While some people find the concept of pre-planning your funeral services a little intimidating, it has become increasingly popular in recent years. You wouldn’t think twice about planning a different celebration such as your birthday, wedding, anniversary or baby shower, so why not plan your funeral in advance too?
Funeral pre-planning not only ensures that your life, legacy and memory is honoured how you want, but it also alleviates a lot of pressure on your loved ones during their grieving process. If you are considering pre-planning your funeral, here’s what you should know.
What is a Pre-Planned Funeral?
A pre-planned or prearranged funeral is your way of communicating your wishes for your funeral in advance. This could be larger decisions such as the type of ceremony you would like and whether you want to be buried or cremated, or smaller decisions such as the songs, hymns or prayers you would like and your preferred type of flower.
Why Pre-Plan Your Funeral
Without a date or timeline for your future funeral, you might not consider pre-planning your funeral a priority. But there are a variety of reasons why you should get the ball rolling now. Perhaps you enjoy being in control, maybe you want to make things easier on your loved ones when the time comes, or perhaps you just love to plan.
Often, a lot of the planning for funerals is crammed into just a few days, which causes stress, expense and some quick, panicked decisions. By planning arrangements in advance, you reduce this last-minute planning. Addressing the important questions related to your end-of-life service shouldn’t be done in a short time frame. By providing your family with these preferences in advance, you can guarantee the sendoff you would like and deserve.
Benefits of Pre-Planning Your Funeral
Here are a few benefits of pre-planning your funeral.
Personalised
Your last celebration should epitomise your personality and be filled with everything that you love. By planning these details in advance, you can ensure that the funeral, wake, reception and any memorial services represent you perfectly. You can slow down and make decisions about what you actually want, knowing that no detail will be overlooked.
Decided
One of the most popular reasons for pre-planning a funeral is the pressure that it alleviates from loved ones. When the time comes, your family will face a long list of questions regarding your funeral service and preferences, which can be daunting and overwhelming. Prearranging these details reduces stress and allows your loved ones to focus on their grieving journey, safe in the knowledge that your wishes will be adhered to.
Cost-effective
Whether unexpected or not, funerals can be costly. But by planning in advance, you can spread the cost over a period of time to relieve your family of needing to find money at an already difficult time. And by paying it off in advance, you won’t need to worry about the cost of inflation adding to your bill. You can determine the right budget for any services or celebration-of-life events and ensure that money is invested into the areas that you care about the most.
How to Go About Pre-Planning Your Funeral
Deciding to pre-plan your funeral is just the first step, now it’s time to get started. Let’s break down the process into smaller steps.
Start with the important questions
Dealing with the essential choices first is a great place to start. These are the most important questions and could require more thought into what matters the most to you. Consider whether you would prefer to have a burial or cremation, and whether you would like your service to be religious, cultural or other. These details will form the foundation on which you can build detail.
Consider the smaller details
Would you prefer a small service with your nearest and dearest or offer an open invitation to extended friends and family? Is there a preferred hymn or song that you would like to be played? Do you have a favourite flower that you would like for your service? Although it’s not as essential to decide on the smaller details at this stage, it’s good to start considering your preferences.
Meet with a funeral director
Once you have a basic idea of what you would like your funeral to be like, we recommend meeting with a funeral director. They will work alongside you to give your wishes more structure and guide you through the pre-planning process. They’ll talk you through your options, choice of services and delve more into the details. Remember, you can be as simplistic or as detailed as you like in your planning.
Set up a payment plan
Although you are not usually obligated to pay for your funeral at the time of planning, setting up a payment plan can be beneficial. This allows you to secure today’s price and spread the payment into manageable chunks. And by paying for your funeral at the time of planning, you can ease financial pressure from your loved ones when the time comes.
Revisiting your plan
It’s normal that your wishes will change or become more detailed over time, so it’s important to revisit your plan on occasion. You might decide that you would like to change the readings or prayers you previously chose. Or perhaps your favourite flower has changed, and you’d like to amend that detail. Regardless of how small the amendment, it’s important to keep your plan up to date with your current preferences every few years.
Take the First Step Today
Would you like more information on how you can pre-plan your funeral? Get started today by contacting the team at Gardenia Funeral Home. We offer a comprehensive range of services that enable you to plan as many or as few details as you like. Take the first step today by calling us on (03) 9329 4024 or emailing us at info@gardeniafunerals.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you soon.