4 Common Funeral Home Provisions

The services that a funeral home can provide are plenty, but you might not even be aware of some of the more common funeral home provisions. These range from public viewings to helping you publish obituary notices, as well as a few things in between. If your loved one has passed on, have a discussion with your funeral home rector and find out how they can help you honor the memory of a loved one.

Public Viewings

A wake, or public viewing, is, for many people, the last chance that they have to see or simply pay their respect for loved ones. Public viewings are often held in conjunction with funerals, but they can be held without a funeral service at all. This is particularly beneficial for those who hold no religious orientation and are perhaps not particularly fond of the rite and ritual that goes along with funeral services.

Casket Purchases

You can often purchase a casket directly from a funeral home. While there are generally no city laws that prevent you from not using a casket, most cultural and religious orientations that are concerned with burial prefer that a body be buried in a casket. In addition, most private cemeteries will not allow you to bury a body on a plot of land without being enclosed in a casket. There are numerous models that run the gamut from luxurious to minimal.

Obituaries

Many obituary notices that are published in local newspaper and online are penned by funeral home staff. If you are having difficulty penning an obituary, a funeral home staff member would be more than happy to write a bit of copy for you, provided that you can give a few details about your loved one's life, such as where they were born, what hobbies they enjoyed, and a list of their remaining familial relations.

Embalming

Most funeral homes have an in-house mortician. These employees are adept at embalming. The embalming process slows down the process of decomposition and, if you decide on having an open casket viewing, will give your loved an appearance that looks decidedly "alive."

Funeral homes provide a large number of services from which you can choose. Take the time to speak to the director of the funeral home of your choosing in order to decide which services best suit you. In addition to the provisions listed here, there are also a wide range of other services that many funeral homes offer.