How to Plan a Funeral and Burial

Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult things that you can ever go through. It’s not enough that you have to deal with the emotions that invade your life. But, you also have to learn how to plan a funeral and burial for them in a short space of time. It can be an emotionally taxing time for everyone who is involved, especially you when you have to ensure that everything goes well. It’s easier if your loved one has provided details of how they wish to be laid to rest. However, if they haven’t, you have to figure it out with the help of your other family members.

If you have a strategy in place for how to plan a funeral and burial, things don’t have to be as daunting as you think. You should rest-assure that you’ve done everything to honor and preserve your loved one’s memory. If you’re uncertain about how to plan a funeral and burial service, you’re not alone. This is why you should keep on reading to find out more.

1. Find Out About Pre-Arrangements

It’s essential for you to find out if your loved one made any plans before their untimely departure. Getting in touch with their estate planning lawyer before you start thinking about how to plan a funeral and burial for them. You’ll be surprised to learn that things like paying for the memorial service and paying for the funeral plot have been taken care of. If your loved one had funeral insurance in place, it will come in handy when you have to plan how to cover the costs for everything.

It’s important for you to find out if there were any prepaid arrangements that were done. The thing is that if your loved one took the time to plan everything in detail, it reduces the amount of work that you should do. You also won’t spend as much time trying to figure out how to plan a funeral and burial for them. You can just move on to sort out the things that they didn’t have the time to do.

2. Compile Important Information for the Obituary

If you want to learn how to plan a funeral and burial for your loved one, you should know how paramount it is for you to gather his or her personal details. This is the kind of information that includes every detail about their life. From when they were born, to the things that they did. If your loved one worked as a mechanic or at a pawn shop, you should include this information. Having an obituary written and published is a significant consideration if you wish to honor your loved one’s memory. In fact, there are reasons why having this information is important. These can be summarized as follows.

• It informs the public about the passing of your loved one. This is helpful in case there are family members or friends with who you’ve lost contact.
• It’s the simplest way for you to share all the details that are useful about your loved one’s funeral arrangements.
• You can remind your attendees about any financial donations or memorial gifts that may be welcomed.
• It’s a thoughtful way to honor and preserve your family’s history.
• Since it’s a written tribute to your loved one, it helps you to deal with the grief in a healthy way.

3. Choose a Funeral Home

To make sure that you know how to plan a funeral and burial, you should have an idea for finding a local funeral home to suit your needs. The best place to start is to ask for a referral from a family member or a friend that you trust. When you’re looking for a service provider, you shouldn’t underestimate how far a recommendation can go. It’s crucial for you to find someone who can meet your goals and needs.

You should have at least two service providers that you can call. Having options is a good idea so that you can compare quotes. You should contact each service provider to discuss how you want things done. Most importantly, you can discuss your budget with them.

4. Decide on the Type of Funeral

Did you know that according to the National Funeral Directors Association, there are different types of funerals that you can have? Moreover, there are different types of services that you can have to send off your loved one. If you’re uncertain about the type of burial services that are available, you’re not alone. These are the common types of send-offs that you can consider for your loved one.

Funeral

A funeral is a traditional service where you can choose to say your goodbyes to your loved one. This is when your loved one is buried in a casket. There is someone who officiates the service before a burial is conducted in a cemetery.

Graveside Service

This is a shorter service compared to a funeral. If you’re learning how to plan a funeral and burial, you should know what the difference is. This is a smaller and intimate setting, but it’s still officiated by a clergy leader. If you want to save costs, then this is an option that you should consider.

Memorial Service

In some cases, there are people who can’t make it to the actual funeral. So, it’s important for you to plan an event that gives those people an opportunity to honor and pay tribute to your loved one. The main thing about a memorial service is that you give guests a platform to share their treasured memories of your loved one.

Wake

Learning how to plan a funeral and burial means that you’ll come across things that you’re not familiar with. In this case, you might have to plan a wake if your family prefers a gathering of friends and family instead of conventional ceremonies that are planned with funeral homes at the forefront. A wake is something that happens the day before the expected funeral.

Celebration of Life

Depending on the religion that your loved one followed, they might leave instructions that should give you direction on how to plan a funeral and burial for them. A celebration of life is something that your loved one can ask for in a written will. The purpose of this type of service is to remember a life that was well lived.

So, even if your loved one had to go through debt counseling at some point in their life, you should share these stories in a way that’s positive. You can use pictures and videos to show the other attendees how your loved one lived their life to the fullest.

5. Decide on a Casket or Cremation Case

The not-so-nice part about learning how to plan a funeral and burial is having to decide on what type of container your loved one’s remains will be placed in. The best way to decide on a casket is to go to a funeral home and ask for assistance. When you’re grieving the loss of your loved one, you should think of finding help when you’re planning everything. The last thing that you want to do is to find a casket that isn’t adequate for the funeral.

Similarly, if you’re going to be using cremation services, you should also find out more about the type of urn that you’ll need. The fact is that how much you pay for a casket or an urn can be greatly affected by different things. For example, the materials, ornate finishes, and design can determine how much you’ll end up paying in the end.

6. Choose a Location

Now that you’ve gotten through the nifty details that everyone wants to avoid, you should start thinking of where you want to have everything. In some cases, you might find that your loved one’s estate planning attorney knows about a location plot that can be used for the funeral. If this is the case then it should make your planning so much easier. The fact is that having to decide on where your loved one will be put to rest can be a daunting task.

If your loved one planned things accordingly before they passed on, then you won’t have to worry about whether you should buy a cemetery plot or not. Determining a resting place is something that requires a lot of planning. And sometimes, you might not have sufficient time to think about it in detail. This is when discussing this with your loved ones helps you to make an informed decision.

7. Plan the Details of the Service

The fact of the matter is that making arrangements on how the funeral and burial will take place is very crucial. There are a lot of details that you should consider getting through before the day arrives. Unfortunately, planning a funeral leaves with little time to make sure that everything is in order. In certain instances, you might find that your loved one told their wills lawyer how they want their funeral to be conducted.

This means that the details of how the arrangements will be made can be directed by your loved one’s wishes. However, if there aren’t any pre-arrangements that have been made, you should make sure that you write down everything that will be needed on the day of the funeral. It’s also important for you to take advantage of any help that you’re offered. Planning such an event can be a very stressful thing. The emotions that you’re going through can also make it difficult for you to get through every detail without making any mistakes. So, if you need hands on board to take care of the flower arrangements, you should ask. There are important details that the rest of the family should weigh in on. Let’s say that there’s a family heirloom that your loved one was in possession of before they passed on. It’s essential for the rest of the family to discuss whether your loved one can be buried with it or not.

8. Decide on the Funeral Program

Before the day comes, it’s important for everyone to know their role. Part of learning how to plan a funeral and burial is knowing how to delegate roles to your family. It’s important for you to decide on whom the active participants will be on the day. The easiest way for you to do this is by coming up with a program to tell the rest of the family what each person will need to do. For example, you should state who will be giving the eulogy. In addition, mention who will be serving as pallbearers on the day.

Having a funeral program should help you to know exactly how the day will go. But, that’s not all that it does. In fact, a funeral program can benefit everyone at the funeral in the following ways.

• It provides the details of the service.
• It outlines the entire funeral.
• It highlights who is participating in the service.
• It includes the obituary or biography of your loved one.
• It provides interment details.

9. The Day of the Funeral

You’ve done all that you could to ensure that you know how to plan a funeral and burial for your loved one. You should be proud of yourself. You should ensure that you remain calm throughout. You have done all that you can to get to this point of your planning. You should remember to take it easy because you’re also grief stricken.

In summary, learning how to plan a funeral and burial for your loved one isn’t easy. It requires a certain level of attention to detail that requires you to pause your grief. This is why it’s important for you to use all the help that you can get. If you don’t have a clear head, you might make a mistake and call a pet cremation services provider instead. These are the kinds of mistakes that you should avoid by all means.