Funeral planning is emotionally overwhelming, but preparing the arrangements in advance is a once in a lifetime opportunity to decide your legacy on your own terms. It gives you the chance to organise a unique memorial service that gives friends and family a memorable chance to say goodbye.
Planning your own funeral can be oddly calming. Knowing that your affairs are in order and that the emotional and financial strain of funeral planning will not fall on your loved ones provides welcome peace of mind, particularly if you are struggling with your health. It also gives you the opportunity to be memorialised in a way that suits your character and your flair.
At Capital Life Funeral Plans, we support you in setting your affairs in order and making your personality present at your memorial service. That’s why we have put together this brief list of things to bear in mind for funeral planning.
Personal Touches
Gathering personal information can be a difficult part of the funeral planning process for friends and family, particularly when their grief is still so fresh. Photographs may be required to decorate the service hall and biographical details provided for an obituary. You can ease the process by putting this information together ahead of time.
Many funeral planners select a charity that speaks to the character of the deceased and encourage mourners to donate cash in their memory. If you feel strongly about a particular cause, you might want to recommend a charity that funeral-goers can contribute to in remembrance of you.
Funeral Details
Funeral planning begins in earnest when you have selected what sort of funeral you want. There you can take control of the service and ensure that your plan best reflects your wishes, whether you want a burial or a cremation. You can decide how you would like to be dressed, and what should be done with any personal effects. Some people prefer to leave jewellery such as wedding rings and watches to loved ones, rather than being buried in them.
You can decide upon a casket or urn that suits your style and budget, what coffin you desire or a location where you would like your ashes to be scattered. While this may seem like a widely understood aspect of funeral planning, far too few people in the UK have talked with their loved ones about their ideal funeral service. Couple this with the fact that roughly two-thirds of Britons have not written down a will, and it’s easy to picture individuals misinterpreting the sort of memorial service they believe their loved ones would have wanted.
Be sure to decide on forms of transport and memorial markers or gravestones to guarantee that your family members do not overcompensate and spend excessive amounts where you might have preferred a more budget-friendly option.
After this stage of funeral planning, you can focus on expressing yourself in a number of unique and personable ways. Decide what music should be played during the service and how the hall will be decorated. Pick your own flower arrangements. Recommend a dress code. Choose an excerpt from your favourite novel or poem to be read aloud during the service. There are countless ways that you can take control of your own funeral planning and really make the decisions your own.
Funeral Planning with Capital Life Funeral Plans
At Capital Life Funeral Plans, customer service is our top priority. We pride ourselves on a compassionate service with an experienced team and a fully-transparent approach to all the costs of our funeral plans. Feel free to browse our range of pre-paid funeral plans online, or contact us directly for a chat about how a funeral plans including Wills, Inheritance Planning, Probate, and LPAs, with Capital Life Funeral Plans to support you and your loved ones.
Source: All facts and figures were drawn from the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2017