital technology has transformed how artwork is created, how customers communicate and how orders are produced.

But some parts of the job have not changed.

Good design matters.

Accurate printing matters.

Attention to detail matters.

And dealing properly with customers matters.

Those principles are especially important when producing personalised memorial cards.

A memorial card may be kept by a family for many years.

It may sit in a wallet, a prayer book or a family album.

It may be sent to relatives living overseas.

That is why we believe it deserves the same level of care today that traditional printers would have given it generations ago.

Supporting Irish Family Businesses

When you choose an independent Irish business, you are helping to keep skills, employment and services within local communities.

That applies whether you are buying food from a local producer, using a local tradesperson or ordering memorial cards from a small family business.

We are very grateful to every family who chooses Forever Memorial Cards.

From our studio and print works near Lismore in County Waterford, we will continue to provide personalised memorial cards for families throughout Ireland, combining modern online ordering with more than three decades of experience in design and print.

For us, that is what being a rural Irish family business is about.