The cost of a funeral service varies but averages more than $7,500. When a loved one passes, prices aren’t the first thing on your mind. Yet cost is an essential factor in ensuring your loved one gets a proper service, and you don’t go into debt doing so.
Planning a funeral service can be emotionally overwhelming, yet someone must do it. Knowing how to prepare can help ease the stress and help you better control costs.
But how do you plan a funeral service? Continue reading to learn five essential steps you should take when making a plan.
Table of Contents
1. Establish or Verify a Budget
Planning a funeral service is an emotionally overwhelming task. Still, it’s essential to either establish or verify a budget before setting any plans in stone.
Sometimes, a loved one will prepay for funeral and burial services before they pass. Other times, they will pay for life insurance. If neither of these things exists, it’s crucial to speak to others about possible contributions to costs.
2. Cremation or Burial?
The two primary options for laying a loved one to rest are cremation and burial. Although the decision sometimes comes down to religion or tradition, it’s often a personal choice. Ensure you’ve either read the will or spoken to the loved one before passing to learn their wishes.
3. Visitation or Memorial Service?
The actual funeral service will typically be either a visitation or a memorial service. These are two slightly different things and often correlate to whether a person has chosen cremation or burial.
A visitation is a service generally held before the body is buried. It allows loved ones the opportunity to say good-bye before the religious or remembrance service itself.
A memorial service is often held for those who choose to be cremated. The body of the loved one who has passed isn’t in attendance. Instead, everyone gathers to celebrate the loved one’s life and remember them.
Although a visitation is generally used for those who are buried, and a memorial service for those who are cremated, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. Like many other things that go into planning a funeral service, it may come down to personal preference.
4. Decide on a Final Resting Place
A final resting place may include a burial plot or urns for ashes. With a burial plot, you will also need a casket or an alternative “natural” burial method. Which is required depends on whether the loved one has chosen to be buried or cremated.
5. Accept Help Where Necessary
Many people try to suppress the grief they’re feeling by staying busy. Planning a funeral service is one such way. Yet it’s so important to accept help where necessary.
Do your siblings want to pitch on the expenses? Has your best friend offered to make some meals for you to store, so you don’t have to worry about it? Let them, because every little bit helps a lot when you’re dealing with your grief.
Planning a Funeral Service Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
Planning a funeral service can be emotionally overwhelming. Following the five steps above can help make the ordeal a little more manageable.
Check out our other blog posts. You’ll find a wealth of information on closely related topics to help you dive deeper into the subject.
