When someone you love passes away it can be very difficult to cope with all the emotional stress as well as all the practical things that have to be sorted out. This whole process is made even worse when you’re planning a funeral with little time and need the funeral to go ahead as quickly as it possibly can. When it comes to planning a funeral with little time, we hope we can help you. We have listed below some tips that will help your funeral preparations run smoothly, resulting in a much quicker funeral.
Obviously, if your loved one had already planned their own funeral then you won’t have many decisions left to make, which will make the whole process that much quicker. If your loved one didn’t make any funeral plans then take a look at our tips. We hope they will be of good use to you at this very difficult time.
5 Keys to Planning a funeral with little time:
1. Choose your funeral provider
If your loved one made funeral plans then they may have already chosen their funeral director. If not then this is the first step you should take. A funeral director’s job is to guide you through the whole process from beginning to end. They are there to ensure every detail of the funeral is covered, taking all the worry out of your hands.
Some funeral directors are more expensive than others, so it is recommended that you shop around for the best quote. If you have already used a funeral director in the past, maybe for another family member, then go with that one. This will save you time by not having to search for another one.
To allow the funeral director to start making the arrangements you should provide them with details of your loved one. This will enable them to make all the arrangements and to complete the paperwork and the permits that are required. This will also allow them to create a meaningful tribute to your lost loved one. Funeral directors are there to ensure everything proceeds as it should and runs as quickly as it possibly can for you.
To check out our recommended funeral homes directory, click here:
2. Decide on the type of funeral you would like to have
Your loved one may have already mentioned to you what type of funeral they wanted but if not there are many choices available to you. There are three main types of funeral and these include traditional, direct burial and direct cremation.
- The traditional option is also known as a full service and this will include the viewing of your loved one, the use of a priest or another religious figure, if your loved one was religious. Then there’s the rental of the hearse, the burial itself, or the cremation of your loved one. This traditional option is usually the most expensive choice out of the three.
- The direct burial option doesn’t include the viewing of your lost loved one or the embalming of your loved one because your loved one’s body won’t be viewed before they are buried.
- The direct cremation option also skips the viewing of your loved one’s body and again the embalming of your loved one. Your loved one’s body will be cremated not long after your loved one has died. Then your loved one’s ashes are transferred into an urn and after that you can have a memorial service for your loved one.
3. Call family and friends
When you’re planning a funeral with little time, you need all the help you can get, so it’s recommended that you surround yourself with close family and friends. They may be able to offer advice and offer their opinions which could help speed things up, this will also take a great amount of pressure off you. Ring around all your close family and friends and let them know what has happened. They wouldn’t want you dealing with the funeral preparations on your own. Also, start to call any close friends of your loved one or other loved one’s that live far away. Let them know the date and time of the funeral, so that they can make arrangements to be there, if they can be.
4. Choose your funeral flowers
If you’re stuck for time and you really can’t go searching for funeral flowers then your funeral director can make these arrangements for you. If you are trying to get the funeral arrangements done on a budget then it really would be worth you ringing around or visiting a few florists, to compare prices. This could end up saving you a lot of money and the process shouldn’t take too long, especially if you already know the type of funeral flowers you are looking for. Maybe your loved one had a preference for certain flowers and you can honour their memory by using them. Maybe roses or carnations for instance. To save time and money you could also use your own flowers from your garden or your loved one’s garden, if they loved spending time in their garden. This way you will be able to use flowers that are in season. When you’re planning a funeral with little time choosing flowers from home would make a very personal and lovely option.
To assist you in save time you can check out our online funeral flowers ordering system – click here.
5. Arrange your transport
Your funeral director can make all of these arrangements for you if you would like to hire funeral cars. By using funeral cars you’ll be ensuring that everyone close to your lost loved one arrives together. It also allows grieving relatives to be close to each other at what will be an incredibly upsetting time in their lives. There will be a cost to hiring funeral cars through your funeral director but it really is worth the price, just to know that everyone is together on what will be a very difficult day.
Just carefully work out how many close relatives or close friends there are, that will be needing funeral cars and let your funeral director know, they will then decide how many cars you will need. Alternatively, you do have the option of arranging your own form of transport to and from the funeral service, if you don’t think you’ll need any funeral cars. If you’re on a budget, this will greatly reduce costs.
Final Thoughts
We hope our tips have been of use to you at what is a very distressing time. As you can see, by following these tips, planning a funeral with little time really can be achieved. You can still have a fitting memorial for your lost loved one even when time is against you. Just think carefully about everything you would like to have at the service, and whether your loved one had any last wishes that they wanted carried out. Funerals are very daunting but we hope we have helped you get things clearer in your own mind.
