According to our team at Apsey Funeral Home Inc, burial in a casket is one of the most common methods of disposing of remains in the United States, although entombment also occurs. Cremation is increasingly selected because it can be less expensive and allows for the memorial service to be held at a more convenient time in the future when relatives and friends can come together. A funeral service followed by cremation need not be any different from a funeral service followed by a burial. According to Talk Death, the complete cremation process takes about two hours. Afterward, cremated remains are usually placed in an urn before being committed to a final resting place. The urn may be buried, placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium, or interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains. The remains may also be scattered, according to state law.

Viewing is a part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary. To learn more about our funeral and cremation services, please reach out to us today.

Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them. If you have questions about embalming, cremation, or funeral services, we are ready to help, so contact us today.

Embalming is not required by federal law, but state and local requirements vary by region. To learn more about emablming, cremation, or related services, call us today.

When compared to other major life events like births and weddings, funerals are not expensive. In our experience, a wedding costs at least three times as much, but because it is a happy event, wedding costs are rarely criticized. A funeral home is a 24-hour, labor-intensive business with extensive facilities (viewing rooms, cremation facilities, chapels, limousines, hearses, etc.); these expenses must be factored into the cost of a funeral. Additionally, the cost of a funeral includes not only merchandise, like caskets, but also the services of a funeral director in making arrangements; filing appropriate forms; dealing with doctors, ministers, florists, newspapers, and others; and seeing to all the necessary details. Funeral directors look upon their profession as a service, but it is also a business. Like any business, funeral homes must make a profit to exist.

It really depends entirely on how you wish to commemorate a life. One of the advantages of cremation is that it provides you with increased flexibility when you make your funeral and cemetery arrangements. You might, for example, choose to have a funeral service before the cremation, a memorial service at the time of cremation or after the cremation with the urn present, or a committal service at the final disposition of cremated remains. Funeral or memorial services can be held in a place of worship, a funeral home, or in a crematory chapel.

With cremation, your options are numerous. The cremains can be interred in a cemetery plot, i.e., earth burial, retained by a family member, usually in an urn, scattered on private property, or at a place that was significant to the deceased. (It would always be advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place — your funeral director can help you with this.) Today, there are many different types of memorial options from which to choose. Our staff knows that memorialization is a time-honored tradition that has been practiced for centuries. A memorial serves as a tribute to a life lived and provides a focal point for remembrance, as well as a record for future generations. The type of memorial you choose is a personal decision.

You might choose ground burial of the urn. If so, you may usually choose either a bronze memorial or a monument. Cremation niches in columbariums are also available at many cemeteries. They offer the beauty of a mausoleum setting with the benefits of above-ground placement of remains. Many cemeteries also offer scattering gardens. This area of a cemetery offers the peacefulness of a serene garden where family and friends can come and reflect.

If you wish to have your ashes scattered somewhere, it is important to discuss your wishes to be scattered ahead of time with the person or persons who will actually have to do the cremation ashes scattering ceremony, as they might want to let your funeral professional assist in the scattering ceremony. Funeral directors can also be very helpful in creating a meaningful and personal ash scattering ceremony that they will customize to fit your family's specific desires. The services can be as formal or informal as you like. Scattering services can also be public or private. Again, it is advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place; a funeral director can help you with this.

Depending upon the cemetery's policy, you may be able to save a grave space by having the cremains buried on top of the casketed remains of your spouse or utilize the space provided next to them. Many cemeteries allow for multiple cremation remains to be interred in a single grave space.