If someone you love dies, you may face the difficult task of planning their funeral. This can be a challenging process to handle alone. But don’t worry. We are here to help guide you through it. In this blog post, we will walk you through how to plan a funeral, from choosing the venue to picking out the perfect outfit for the day of the memorial.
Plan a Funeral: How to Choose a Funeral Director
-
Be Your Loved One’s Advocate
Choose a funeral director you trust and ask for references. Check them out and talk to other people who have used the funeral home or crematory in the past. The funeral director experience at Foothill Funeral & Cremation dates to 1996.
-
Consider Liability Issues
Find out about the funeral director’s experience with funerals and cremations, as well as their fees and services. Ask if they have liability insurance in case anything goes wrong during your loved one’s service or ashes ceremony. We are fully licensed and insured. So, if you go with Foothill Funeral, you can rest assured you are covered.
Choose Burial or Cremation as You Plan Funeral
The first step in planning a funeral is to choose what sort of service you want. There are two options: burial and cremation. Cremation is the more affordable option. But it is also more environmentally friendly and easier to transport than burial (which requires embalming and a casket). If you are looking for a simple, low-cost way to honor your loved one’s memory, cremation might be right for you. However, if you hold religious or cultural beliefs that lean toward burial over cremation — or if there is something about the idea of makes you uncomfortable — burial may be more suitable for your needs. Read about benefits of cremation in this previous blog post.
Find a Funeral Venue
If you are planning a funeral, one of the first things to do is find a place where you can hold the service. A good venue should be comfortable and convenient, but also close to the deceased’s home and meaningful to them. A funeral home or church may seem like obvious choices for venues, but there are many other options that are worth considering. If your loved one loved nature, consider offering up their favorite park or hiking trail as a venue for their final farewells—and if they had an affinity for history or architecture, honor that by holding it in an old building with rich historical significance. You want this celebration of life and closure to be memorable for everyone involved so take some time to think about what would make it special!
Write the Eulogy
is a big responsibility, but it is also one of the most rewarding parts of planning a funeral. Your eulogy can be as short or long as you would like, and it should be written in your own voice (not that of the deceased).
What would you want to say about this person? What were their achievements? How did they show kindness to others? What was something that happened in their life that made them proud, or proud of themselves? Which lessons did they learn from their experiences that could help others going through similar situations? What was important to them in life, and how do those values apply today and in the future.
Choose Funeral Music
Now that you have taken time to reflect on what matters to your loved one, it is time to plan the details of their funeral. Click here to read about the different funeral music options we covered in a previous blog post.
We hope this guide helped you understand the basics of how to plan a funeral. Remember that there are many ways to do it, so don’t feel pressured into following these tips exactly. The most important thing is that you and your family feel comfortable with what you’re doing and have fun while doing it! We offer pre-planning as a great way to get a jump on funeral plans for yourself or for those you love. Click here to read about those services.
About Foothill Funeral & Cremation in Glendora, California
Drop by our Glendora show room any time. In Covina, our relationship with Sacred Heart Chapel is the perfect place for mourners to host funerals and memorial services in a grandiose yet intimate setting. We proudly serve the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Basin, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. Working in the mortuary industry since 1996, we have worked hard to build a reputation of quality, sincerity, and trust. Please allow us to help you at your time of need or in the future. Call today (626) 335-0615 or drop by our showroom.
I’m delighted you mentioned picking a funeral director you can rely on and getting references. Check them out and speak to others who have previously used the crematorium or funeral home. We are making the required arrangements for my grandfather’s death as a family because his condition has gotten worse. As we complete our arrangements for a nearby funeral home, I will make sure to have these considerations in mind.