Funeral planning can be a challenging task but this is something you need to do in order to honour a loved one’s life. In this article, we will give an idea of what the funeral planning process is like.
You have to first start notifying the appropriate parties of the death
This will be contacting close friends, family members and the employer of the deceased. You have to notify the primary care physician of the deceased as well so that you can obtain a death certificate. The next task will be to select a funeral home. You can find a number of funeral directors Perth in your area and there will be a range of services offered by the funeral homes. They will be able to assist you with planning many aspects of the process such as how the body is transported, preparing obituaries and coordinating with the clergy. You will need to decide the type of service that is best suited to honour your loved one. There is the traditional funeral service which includes a visitation or viewing, a formal ceremony and a graveside service. This will generally have cultural or religious rituals. A memorial service is quite similar to a funeral but this will not have the body. This is something you can have a few weeks or months after the death.
If you want a simple ceremony
That is held at the burial site, this can be a graveside service. There is also a cremation service where the traditional funeral ends with cremation. Making this decision has to be done after considering the preferences of close family members. Sometimes the deceased will have left wishes on how they want their funeral to be planned. This can make deciding things a little easier. You have to consider the finances for the funeral as well because there is a wide range of costs. You need to have a budget early on in the planning process. Some of the costs you will need to deal with are the costs for funeral home services, burial plot, headstone, transportation, cremation, casket, obituary notices and flowers. You can check whether the deceased has a pre-paid funeral plan or a life insurance policy that can cover these expenses. The funeral home will provide you with an itemised list of costs and you can obtain this from several funeral homes to compare the costs and make a decision.
You will need to plan the details of the funeral such as where the service will take place
This can be at the funeral home, a family home, an outdoor location etc. And somebody has to be chosen to lead the service. This person is called an officiant and it can be a family member, religious leader or a professional celebrant. You will need to decide who will give eulogies. There may be prayers, readings and poems to be selected. You can select music that had meaning to the deceased and arrange décor or floral arrangements that suit their preferences. You will need to make burial or cremation arrangements as well. For a burial, you have to purchase a burial plot and decide on a headstone and casket. For cremation, you have to select an urn and decide whether to keep the ashes, bury or scatter them.
