Planning a funeral can be overwhelming, emotional and difficult. This is why we want to share our top 4 tips when it comes to planning a funeral (whether it’s for yourself or your loved one).
1. Understand your Budget
This is the first step in any funeral planning as it will dictate the rest of the decisions you need to make. As a guide, the typical funeral items that will need to be paid for include:
- Funeral director fees
- Celebrant fees
- Venue fees for a wake
- Flowers
- Transport (hearse and cars)
- Coffin/Urn
- Death certificate
- Permits for a burial or cremation
- Cost of a burial or cremation
- Cemetery plot
- Scattering of ashes
- Headstone marker
- Catering for the wake
It’s important to remember not to add financial stress to an already difficult time. Ensuring all family members understand the budget means that everyone can stay on the same page when organising the funeral.
2. Deciding on a Cremation or Burial
This is one of the biggest decisions to make when planning a funeral, so it’s important to understand the main differences between a burial and a cremation.
Burial
- Your loved one’s body will be buried in a coffin or casket
- They will be dressed in their favourite outfit and accessories
- You will choose a coffin or casket that suits you needs and budget (they come in many different sizes, shapes, and colours)
- They will be buried in a cemetery or memorial park where you can go and visit them in years to come
Cremation
- Your loved one will have their body cremated into ashes
- You will choose an urn to place their ashes into (there are many styles of urns available to suit your needs and budget)
- You can decide if you want to scatter their ashes somewhere meaningful or bury them or keep them
At Browne Brothers, we proudly offer high quality burial & cremation services for every need and budget. Click Here to learn more.
3. Deciding the Type of Memorial Service
The next step is to decide what type of funeral or memorial service you want to organise, so that you say a proper farewell to your loved one.
Whether you choose a small ceremony for family only or a large ceremony with everyone who knew your loved one, both are acceptable options to celebrate their life and grieve their loss.
4. Delegate Who is Doing What
This is an important step as there are lots of moving parts to planning a funeral and no one should have to do it all on their own. Some of the common tasks that need to be completed include:
- Writing the eulogy & delivering it
- Creating a slideshow of photos showcasing their life & choosing music to go with it
- Choosing songs or hymns to play
- Choosing people to do a reading
- Any ethnic customs that need to be organised
- If you choose to have a viewing, you need to organise the outfit they will wear and any accessories (eg: earrings, watch, necklace)
- Selecting candles and flowers for the ceremony
- Deciding how to transport them to their resting place
- Creating the order of service pamphlet (what photos to include etc…)
- Organising the reception or wake, this will include the venue, catering and invites
We hope these 4 tips give you some guidance when planning a funeral and help to simplify the decisions you need to make.
Contact Us
If you need to organise a funeral for your loved one, our friendly staff are available 24/7 to assist you in any way you need. Please call us on 03 8779 2570 or fill out our online form.
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