How to Plan a Funeral

Death is one of the inabilities in life. There will come a time in each of our lives when we have to plan a funeral for someone we love. This is a hard thing to have to do, considering the rising cost of funerals, but when you are planning the funeral of someone you loved you are honoring their memory, and giving them a farewell that they deserve. Here, we’ve listed 11 considerations you must make when planning a funeral.

Choosing a Funeral Director

The funeral director that you select is very important. There is a good chance that your family uses one particular funeral director for these occasions. If you do not have a preselected funeral director then you want to choose one that is close to where the deceased is and in close proximity to where the individual will be buried.

Your choice of a local establishment will provide you with someone who knows the local papers and can help you with all of the arrangements you need to make, even calling florists, or papers to print the obituary notice (if you so wish).

Choosing a Casket or Urn

The casket or urn is the final resting place of your loved one. The funeral planner will show you the items they have to offer, and they will help you to choose the best casket or urn for your loved one. They will ask you simple questions about the deceased and about their favorite things. These questions help them to steer you towards caskets made of materials the deceased would have liked.

The final choice is always yours and the planner or director will not rush you into making a decision. Take your time and choose something you think is befitting and do not make the mistake of buying the most expensive item if you are on a tight budget.

Choosing a Final Resting Place

Most people have cemeteries where the majority of their family is buried. If you do not have a family cemetery and your loved one did not have a plot they had already purchased, you can ask the local church if they have affiliations with one cemetery or another.

Choosing who will officiate

If the individual attended a local church you will likely want to ask their pastor/preacher/priest/clergyman to officiate the services for you. If they did not attend a church on a regular basis then you might want to ask another member of the family if they have a religious leader they would like to speak at the service.

Choosing the Location for the Services

Many people choose to have the services at the church that the deceased belonged to or at a church that a member of the family belongs to. The funeral establishment that you are working with will also have proper accommodations on their premises for you to hold the services.

Choosing the Songs

The songs that are played during the service are a combination of music that makes you feel comfortable. You may choose hymns or religious music, and you may choose the music you know the deceased loved. There are no right or wrong song choices. You might want to include other family members in this selection and allow them to feel that they played a part in the planning of the funeral service.

Choosing the Pallbearers

The pallbearers are the friends and family that carry the casket from the church to the hearse and then from the hearse to the graveside. Usually, these are individuals who were cousins, friends, or family members other than direct sons or grandsons. If the son or daughter really feels compelled to honor their parents in this manner it is okay to allow them to do so.

Ordering your order of services

The tribute templates are an important part of the funeral or cremation process. These tributes are handed out to everyone that attends the services. They include information about the deceased like the date of their birth and death.

They also often include important information about the life the person lived, the family they are leaving behind, their passions, the work they did, and other interesting facts you might want people to remember about your loved one.

These tributes often include pictures of the deceased and information about where they will be laid to rest. They often even have epitaphs or poems that express the love the family has for the person or how much the family is going to miss them. Your loving tribute template should be personalized depending on your memory of the deceased.

Writing an Obituary

The obituary will include a lot of the same information that is in the loving tribute template, but it will not be quite as personal or detailed. The obituary is basically a list of the person’s birth and death date, their survivors, and when and where the funeral will be.

The funeral director can help walk you through everything that needs to be in the obituary. In some cases, the funeral director will even have the obituary posted for you.

Funeral Invitations for Family and Friends of the Deceased

The invitations for the majority of funerals today are given over the telephone or the computer. There are not as many people who send the formal written invitations out. If you do choose to send out a written notice you want to start by informing the person that your loved one has passed. Make sure you tell them the date of passing.

Then you want to tell them about the arrangements so they can attend the services. You should also include an invitation for them to share this information with anyone they think would want to attend the services or know of the passing.

Planning a Gathering Place for Family before and After the Services

It is common for friends and family to gather together at one location after the funeral to console each other. You should choose where this gathering will take place and inform everyone in the family so you can all lift each other up during this trying time.