Understanding Direct Cremation Part 4 – Save on your memorialization costs
A direct cremation offers a family the opportunity to ‘simply’ employ the services of a funeral director and/or crematory to conduct the disposition of the deceased. As mentioned in my earlier posts on Understanding Direct Cremation, it can help the family arrange a direct cremation cheaply. Then, the family can arrange their own memorial service.
Once the direct cremation has been performed and the family has the ashes returned, a memorial service or life celebration service can be held. This can be held anywhere and does not need to be in a funeral home. Indeed it can be more befitting and uplifting to hold a memorial service somewhere that is special to the family or the deceased. It can be held in a place of worship, a community center, a golf course clubhouse, or outdoors in a garden or park. The possibilities are endless!
Some in the funeral industry will have us believe that the ritual of memorialization is integral to how we grieve. I believe that how everyone handles loss and grieving differs and that families are far better equipped to know and commemorate their loved one who has passed.
Some families need a funeral director, a minister, or a Celebrant to help them conduct an appropriate and befitting tribute. However, there is no ‘rule’ that says this is right for every family. If you wish to conduct your own personalized memorial service, there are many resources and ideas online to help you.
Nowadays, you can quite easily make your own memorial products such as memory tables or boards, memorial candles or balloons, memorial DVD tributes, or a dedicated online memorial webpage. If you are considering scattering some (or all) of your loved ones’ ashes, there are many creative ways to do so.
Part 6: Death away from home – a direct cremation & shipping cremated remains
I have been researching and writing about the death care industry for the past fifteen years. End-of-life services and experiences are topics most people avoid thinking about until they must face them. My work provides comprehensive and independent resources for families, explaining the workings of the funeral industry, the laws governing funeral practices, and the death care trends that impact consumers. With a BA in Cultural Studies, I bring a unique perspective to analyzing cultural death care rituals, complemented by a career background in Business Management. The death care industry is undergoing significant changes, which I find fascinating. The shift towards cremation services and the emergence of sustainable alternatives like aquamation and human composting are of particular interest. I am also intrigued by how technology is reshaping the funeral planning process and experience. I write for US Funerals Online and DFS Memorials LLC, and contribute to various forums and publications within the death care industry.
