The Basics of Funeral Planning

When planning funerals at funeral homes in College Park, MD, you may not know exactly where to start or all the things that you need to do to make sure you’re funeral plans are in place.

So, what goes into a funeral?

First, you’ll need to decide what kind of final disposition you want. You have many options to choose from: traditional burial, green burial, cremation, interment in a mausoleum, etc. Once you’ve decided what kind of final disposition you want, then you’ll need to decide on a casket or an urn.

If you are being buried, interred in a mausoleum, or your cremation remains stored in a columbarium, then you’ll need to select the kind of grave marker you want and what information you want to be included on it.

Where you are interred is the next thing you need to decide on. If you are a member of a church congregation and they have a graveyard, you can very likely get a free burial plot if the graveyard is not full. You may have a family cemetery where you want to be buried (it may be where you currently live or it may be where you grew up). Or you may want to pick a local public cemetery to be buried in.

Most services for funerals are held either in the funeral home or in a sanctuary, but you can choose just about any location where you want your funeral service or memorial service held. The funeral home will help make the arrangements to secure the location when you die.

Next, you’ll need to decide what kind of service you want to have. While you may personally think that no service needs to be held when you die, you’ll want to think about those you leave behind. In reality, the service is for them and it’s an important part of the closure process.

There are many kinds of services that you can have after you die. You may decide you want a traditional funeral service. If you’re a military veteran, you may want to have a military service. If you’re being cremated, you may want to have a memorial service or a celebration of life service.

Once you decide on the type of service you want, then you can customize it so that it includes exactly what your wishes are. There may be things that you want read as part of your service or there may be specific songs that you want to be played. Be sure to document all the details so that your family knows exactly what you want.

You should write your obituary before you die. Only you have lived your life and only you know what you want people to remember about you or to take away from the experiences you’ve had. Be creative and give people a sense of the person you are. Make it personal and make it humorous and make it instructive.

Decide now what you want to wear when you die. The clothes you pick should be the ones that best define you and that people will recognize you in. Traditionally, people were dressed up when they died, but now people are choosing what they like to wear to be buried or cremated in.

Meet with the funeral home to go over your funeral plan. Your funeral director can help you make it complete, and then they can keep your information on file so that it’s available when you die and your family goes to make arrangements for you.

If you’d like to know more about funeral planning at funeral homes in College Park, MD, you can talk with our knowledgeable team at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A.