It’s always best to know the options when you have to work with funeral homes, and there are plenty of details to consider. Before you make plans that you might regret later, it’s a good idea to go through all of the options and consider each of them. You can ask the funeral home for the details, but you might also check into the options yourself so you can start thinking about the options ahead of time.
When you think of ‘final services’, a traditional funeral might be what comes to mind. You think of a visitation service, perhaps, and a ceremonial funeral. You might also think about the graveside burial service and then the reception that follows. All of those things are generally a part of a traditional funeral service, though families can skip any part of it or single parts out, if they so choose.
People often use ‘funeral’ and ‘memorial’ as interchangeable words, and that’s okay, but they really are two different things. Funeral services include the person’s presence in their casket. A memorial service is held without their remains present. A memorial could be after cremation, or even well after the final services are complete. They can be formal or casual. There are no limits as to what you can do for a memorial. They can be as varied and special as you want them to be.
Cremation services have risen in popularity over the years and they are now used in about half of today’s cases. Experts think they might raise as far as 80% in the market. While the cremation process takes place in the same manners each time, the timing of the process can vary. Some families like direct cremation, which happens soon after death. There are no services beforehand and it’s very straightforward. However, people can have whatever kind of services they want afterwards, like a memorial. The other option is a full cremation. That includes a funeral and then, once that is over, the cremation can occur.
If you like the idea of a direct cremation, a simple strategy to care for needs, but you like the idea of traditions, you might like the mixture of those two in a simple burial. You might bury your loved one right away instead of having a funeral first. This helps you to have time to plan a memorial later, if that is what you want. You can have that burial be the end of it, or you can just give yourself some extra time to figure out what you want to do.
While you can bury your loved one without a service, it can be nice to have a graveside service for them to help you to say goodbye and honor that person. That service can be simple with loved ones and close friends gathered around the cemetery. Funeral homes can help you with all of the options and details.