What Are Your Funeral Plans?

How much thought have you put into your funeral plans?

While this might seem like a silly question, planning ahead can ease the burden on your loved ones at a difficult time, even if you’re currently fit and healthy.

If you wait until you are nearing the end of your life, you run the risk of trying to organise your funeral while battling with the difficulties that can come with old age (lack of energy, memory loss, health conditions etc).

Read on to explore the benefits of planning ahead towards your funeral plans, and the different changes that can be made to a ceremony to make it unique.

THE BENEFITS OF PLANNING YOUR OWN FUNERAL

Although it might seem unusual to plan your own funeral, there are a number of benefits which being prepared can offer.

• Saves your loved ones extra emotional distress - Planning a funeral can be a distressing process as it forces you to think deeply about your loved one when you might not yet be ready to. Planning your own funeral can help your loved ones grieve at their own pace, without any added pressure or stress
• Saves your loved ones money - By using a prepaid funeral plan, you save your loved ones money by paying into a trust fund which ultimately pays for your funeral
• Saves you stress - When you reach an older age, the last thing you want to spend time doing is planning your funeral, especially if you experience old age health problems like memory loss. Save yourself some of this stress and arrange your funeral before the time is near.

BURIAL VS CREMATION

Deciding whether you want to be buried or cremated can be a tough decision, so it is useful to understand what each process involves and the benefits they offer.

THE BURIAL PROCESS

A burial service usually takes place after the main funeral service. Once the coffin has been lowered to the ground, it is a common tradition to scatter soil into the coffin.

THE BENEFITS OF BURIAL

• Better for the environment - The cremation process is particularly damaging to the environment as it releases gases into the atmosphere. There are also a number of eco-friendly woodland burial sites available now to provide a peaceful resting place, without damaging the environment or disturbing the wildlife.
• Permanent resting place to visit - One huge benefit of burials is that they provide a permanent resting place for loved ones to visit and pay their respects. For many people, having an allocated space at a cemetery where they can physically visit their loved one helps with the grieving process and allows them to feel closer to the person.
• Body is preserved - One reason why people often choose burial over cremation is that the body is kept intact, which can make loved ones feel closer to the person. With burials, the body is placed in a beautiful casket and the loved one can be dressed in their nicest attire, and family members can add in special mementos in the casket.
• Follows religious requirements - Another strong reason why people choose burial over cremation is because of the religious beliefs of their loved one.

THE CREMATION PROCESS

The cremation funeral service begins with the coffin or casket being brought into the crematorium by pallbearers, who will place it on a raised platform, ready for the committal. The service is then kept private by closing curtains around the coffin, or by lowering it out of sight.

THE BENEFITS OF CREMATION

• More affordable - The cost of cremation is cheaper compared with a traditional burial because cremations don’t require burial costs. Also, if you choose a direct cremation, the funeral service takes place immediately after.
• Time efficient - Cremations are much faster than traditional burials, which can be helpful when you’re emotionally dealing with the death of a loved one
• The ashes can be kept close to loved ones - A benefit of cremation is that it enables you to feel close to your loved one at all times. Many people keep the ashes on their mantelpiece which brings them a sense of comfort during the difficult times following the death of a loved one. Unlike with burials, you do not have to travel to pay respects to your loved one.
• Saves space - Opting to be cremated means that you won’t contribute to the overcrowding of cemeteries, which can help to save landmass.

TRADITIONAL CHURCH FUNERAL SERVICES / MODERN CEREMONIES

Nowadays, there are a wide variety of different types of funeral services available, so it is useful to know what these types are when planning a funeral.

At Quantock Funeral Services, we provide a variety of different types of services, including:

• Cremation Funeral Service
• Burial Funeral Service
• Non-Religious Funeral Service
• Humanist Funeral Service
• Celebration of Life Funeral Service

FUNERAL TRANSPORT

Your loved one’s final journey should be a memorable one. There are a variety of funeral transport options available so that you can choose one that best reflects the person.

HORSES

A horse drawn hearse has a traditional elegance that cannot be matched. The most popular choice of a horse drawn hearse is two black horses with a black carriage, although white horses and white carriages are also available to use.

Quantock Funeral Services provides black, white or silver hearses with a team of up to 6 horses if you request it. Our horses are dressed and groomed for the occasion, with traditional English black leather harnesses and full collars.

LIMO’S

A funeral limousine allows those who are in the deepest depths of grief to focus on their lost loved one, rather than the road.

Limos are a popular choice of transport for a funeral because they allow friends and family to travel together to the funeral services.

MOTORBIKE HEARSES

If your loved one was a biker, a motorbike drawn hearse is a perfect way to honour your loved one on their final journey.

Motorbike drawn hearses are available at Quantock Funeral Services for reasonable prices.

SERVICE SHEETS

Funeral sheets are used to create an order to the funeral service, so that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

We create, edit and print service sheets ourselves in our office at Quantock Funeral Services, to save you the stress of doing it yourself. The format of the service sheet is up to each individual family, and can include poems, photos, hymns. Whatever your wishes may be.

Service sheets also help to announce nominate charities for donations or invitations to food and drink following the service.

FLORAL TRIBUTES

Flower arrangements are a simple and caring way to send your condolences to a loved one.

At Quantock Funeral Services, we offer a range of vibrant bespoke flower arrangements and wreaths to reflect the person’s life and personality. Our wreaths are always hand delivered by the florist a few hours prior to the funeral to save you the stress of having to collect them.

Some of the most popular funeral flowers include Lilies, Gladioli, Carnations and Chrysanthemums.

FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Funeral announcements allow friends and family to be made aware of a loved one’s passing and details about where the service will be held. Several funeral services host their own funeral announcement page on their website, so it is important to consider this when choosing a funeral service.

GOLDEN CHARTER FUNERAL PLANS

One way to ensure that you don’t leave funeral planning to the last minute is by investing in a golden charter funeral plan.

These are prepaid funeral plans which allow you to take care of everything ahead of time, saving you the worry and stress about what will happen in the event of your death.

At Quantock Funeral Services, we offer prepaid funeral services including our Golden Charter Funeral Plans which works by paying into an independent trust fund to cover the cost of your funeral. This saves friends and family having to pay a lot of money to honour your specific desires.

FUNERAL DIRECTORS NEAR ME

Are you looking for a caring funeral business in Somerset to assist you with your funeral plans? Then look no further than Quantock Funeral Services.

We know that planning a funeral is an emotionally challenging process, which is why we are here to help you through it. We offer a range of services covering all bases of the funeral process, from horse drawn hearses to floral tributes, so that you can focus on dealing with the loss of your loved one.

We are a family run business, which means that we deeply care about each and every one of our customers, and have great empathy with their situation. We provide a personal service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the Town of Taunton, Wellington, Taunton Deane and all the Quantock Villages including Bishops Lydeard, Williton and all the other surrounding areas in Somerset.

For additional information on the services we offer, contact a member of our helpful team today.