How to Plan a Funeral Service: Your Essential Guide

Funerals are by no means fun. But they are a fundamental part of the human experience.

The earliest known human burial took place 78,000 years ago. Over time, funeral and burial services have evolved, giving people time to cope with and mourn the loss of loved ones. You have many resources to plan a funeral service, but that doesn’t mean it’s not tricky.

How should you take your first steps for planning a service? How can you talk to your loved one about their own funeral? What kinds of funerals can you run?

Answer these questions and you can plan the perfect funeral service without too much difficulty. Here is your quick guide.

Plan a Funeral Service in Advance

Whenever possible, you should start funeral planning before your loved one has passed away. You should ask your loved one what they would like for their funeral.

They may not want to talk about it, thinking the conversation would be too morbid. You can break the ice by asking small questions like, “What food would you want us to serve?”

If your loved one has a will, you should take a look at it. Most people detail their thoughts for a funeral in their will.

If your loved one didn’t, you can still use it as inspiration for your plan. You can take the list of beneficiaries in the will, write it down, and invite each beneficiary to the funeral. You can also ask the beneficiaries for suggestions, as they knew your loved one best.

Look at a Few Funeral Ceremonies

A traditional funeral service can involve a few things. Attendees can gather and walk past the coffin, paying their respects to your loved one. They can listen to eulogies, poetry readings, and songs before going to the cemetery and witnessing the burial.

A traditional service is ideal for religious people. But it can be morbid or a little too formal.

A celebration of life is an informal and fun alternative. People can gather together to share jokes and humorous stories about your loved one. They can do something to honor your loved one, like plant trees or give food to the needy.

Talk to a funeral home and assess your different options for a ceremony. Even if you don’t use the funeral home’s services, they can give you planning tips and suggestions for small things that go into your service. They can help you find an urn wreath to place over someone’s cremated remains.

Prepare the Perfect Funeral Service

You should start planning a funeral service right away. Go to your loved one and talk to them about their desires. You can ask them pointed questions about small details if talking about the whole service is too overwhelming.

You can take a look at their will and ask their friends and family members questions. Yet you should bear in mind that there are many kinds of services. You should touch base with a funeral home to understand your options.

Keep studying what goes into a funeral service. Read more funeral planning guides by following our coverage.