A Basic Primer on Cremations Services

Services for cremations Beltsville, MD are designed to help remember, memorialize, and honor someone who has chosen to be cremated. Too often, people are unaware that there are many ways to remember someone who has died and is being cremated, including having a viewing and a traditional funeral service.  

There are, in general, three types of cremations services.  

The first type of cremation service consists of a viewing, a funeral service, and then the cremation. Your choice of caskets is diverse. Funeral homes will let you rent a fancy casket for the viewing and funeral service. After the funeral service, the deceased will be placed in a fully-combustible casket for the actual cremation.   

However, fully-combustible caskets come in many attractive styles that are acceptable for funeral viewings and funeral services. The funeral home will have several different styles to choose from and they will include a liner and a pillow (which will be removed before cremation takes place).  

The body will be preserved for the viewing. The viewing is the time when mourners can pay their respects to the deceased person and offer support, encouragement, and comfort to the grieving family. Viewings usually last two hours and take place right before the funeral services.   

Funeral services can include scriptural or literary readings, eulogies from friends and family, a pastor’s, priest’s, or rabbi’s discourse, and music (recorded or live). If there is no religious affiliation, the funeral director will oversee the funeral service and coordinate all the parts that are included.  

After the funeral service, if the casket is rented, the deceased’s body will be placed into a fully-combustible casket, and cremation will follow. After cremation, the remains of the deceased will be returned to the family to do with as they wish.  

In the second type of cremation service, the deceased is cremated, and the family holds a memorial service at a later date. Often, the urn containing the ashes of the deceased person is present at the memorial service.  

Memorial service formats are basically free-style. They may consist of a trip to the deceased’s favorite place, or they may take place in a community center where food and drinks are provided and friends and family are encouraged to tell stories about the deceased person. Other times, memorial services may closely resemble funeral services, with a structured presentation that includes readings, eulogies and music.  

Memorial services can be held at any time, which often beneficial for people who live far away or when a trip to a central meeting place is planned. This gives everyone time to make plans to be there without having to hurry through the process of trying to get time off of work and find transportation that is affordable.  

The third type of cremation service is direct cremation. There are many people who simply don’t want either a memorial service or a funeral service. In direct cremation, the deceased is sent from where death occurred directly to the crematory. The body will be prepared, identified by the family, and then cremated with the cremains being returned to the family afterward.  

To request services for cremations Beltsville, MD, talk with our experienced team at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. You can also see us in person at our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or you can contact us today at (301) 937-1707.