The thought of losing our loved ones is something we don’t want lingering in our minds at any time. When someone in the family or any other close person in your life dies, you wish they get a proper sending off. Well, there’s no better way to bid them your final goodbyes than through a memorable funeral ceremony. But again, it is not uncommon to get overwhelmed by the funeral preparations, especially if you are deeply grieving. If you are looking forward to making sure your loved one is memorably bid farewell, here are some steps you need to follow.
1. Get a Professional Funeral Service
The best way to bid farewell to a loved one is to let a professional funeral service help you out. Professional morticians help relieve a lot of the burden of organizing a funeral while ensuring the ceremony takes place smoothly. From the planning aspect of it to creating tributes and formulating the program, these professionals ensure the ceremony is memorable as you pay your last respects to the departed.
2. Transportation of the Body
The funeral arrangements will begin right after your loved one passes on. If they were in a nursing home, the process is often straightforward. When your loved one dies under their care, they first inform you of death and ask what funeral home you wish them to transport the body to. Most of these nursing homes will have a mortuary of their own for short term preservation of the body until you are ready and have organized a funeral.
It is a bit different if your loved one dies at home or anywhere else outside a healthcare facility. The first thing to do is call the non-emergency number, so you have a coroner dispatched instead of medical first responders. An autopsy may be necessary for some jurisdictions, with you covering the costs.
3. Filling Records and Getting Permits
When you lose your loved one, you will need to get the coroner or whoever is in charge of the home funeral to complete a pronouncement of death form. After that, you will have to attain a Burial permit, which is also known as a Disposition permit. You will then take the two certificates to your county recorder. After they have certified them, you will now receive a Death certificate, which is usually very important in official dealings when referring to the deceased. Make sure everything in the death certificate matches the information about the deceased.
4. Notify Friends and Family
Nothing makes a funeral more memorable than having all the deceased friends and family there to bid him or her farewell. These phone calls are usually difficult to make, so you need to take your time. Also, be considerate when delivering such news and make sure that the calling can solidly receive such news. It’s advisable to have someone else close by as you make the calls. Other than friends and family, make sure to inform the following people:
- Employer if there was one
- Doctor
- Religious group
- Health and life insurance providers
- Credit card companies
- Gym, clubs, and other organizations where your loved one was a participant
These people might be of great help in making the funeral as memorable as it ought to be.
5. Planning the Funeral
This is where you will need proper planning, along with enough finances. This point brings us back to step 1, where you should have a professional assisting you. The main tussles here include choosing a venue, sending out invitations, and preparing food and refreshments. You are probably wondering what will make the funeral memorable with all that mourning and crying. Well, the silver lining in this all is that you get to get your entire family and friends together.
You might be thinking that making all the decorations you are thinking of and hiring some musicians will make the funeral memorable. However, the ultimate way to making it memorable is in the people who you get there. The people who attend the funeral and the memories they carry with them make it all memorable in the long run.
Take the time and have the eulogy drafted well enough. However, if you want to make it a bit unique, you will want to let a few people closest to the deceased share a few moments they spent with them. These memories are so golden and are what you will forever remember about the funeral. You can also have someone compile the pictures and videos you have of the deceased and create one good piece that shows what life used to be with them around. Ensure that these moments are captured and shared during the service!
Planning a funeral is never an easy task, especially because it’s in the middle of a tragedy. However, you can make it as memorable as possible by sharing the deceased’s love and special moments with the people at the funeral.
