How to plan and prepare a fitting funeral

Losing a loved one is a truly terrible feeling and indeed the pain of that loss may stay with you only a few months, or even a few years after the event itself. That’s not including the melancholic times that you will look back in joy and sorrow at the memories that you once had together. Well, all that you can do really once it happens is mourn and grieve properly and the way that is done in most cultures and religions around the world is to hold a funeral ceremony in which you are invited to come and pay your respects as the body is committed to the earth (or sometimes cremated) as to the requirements of that persons wishes and beliefs.

However there is a lot to planning a funeral as you can imagine, and that’s excluding the actual funeral directors, who will handle, preserve and appropriately dress the body of your loved on to be placed respectfully in the coffin looking their best and of course designing and crafting a coffin to your specifications and tastes.. So let’s take a look at some of the other important things you need to consider when planning a burial and funeral service.

Venue for after service

After the ceremony at your chosen church is done and the graveside goodbyes have been said it’s likely that most of the people present will want to unwind slightly with a drink and something to eat and have a chance to all get together to comfort people even after the funeral and share their fondest memories and stories with everybody present. It also give a perfect opportunity for the distant and far flung relatives who don’t get enough of an opportunity to speak to each other time to catch up, even if it is in less than ideal circumstances, which is always nice and its good to see a familiar and comforting face.

The most important consideration in this regard is the venue, you want to balance it out between convenience of travel between the church or other building where the ceremony was conducted, with the size for the people invited to actually p0hysically be able to fit inside, awhile at the same time trying in some way to make it meaningful to the person who has passed on. A favorite pub or restaurant of that person can be ideal; alternatively you could hire a venue that is tasteful to hold it in. It all comes down to their wishes and your budget.

Tombstone

Now while it may not be the first thing on your mind after finding out about the death of a loved one, however it is still something that you have to give a fair bit of consideration too and that is to how you want to mark the grave site at the cemetery. In terms of actual choice it’s basically between tombstones and memorials, however the different options that you have in terms of inscription, materials, shape and size are all really down to you and what kind of budget you have to work with. They can also come in a wide variety of different prices dependent on materials and the level of craftsmen ship put into them.

However you do have somebody on your side through this process and that will be the actual stonemason themselves. Stonemasonry is traditionally a family business and they subsequently should have it passed down to them that customer service, patience and understanding goes a long way in their business, much in the same way that funeral directors have a duty to be as sympathetic to all parties as possible. They will also be as helpful as they can be in terms of walking your through both the design and selection process which can be slightly confusing for people who have never gone through this process before.

Drinks

Now in British and Australian cultures, people come to a wake and will expect there to be some amount of alcohol on offer, whether it’s supplied or buy your own. So it’s important that you hold it in a location where alcohol consumption and or sale is permitted. It’s also important that you have somebody managing this otherwise if you have an open bar things can either get expensive quickly or run out quickly, we aren’t sure what is worse.