Walking You Through The Immediate Steps After A Loved One Dies

Losing someone close to you is always tragic and it can cause you to be very emotionally unstable. Unfortunately that is also the time when a lot of things need to happen quickly. A funeral home offers the professional service you need to get through this difficult period. It is always advisable that you contact a funeral home before someone dies to arrange some of the basic outlines but if the death is sudden then it can be arranged on short notice too. As soon as you find out your loved one has passed it is time to put things into motion. Here is a short guide you can follow.

Call Your Funeral Home

Once you have decided on a funeral home you should call them immediately. You should let them know where the deceased is (a hospital, your home etc) and they will come and pick the body up. During this time you should be making calls to close relatives and friends to inform them about what has happened. If you are too distraught you should probably keep this amount of people to a bare minimum and perhaps ask those you do inform to let others know.

Preparing For The Funeral

Once the body has been removed you should arrange a fixed date for the funeral with the funeral home of your choice. Remember to say what you want and not just assume, it is better to have fixed details that you and the funeral home can both plan for. During this time it is important you decide on a few things:

• What type of funeral? (Cremation, burial, open casket or closed casket)
• The amount of people you want invited. This will determine the size of the venue.
• Any special decorations that are keeping within what the deceased would wish.
• What clothes the deceased should be dressed in and the type of headstone or urn.
• Whether you will have a wake or not.

Usually you have a bit over a week to organise all of this (if you have not already made arrangements before the death) so don't worry, there is time to get it done.

At The Funeral

If you are the funeral homes contact for the event you may be queried on a few things before the service to ensure they get everything right. At the service you can decide who gets to speak, whether there will be a religious message or not and what songs or hymns will be sung. If you intend on having a wake a funeral home can help you organise food and a venue nearby and make sure everyone gets their safely and on time.