Parting with your loved one is never easy. Death is one such unpredictable situation in life that no one ever wants to encounter. However, it’s that natural phenomenon about which you can do nothing about.
When the death of a friend or some family member happens or is expected to occur soon, it can be quite stressful for you. You might be immersed in great sorrow but have to assume the responsibility of making all the funeral arrangements – right from informing the appropriate parties to taking care of the financial matters.
Although most people have little or no experience planning a memorial service, they still have to do it. So, if you too are doubtful in your mind about where to begin, keep reading further to learn how to plan every aspect of funeral service for yourself or your close ones.
#1 – Making the First Call
The first step of the funeral process is to notify the concerned people around for removing the deceased’s body from the place of death.
If someone’s death remains unattended, then you should contact local law enforcement. If the death happens in a nursing home, then either the attending physicians, a coroner, or medical examiner can be contacted. If the deceased has pre-arranged his/her funeral plan, then the family members or the legal representative should be informed first. In case there is no advanced planning, then a funeral director can be called straightway.
#2 – Arranging the Transportation
If a loved one dies at a place other than a hospital, arrangements have to be made to transport the body to a funeral home, morgue, or some other facility.
Since the funeral service may not happen immediately, you might need to store the body until then. If the death happens in hospitals, then the body can be preserved for some time in their mortuary, and if the loved one passes away in their own home or somewhere outside, then the body has to be sent to a coroner for autopsy first.
#3 – Picking the Type of Service
The type of funeral service you choose majorly depends on the tone you want to set for the situation.
For instance, it can be either a celebration of well-lived life or an expression of deep sorrow for the life that has ended. You can also decide whether you want to want only the immediate family members on the occasion or other people.
#4 – Choosing the Form of Disposition
Depending on the wish of the deceased or the situation’s requirement, you can choose any of the methods of interment like traditional burial, natural burial, cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis.
Traditional burial involves burying the deceased body in a casket, cemetery plot, or mausoleum. The natural or green burial opts for those who wished to have a minimal impact on the environment after death. The cremation process is all about reducing a body to ashes by using high heat or flames. Alkaline Hydrolysis is popularly known as flameless cremation, where the body is converted into inert liquid and bone fragments with the help of water and potassium hydroxide.