Cremation As An Option

If you have lost a loved one with no time to prepare a funeral, then cremation might be an option. There are advantages to cremation services that you might not think about beforehand. It is something that is less expensive than a funeral. Most funeral homes will let you have a casket at a memorial service so that family and friends can have something that is similar to a funeral. The urn can be placed near the casket, or you can choose to leave the urn on a table with pictures of the person around the urn.

Some families might not have a plot at a cemetery yet. When someone is cremated, the urn can be placed almost anywhere. The ashes can be scattered at a favorite place the person used to visit, or the urn can be placed somewhere in the home of the person's child or the home of the spouse. There is also the option of placing the urn in a vault that is in a mausoleum. Cremation is an option if you want to keep the person with you after death. It can often help with the healing process after the person passes away. Contact us for more information about services offered.

Planning For Religious Funerals

It's a challenge that most of us will have to address one day. Even if we never have to arrange a funeral for someone else there's always our own send off to think about - particularly with the sensible trend for planning religious funerals while we are still alive.


Photo: scrapetv.com

1. Open or closed casket. Sometimes, a person makes it known in advance whether or not he/she wants an open casket. If it's not known, then the choice is up to the family. When planning Religious Funerals, many people go with an open casket to let family, friends, neighbors and co-workers have one last view of the loved one and to pay respects. However, if the loved had suffered a recent severe stroke and no longer looks the same, then a closed casket might be more appropriate. In either case, the immediate family should be provided the opportunity to view their loved one.
2. Funeral vs. Memorial Service. If relatives aren't going to be able to arrive within a day or two, or the loved one's body has been cremated, then you might want to opt to have a memorial service rather than a funeral service. At a memorial service, the body is not present. Usually a casket is still placed up front and a picture of the loved one is propped on top of the casket.
3. Church setting or funeral home setting. Religious Funerals at a church provide a comfortable, homelike atmosphere that can be used for funeral services of all faiths and creeds. That is why it was chosen by among families. The calling (viewing) hours are held at the funeral home.
4. Music. For many Religious Funerals, music is part of the service. Funeral hymns and can also be can also be implemented in a funeral programs whenever it was memorable to your loved one? If so, do you want the people attending the funeral to sing the song, have someone sing a solo, play a CD of the song, or have a pianist play it as an instrumental? Music plays an important part in a funeral service most especially at a church. A Prelude before the service. Provides a pleasant and welcoming ambient for family, friends and guest as they arrive at the church or funeral chapel?
5. Scripture. Most Religious Funerals contain a variety of scripture. If there was a special verse that your loved one quoted often, then consider including it in the funeral service. Scripture reading can be done by both family or a person from the ministry?
6. Powerpoint. Powerpoint, a computerized slideshow, has become a common component of several Religious Funerals. The powerpoint consists of several pictures of your loved one from when he/she was very little to the present time. Although a powerpoint will cause tears to be shed, it's also a beautiful time of reflecting on your loved one's life. People who may have only known your loved one for a brief amount of time will enjoy seeing the pictures as well.

As you can see, there are a lot of decisions that need to be made when planning a funeral. Religious Funerals provide families with options as described above and the funeral director wants to accommodate your needs and wishes to the best of his ability.

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Planning a Memorial Service

Among the many issues at hand when a loved one dies there are two important ones to decide: planning for the timely disposition of the body and commemorating the life that was lived. When you can separate those two activities, you have a great many more options, both in kind and in cost.
A "funeral" service is with the body present and is usually planned within a few days of death, sometimes in great haste. A "memorial" service (without the body) can be delayed as long as you want, to meet the convenience or needs of the family. Perhaps it makes sense to have the service at the summer home of the deceased when all were planning to gather anyway. Scheduling the event in two or three weeks lets out-of-town guests take advantage of the 14-day advance booking discount on airline tickets. Or perhaps you will want to wait for the survivor of a car crash to get out of the hospital. By not feeling pressured to have a service right away, there is time for thoughtful planning. A memorial mass is now accepted by the Catholic church.




Multiple services may be appropriate in some situations--a simple graveside service for the immediate family at the cemetery "back home," followed by a memorial service in the community where the deceased more recently lived. Or one service for co-workers and another for community and friends.

Many funeral directors will be glad to assist with memorial service planning whether using the funeral home location or not, but there will be a charge for such services. However, many families have found it therapeutic and loving to take charge without the help of a funeral director. Having something to do takes away the sense of helplessness survivors often feel at a time of death.

Funeral or Memorial Service--Which One's Right for You?

"Funerals are for the living . . . to rejoice in the one who has caused this coming together." --Maestro Leonard Bernstein

Decisions, decisions. Hold a traditional funeral like our parents and grandparents did? Should we go for the whole ritual with the casket open and viewed by mourners? Or is it time to consider a more modern and innovative way to pay our last respects?

Or would you prefer a memorial focusing on the achievements and contributions of the deceased? It's actually all the same, according to Fares J. Radel of Radel Funeral Home, who says, "You celebrate a life lived. The difference is a body is not present in a memorial."