WHITNEY HOUSTON FUNERAL FANS CREATE MEMOIAL OUTSIDE OF CHURCH

Hours before the funeral of Whitney Houston is set to take place, fans left a slew of balloons in a makeshift memorial outside the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ.

Around 1,500 invited guests will pay their last respects today -- among them... Kevin Costner, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Revs. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.

We'll be live outside the church starting at 10:00 AM ET/7:00 AM PT and then we'll be live inside the church for the service, which is scheduled to start at 12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM PT.