People are choosing to take personal approaches when it comes to their funerals these days. The recent years have seen cremation become popular and acceptable by society. Unlike the traditional burial services, direct cremation requires the deceased to be transported directly to the crematorium without funeral services or viewing. A report released in 2017 showed that 25% of all funerals were traditional burials while 75% were through cremations in the UK alone. However, only 3% accounted for direct cremation with the number expected to rise up to 70% by 2030.
Features Of Direct Cremation
Apart from style, direct cremation helps save on time and burial costs. It's better defined by what it does not have, rather than what it does.
(1). The body is cremated in a cheap container saving on expensive casket.
(2). There are no visitations, viewing, wake or eulogies before the cremation.
(3). Since the body is cremated immediately after the deceased has passed on, you will engage crematorium services first rather than a funeral home.
Service Options
There are very distinct differences between a common burial and direct cremation. However, people also tend to confuse traditional cremation and direct cremation. So, the big ask is - What is Direct Cremation. You can include a formal service, but it will have to be conducted at a later date in the form of a memorial service. On the other hand, if you perform a funeral service before the cremation, you will not be conducting a direct cremation but rather a traditional one.
Arrangements For A Direct Cremation
In most instances, the staff at the crematory are let to handle all procedures and aspects regarding the cremation. This may include handling the death certificate and transporting the body from the place of death to the crematorium at a normal fee. A crematory center will often charge a certain fraction of the price that a funeral home would have charged for the same services. One has the option of working with a funeral home too and plan a direct cremation too. This time, the funeral home will deal with the preparation of the body and death certificate, then transport the body to the crematory center at a small fee. However, one has to pay for the basic services offered by the funeral home in full.
Choosing A Cremation Urn
The deceased is normally transported from the place of death in a temporary urn made either of cardboard or plastic. Later, if you are in charge, you'll be required to select a permanent urn depending on your style. There are various criteria that people consider when choosing the permanent urns which include: budget, personalization, engraving and whether the urn will be shared.
Importance of Personalizing Your Loved One's Urn
Apart from offering a more fitting final resting place for the deceased, a personalized urn also provides and those around with a warm and uplifting remainder of the family they were during their lifetime together. There are various ways you can personalize the urn to highlight the lifestyle of the departed which includes artworks, poems or other texts or artifacts that hold sentimental value regarding the deceased.
Costs
Direct cremation offers the least expensive form of disposition. The most expensive methods involve detailed preparation of the service and the body, purchasing of the casket and funeral home fee. With direct cremation, extensive transport costs are also avoided. When having a direct cremation arrangement, funeral homes also have the tendency to charge less for their basic services. If you are into saving money, it might be worthy calling different funeral homes to find which offers the lowest basic services fee. If you wish to bury the cremated remains in a cemetery or interning the remains in a columbarium, take into consideration the cemetery, columbarium niche, headstone and/or the grave marker among other costs. If you are okay with it, you can have the whole process arranged online for your own convenience.
Personal Advocacy
According to FTCFG, the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Guidelines, everyone has the following rights pertaining to direct cremation. If you provide a permanent urn, the remains must be returned to you in the urn and if not, the crematory must return the cremated remains in a container which may be a plastic or cardboard container.
You will not be required to buy a casket for a direct cremation arrangement.
The crematory or the funeral home should provide an unfinished wooden box or any other container for cremation purposes.
While direct cremation may seem too hard or fast for some people, it has its benefits. However, that may depend on what one wants. Remember funerals are there for family and friends to celebrate your life and say goodbye to you. If both parties are happy with making the arrangements, then direct cremation could be a very good choice.
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