How to Plan a Cremation Funeral Service

Any death in a family can feel sudden even if the relative had conditions leading up to it. No matter the circumstances surrounding this solemn occasion there will need to be planning, especially if you are going to have a funeral service. Most likely you have attended funerals in the past that have the casket up in the front of the large open room, but what if your relative decided to be cremated? These steps will answer your questions of how to plan a cremation funeral service.

Instructions

1. 

   Decide upon a funeral home that you feel comfortable with. There will be a coordinator there that will assist you in planning. This will be the time to write an obituary and pick a urn for the ashes. You will also schedule the service time and any visitation hours. They may also be able to assist you in ordering flowers and catering if you are plan to have a luncheon of any sort after the service. You can even bring in a favorite song that you would want to be played at the service. Remember that this coordinator has arranged many services and has worked with many different businesses so they will have great advice to offer. Do not feel bad about asking many questions, they should be happy to answer any question you may have.

2. Contact relatives and friends to ensure that the word is spread about the time and location of any pending services. This is essential if you have decided not to run an obituary in local papers, which can be very costly.

3. Find a Minister or Pastor (depending on religious beliefs) to speak at the funeral. You will also want to decide if you will be allowing anyone who wishes to speak a chance to do so. If you do decide to let family and friends have this opportunity, it can be a wonderful closure for them. Make sure that you get the word out that this will be allowed also, people will want to prepare something to say or time to think of a favorite memory to share.

4. 

   Talk to close family members about collecting favorite photos, awards and letters of achievement to display at the service. Remember there will not be a large casket at the front of the large room. You can use this space for displaying photographs and memorabilia of your loved ones life. You can frame these items and display on photo easels (sold in photo department near frames). The funeral home will assist you with tables to display these items. This is also a wonderful way to display what your relatives life was about. The home will also have a special table set up for your loved ones urn as a center point.

5. 

   Take time for yourself to grieve the passing of a loved one. It can be very hard to do this when you are in the process of planning. Make sure that before and on the day of the services that you accept offers to help. More than likely you will have more than one person offer to help in any way possible.

6. 

   Remember to mail out thank you cards to anyone who cared for the relative, sent flowers, loaned pictures or helped in anyway with the service. Be proud of yourself for planning a beautiful celebration of a wonderful life.