Funeral Planning Guide: How to Plan Your Own Funeral

People become more and more creative when it comes to where their body goes after funeral services. Some decide that they want their ashes/body to be scattered in a particular place, a final resting at their loved ones’ home, or in private mausoleums. There is an endless list of things you can do to your body when you pass. 

You can make it as straightforward or as extravagant as you want, depending on the budget for your funeral expenses. Some scientists came up with seed pods that turn your body or ashes into a tree after many years. Interment services are also a way to leave your mark or legacy on Earth and allow people to recognize you.

• Funeral Ceremony

Funeral ceremonies come in three variants. The first is the traditional funeral service. This type of funeral ceremony is where people usually base the procedure on the religious and cultural beliefs of the person who has passed. The following kind is a memorial service. 

Traditional memorial services typically take place after the deceased is cremated, buried, or what. During memorial services, people who are close to the deceased person usually say a few words. They can either share a prayer, a eulogy, passages from scriptures, stories, or even sing a special song for the person. 

This service dedicates a moment for the person and allows the crowd to appreciate his presence on Earth. Some people may have a home funeral to conduct visitations or viewings while others may have receptions, entirely up to you.

• Organize the Details

Now that you know what services and ceremonies you want to have at your funeral, you will have to lay out all the details. Organizing your ideas and the things you want will help you plan the perfect funeral that reflects your personality the best. 

You can start by deciding the specific location of your cremation or green burial, the number of guests, the people you would like to make a speech, and such. You can also include the food to be served during the reception (if you’re having one) and the location of your funeral ceremony.

• Inform Your Loved Ones

Even though you are settling the funeral cost, you still have to inform your family, friends, or whoever you trust to do the job about your wishes and decisions. It will be hard, and some of them may not be too happy about the idea, but they must know what you want to happen so that your plan is followed properly. 

This will also help make it easier for everyone as you will not worry about having a funeral that is not up to your standards, and your loved ones will not have a difficult time trying to figure everything out.

• Personal Belongings and Documents

Remember that your loved ones still need to keep the funeral contracts to make the arrangements happen. Also, these documents will serve as crucial files that will contribute to creating your death certificate. 

You can organize your files by compiling them in one place and leaving a specific instruction or final arrangement to those you will leave behind about where you are keeping them. You may also want to leave personal belongings behind for everyone to remember you. Leaving a special item behind can help them with their grieving process because we all know that losing someone dear to us is never easy.

Now that you have been given a proper funeral planning guide, you can start the steps to planning as early as today. Death is never an easy topic to discuss, especially with your loved ones. After making all the necessary plans and discussing everything with your family or friends ahead of time, you will feel lighter knowing that you will leave behind a legacy you desired. 

Besides, your family will not struggle a lot with taking care of the funeral planning. Death is indeed scary but learning to embrace it is healthy, despite what people may say. Because of the idea of death, people often learn to make the most out of what they have and appreciate the little things in life.