When you experience a loss in your family, memorial planning is often the next step if your loved one did not pre-plan their memorial service. The costs of planning a memorial service or a funeral can start to add up. In your grief, you may not be considering ways to save money, but there are options when planning a memorial service that will allow you to honor your loved one without spending a small fortune.
Skip the Wake
Many people believe that the wake, or viewing as it is sometimes called, is necessary when memorial planning, but it is not necessary. The wake can be the most expensive part of a funeral. Some funeral directors claim it’s emotionally important to be able to “say goodbye” to your loved one in person, but that is not true for everyone. The costs of buying a casket, having the body prepared and renting the space to hold the viewing adds up quickly. If you opt to have the remains cremated and hold a memorial service in the deceased’s honor, you can save a good amount of money on the funeral.
Opt for Direct Cremation
Direct cremation is no-frills cremation. There is no viewing, there is not even a casket required. A simple container is used to hold the remains as they are cremated and it costs far less than what some funeral homes suggest. The crematory is bound to follow the same standards as they do for any other bodies, so the process itself is no different, there is simply much less memorial planning required before the remains are cremated.
Rent a Casket
If you have opted to have your loved one cremated, one important money-saving tip when memorial planning is that many funeral homes offer the option to rent a casket. When you rent the casket, it will be used during the wake to hold the body, but the casket will not be used during the cremation process. While funeral directors may not offer up this option immediately, it is not considered rude or insensitive to ask whether they offer rental caskets for bodies that will be cremated after the viewing.
Buy a Cremation Urn Online
When you receive your loved one’s cremains, they will be presented in a very simple box.Generally, the funeral director will urge you to purchase the urn though their funeral home, but in terms of long-term memorial planning, you do not have to pay the prices that funeral homes place on their cremation urns. When you buy your loved one’s cremation urn online, you can save money and you’ll find a much wider selection of urns to choose from.