Funeral Planning Guide
Planning a funeral, whether it’s your first time or not, can feel overwhelming with so many details to consider—from writing the obituary to choosing the right flowers. At Bryan Lee Funeral Homes, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
To help you understand the process, we encourage you to review this comprehensive funeral planning guide. If you have any questions about our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
How to Plan a Funeral
Funeral planning involves several important decisions, but by using this guide, you can gain a better understanding of our services. The main choices to consider include selecting a method of disposition and planning the details of the funeral service.
Our staff is here to help you explore the best options to meet your needs. It’s essential to think about how to honor your loved one’s life and provide a meaningful way for everyone to grieve and remember them. There’s no right or wrong way to personalize a service—every life is unique, and each funeral should be too.
Below, we outline the key factors to consider when planning a funeral and what to expect if you’re doing this for the first time.
Disposition Methods
For your end-of-life arrangements, you can choose between burial and cremation. For burial, options include immediate burial with no visitation or service, traditional burial with a visitation and service, or a graveside burial in addition to, or instead of, a traditional funeral service. You may also opt for a private viewing without public visitation.
With cremation, you can still have a visitation and funeral service, and we encourage you to do so. Similar to burial, you can choose direct cremation with no visitation or service, a visitation and/or service before the cremation, or a funeral service afterward.
When deciding between burial and cremation, consider any religious, cultural, or personal beliefs, as well as any specific requests from your loved one.
For both burial and cremation, we recommend having a visitation and funeral service. This not only honors the life being remembered but also provides a supportive environment for those who are grieving to begin their healing journey. While grief is unique for everyone, the service offers a space for shared support and comfort.
Arrangement Conference
During the arrangement conference, our experienced staff will guide you through selecting the options that best meet your funeral needs. We’ll provide our general price list and payment options, giving you a clear understanding of the costs involved in our funeral planning services.
We’ll also work with you to find meaningful ways to personalize the service. By learning about your loved one’s life, personality, and interests, we can craft an obituary that truly reflects who they were and create a funeral service that honors their memory. Please bring any important information about your loved one to help us write the obituary and complete the necessary documents.
Ceremony Options
Your funeral service can be held at our funeral home, a church, or another meaningful location based on your religious, cultural, or personal preferences. There are many ways to personalize the service, such as choosing special music. If you plan to include music, select songs that reflect your loved one’s life. You will also need to choose an officiant, pallbearers (if applicable), and someone to deliver the eulogy.
To add personal touches, consider including post-funeral food and drinks, memorabilia displays, flowers, service decorations, photo and video tributes, or small memorial gifts for guests, like a poem or memory stone. Any unique elements that reflect your loved one’s personality can help make the service more meaningful.
Many families also opt for a celebration of life, which is similar to a traditional funeral service but is more celebratory in nature. This type of service offers more opportunities for personalization and creating a joyful remembrance of your loved one’s life.
What to Know When Choosing a Burial Service
When planning a burial service, decide whether you prefer an above-ground burial in a mausoleum or a traditional in-ground burial. You can then select from our range of casket options and choose a gravestone, along with the text and decorations you’d like to include.
For those seeking an environmentally friendly alternative, a green burial is an option. Green burials usually involve no embalming and utilize eco-friendly burial choices, such as a burial shroud.
What to Know When Choosing a Cremation Service
When selecting a cremation service, we recommend having a visitation and funeral service, which can take place either before or after the cremation. We also offer a wide variety of urns to choose from.
You’ll need to decide whether you would like to keep, bury, or scatter the cremated remains. We can also divide the ashes into multiple urns for different family members. If you plan to scatter the ashes, be sure to obtain permission for your chosen location.
What Comes After the Planning Process?
Once the funeral planning is complete, it’s important to focus on your grief journey and honoring your loved one. Our funeral home provides a variety of grief resources to help you cope in healthy ways. We can also connect you with local grief counselors and support groups for one-on-one or group support. Rest assured, our team will ensure the funeral runs smoothly, allowing you to concentrate on grieving and beginning your healing process.
We are also here to help you and your family find meaningful ways to honor your loved one’s life. Whether through memorial products or DIY keepsakes, you can create a special tribute that reflects their memory. We can also assist in planning a memorial service to commemorate your loved one on significant dates, such as their birthday, death anniversary, or other special occasions.
Ready to start planning a funeral service? Contact our staff below, and let us help you create a service that is truly meaningful and memorable.
Benefits of Preplanning
Lets Your Wishes Be Known
The death of a loved one often brings about unwarranted stress and turmoil among families. One family member wants one thing, while another family member wants something different. By planning ahead, you help prevent those disagreements by letting your family know what your wishes are and how you want your funeral service to be carried out and your business handled.
Peace of Mind
Our staff guarantees we will carry out the arrangements you want, just as you directed. Once the plans have been arranged, you and your family can rest easy knowing at the time of death, those uncomfortable decisions have been made. In a time when a family should be able to easily grieve, preplanning allows for that to happen.
Flexible Funding Options
When you preplan your funeral arrangements, there are more options when it comes to funding the funeral. A preneed insurance policy, life insurance policy or other payment options can all be arranged before the time of death. At the time of death, services must be paid in full, so having options ahead of time can also reduce other stress related to losing someone.
Relieves The Burden From Family
Following the death of a loved one, there are more than 150 decisions that have to be made within the first day or two following the death. Those stressful decisions on top of the stress of grieving a loss can be eliminated by arranging your final wishes ahead of time. If those decisions are made, your loved ones aren’t left wondering what you would have wanted and how they should proceed with funeral plans. With those decisions out of the way, your loved one can begin the healing process sooner.
Common Questions about Preplanning
