4 Steps To Planning A Funeral

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Planning a funeral for a loved one can be extremely difficult because, not only do you want to do it in a timely manner, but you are also going to want time to mourn his or her death. Doing both of these things at the same time can be really taxing on your emotions. To help you, you may consider taking these four steps to planning the funeral:

  1. Plan Ahead: If possible, begin planning your loved one's funeral before their death. If they are seriously ill and in the hospital, then this may give you some time to determine what they want to have at their funeral. This will also help you to begin some of the more difficult parts of planning, such as visiting different funeral homes and comparing prices before you actually are in the mourning process. 
  2. Cover the Costs: Paying ahead for the funeral costs is going to save you the stress of having to pay for the funeral on the actual day. This is also going to ease the burden of funeral costs on other family members since you will have already taken care of it and they can continue to focus on mourning. Be sure that you check to see if your loved one set aside money for funeral costs to be sure that you aren't using your own money if it's not needed.
  3. ​Contact the Funeral Directors: Once you have actually found a funeral home, it is important that you stay in contact with the funeral directors who can help you obtain the death certificate, prepare the obituary, and help you make decisions about your cultural or religious needs on the funeral service. 
  4. Consider Asking for Donations: Typically, on the day of the funeral, guests will arrive with flowers for the family or to lay beside the grave. This is why you may instead request that they save their money on flowers and instead make some donations instead. You can request on the invitation that they donate to the hospice that cared for your loved one, a charity that helps those who suffered from the same illness that your loved one had, or even a charity that your loved one who has passed enjoyed. 

Having some of the steps laid out can really help you to determine what needs to be done before some other things. In the end, you will be glad that you had a well laid out plan that helped you to make it through this more difficult time in your life. 

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27 August 2015

Writing an Obituary: Do's and Don'ts

Following the death of my grandfather, I found myself in the awkward position of having to write the obituary. I wanted to capture the spirit of him and list everything he was proud of in his life, including his family and work accomplishments. However, at the same time, I knew that I had a limited amount of space to work with. After spending hours researching obituaries, I finally felt confident in my skills and proceeded to write my grandfather's. In my opinion, it was perfect. Writing an obituary while you are grieving your loss is challenging, but I hope that my website helps you write one for your loved one that helps capture who they were as a person.