Do you want to pre-plan your own funeral so that you do not cause friends and family to go through the stressful process of planning it themselves? If so, this means you have to make those big decisions for how things will need to be carried out. Even if you have selected to use cremation, there are a lot of things that need to be planned to have everything go smoothly.

Pick A Memorial Service or Traditional Funeral

Don't make the mistake of assuming that people that are cremated cannot have a funeral service that is similar to what is done for a traditional burial. Funeral homes usually offer several funeral packages you could pick from. It all depends on how you arrange for things to happen with the funeral process, and since you are doing the planning, you can have it done how you would want.

You can still plan for a traditional viewing of the body at a funeral home, and then have cremation take place afterwards. If the urn of ashes is not going to a local church or burial site after the viewing, then it will be acceptable for the service happen on its own day without a second location following the funeral. This gives the funeral home time to prepare for the viewing and then prepare for cremation.

Some people decide that they want to have a traditional funeral service, but with the urn displayed rather than a body. This can be beneficial if you want to have an ash-spreading ceremony immediately following the funeral service, since everyone will be gathered and ready to go to that second location.

Decide On Who Holds The Urn

You may have someone in mind that will hold onto the urn after the funeral service, which is why you need to make that person known in the planning process. However, you may want to make a list of people in case someone doesn't want the responsibility. For example, you may have multiple children that could hold onto the urn, but you are not sure who ultimately wants to be responsible for it. Creating a list allows your children to pass on responsibility to another sibling.

Pick The Urn

Now is also the time to pick the type of urn that you want to use for your funeral. Knowing if you want the ashes spread will make an impact on what type of urn you select, since some urns can be completely sealed to ensure that the remains do not escape. If you wish to have the ashes spread, you can plan for your urn to be opened.