Getting The Basics Right When Planning a Funeral

It is fair to say that planning a funeral is not something which most of us would ever like to have the misfortune to do, occasionally however it is a necessity. It is important that when you consider planning a funeral, that you try to push your negative emotions to one side, and invest your energy in giving the departed a service and a day whereby they will be remembered for the wonderful person that they were. In times like this emotions run high and the idea of organizing or planning anything can lead to mistakes and aspects overlooked. If  you are going through this difficult time, here are the basics of a funeral which you need to be thinking about.

Company or Solo

The first decision which you need to make is whether or not you will use a funeral company. Using a company is not obligatory and you can organize the service yourself, with this being said it will involve a lot more work and planning.

Location

Next up you need to make sure that you know where you would like the funeral. If the deceased has already made this this request then it will make the process easier. Speak with the church or the crematorium to see if they have availability or alternatively if you are using a funeral service, simply make your requests known.

Coffin

Once you have the location of the funeral arranged you will have to face the tough task of selecting a coffin. Much of this may be dictated by price so you should look into all ranges of different woods and designs. If you want to be eco-friendly then you can have a cardboard insert in the coffin, the wooden outer coffin will then be re-used in the future.

Headstone

Whether you are having a burial or a cremation, it is going to be a nice gesture to find a nice headstone, where people can come and pay their respects. Headstones come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and designs, so make sure that you weigh up all of your options before deciding on what you will have written on the headstone.

Songs and Readings

Having a variety of songs, hymns or readings in the funeral service are a lovely way to remember the departed, so you should start thinking about which songs they would like, and what kind of readings, if any, would suit the occasion. Start off by thinking about the things that the deceased would like, and for readings you could always look online for heartfelt poems and paragraphs which could help.

Post Funeral

After the funeral service many people like to have a small gathering to remember the dead and you should start thinking about whether or not this will be something that you would like to do. If you do plan on this, you will need to think about where you will host it, and whether you will put on food and drinks.

This is a tough time no doubt but if you remember these basics then you can make sure that you give the deceased the send off that they deserve.