Designing Your Funeral

There are two facets of the design process. First, we ask you to consider how you wish to honor and celebrate the life of your loved one. When those important decisions are made, we’ll turn to the issue of how you wish to care for the physical remains.

How to Honor a Life

How to Honor a Life

In the book Chocolat by Joanne Harris, you'll find this fundamental truth: 

"LIFE IS WHAT YOU CELEBRATE.  ALL OF IT.  EVEN IT'S END."

Bringing family and friends  together to celebrate and honor a loved one for a funeral or memorial service, whether traditional, or contemporary, is the first step in healing.

You can have your service anywhere, and any way, you want. Your choices include the place of celebration, day of the week, and time of day; the musical selection, what prayers will be said or songs you’d like sung. We’re here to help you create the most memorable and meaningful service to honor your loved one.

Burial or Cremation

Burial or Cremation?

The first important decision your family will have to make is choosing between burial of the body or cremation.  The second involves choosing the cemetery and the specific place of the burial within its grounds.  You'll then need to select a casket and possibly a burial vault, as many modern cemeteries require their use.  At some point, and this does not have to take place right away, the decision becomes one of selecting the headstone or marker and writing the inscription.

Burial v. Cremation is a deeply personal decision, based on a  number of factors including religious or spiritual beliefs, finances, or ecological awareness.  Before you can make the choice, you need to know exactly what you are considering.  Below you will find some basic information that will assist you in your decision making, however, we acknowledge there is a lot of information to absorb and will be available to you day and night should you require assistance in making these decisions.

BURIAL

If burial is the right choice for your family, there are some important decisions you must make.  For example:

*  Do you wish the body to be embalmed?

*  What kind of casket and vault would you prefer?

*  Which cemetery would you select and do they have space available?

*  What type of monument, headstone or marker would you like?

*  What words would you like to put on the headstone, marker or monument?

Remember that each of these decisions involve related costs which may impact your final decision.  These include:

*  Selection of the casket and protective vault required by the cemetery.

*  The purchase of a plot within the cemetery, if your family doesn't already have the rights to one.

*  The headstone or marker, and any placement fees charged by the cemetery.

Additional things to consider:

*  A special set of clothes (favorite dress, suit, shoes, hat etc.) your loved one would appreciate or jewelry significant to them.

*  Any keepsake item you would like included in the casket; special mementos, photographs, letters and/or notes from family members.

CREMATION

Cremation is just as a deeply important decision as burial.  It has been a part of the human experience for a very long time, and is the preferred method of caring for a loved one in many parts of the world.  Every family has their own personal reasons for choosing cremation over traditional casketed burial.  Cremation allows a family the flexibility they may need in planning and preparing for a memorial service, celebration of life, or a scattering service.  Other factors include financial changes or environmental awareness.

Once the cremation over burial decision has been made, all that is required is authorization.  This is provided by the person who is legally identified or next-of-kin.   Once all authorization documents are signed and service charges paid; the body can be transported from the place of death to the crematory and the cremation process can take place.

We definitely encourage open dialog regarding all wishes and end-of-life issues.   We want you to know that no matter what your family chooses, we are here to help you explore your options.  We sincerely hope you reach out to us at (419) 472-7633 to explore the topics related to cremation and burial.