What do you want to happen to your body after you die? If you prefer cremation over burial, it’s time to create a cremation plan and choose a cremation provider.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for taking care of this critical task.
How to Plan for a Direct Cremation
- Creating a cremation plan in advance helps avoid emotional and financial strain on loved ones, allowing them to focus on meaningful activities rather than making tough decisions during a time of grief.
- A cremation plan enables individuals to select options that align with their wishes, such as service type, viewing preferences, memorial locations, and whether cremains are scattered, stored, or transformed into keepsakes.
- Budgeting and prepaying for cremation services can lock in current rates, easing the financial burden on family members and ensuring funds are allocated according to the individual’s preferences.
- Writing down cremation preferences in an accessible location and sharing them with family members ensures that final wishes are respected and reduces the chance of confusion or disagreement.
How to Create a Cremation Plan
Before we discuss cremation pre planning in detail, we’d like to offer a few words of encouragement: You’re doing the right thing.
We know it feels strange to complete the funeral planning process. However, let’s examine the alternative.
If you don’t complete cremation planning, your loved ones will be left to decide what to do for your funeral services. They may argue about what you would have wanted and feel compelled to spend more money than necessary to show that they care. In addition, your family members will have to research funeral service options and prices and make tough decisions while in the midst of grief instead of spending time on more heartfelt tasks, like looking through family photos or planning your memorial service.
So, even though it may feel strange, you’re doing the right thing by creating a cremation plan. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Understand your options.
You might be surprised to learn that there are several different cremation options. While the act of cremation is the same, when the cremation occurs depends on your personal preference.
For example, perhaps it’s important to you that your family and friends have the opportunity to view the body before cremation. In this case, you can have a traditional funeral, followed by cremation.
Some prefer to have a memorial service with the cremated remains present. You may consider purchasing a direct cremation package if this is your preference. In direct cremation, the body is removed from the place of death to the crematory. After the cremation, the cremated remains or ashes are given to the family members, who can then provide them with a place of honor at the memorial service or have a ceremony near the final resting place of the remains.
Step 2: Decide on memorial service preferences.
When a body is cremated, there are endless possibilities for memorial service options. As we mentioned earlier, you can choose to have a traditional service at the funeral home or place of worship—with an open casket—followed by cremation. However, when bodies are cremated first, the location options for memorial services expand.
You can also decide on the type of service, in addition to choosing where the service is located. For example, would you prefer a celebration of life, a gathering of friends and family at a beautiful outdoor location or another place with personal significance, or a more traditional service at your place of worship?
You may find that you enjoy making some of the arrangements, such as selecting music, readings, and a charity for friends to donate to in your name.
Step 3: Choose final resting place options.
Where would you like your remains to be placed for eternity? Do you wish to scatter them? If so, where?
Or perhaps it’s important to you that your cremated remains are placed in a columbarium, burial plot, or a family’s private space.
Still, others request that their remains be divided among specific people, perhaps so that the cremains can be used to grow a cremation diamond or placed in a piece of glass artwork or jewelry.
Step 4: Determine budget and financial planning.
Once you have determined your personal preferences regarding service and final resting place options, you can examine cremation costs and determine how much money you need to pay for your final wishes to be followed.
Many cremation providers allow you to prepay to lock in current rates and relieve survivors of this financial burden.
Step 5: Document your plan.
Please ensure that you leave behind specific written instructions in an easy-to-find place. Remember, your will may not be accessible immediately after your death, so you might want to leave behind plans in your home that would be easy to find during a stressful time. Of course, you can also make copies of your plan for cremation services and share them with several family members or close friends who live near you.
We know you have many questions about cremation services, especially about pricing. Contact a funeral professional at Smart Cremation. Our compassionate staff will walk you through all your options and help you make arrangements for this meaningful event.
