When the time comes that you are ready to make the funeral arrangements for your loved one there are number of different options that are available to you.
You can make an appointment to visit any of our six branch offices, which are situated locally for your convenience. The offices are open between 9.30am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, with the addition of 9am to 12Noon on Saturdays at our Watford Office. We suggest telephoning ahead to make an appointment, as we may be looking after another family when you arrive and there could be a wait.
If it is difficult for you to get to our offices during these times, due to work or you live a distance away, we can always begin to make arrangements via the telephone. This can help to start the process and get dates booked. There is paperwork that will need to be signed so you would have to attend an office, however that would be for a shorter time if everything is pre-booked. If you are unable to attend the office during the normal hours, we may be able to offer an appointment in the evening, this is subject to availability and there may be a small cost to do so.
A further option that is available is that if you are disabled or find it difficult to attend our offices we could come to your home to make the arrangements. We would bring our brochures and information to you, and look to organise the funeral from there, we would need to discuss suitable timings with you, so we suggest you contact our offices, as we may be able to make some of the arrangements beforehand. Our home arrangement service is subject to availability, and if outside of our normal hours may incur a cost.
Sometimes the most difficult part of making the funeral arrangements can be deciding all of the different elements and knowing if they were what your loved one would have wanted.
If your loved one had taken out a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan, they may have already made the big decisions for you, as well as putting in some specific details as well, such as music choices and service content.
If however they haven’t left you any instructions, and you did not have chance to discuss the funeral with them before they passed, it will become your decision and what you feel is the most appropriate and fitting tribute to their life.
When we start to take your arrangements we will guide you through each step and provide you with the different options available. Final decisions do not have to be made at this time, we can always come back to them afterwards, especially if you need time to discuss with others in the family.
One of the main decisions to make is when the funeral is to take place, and this predominantly has four factors that need to be considered.
The preferred date and time of the family – This can depend on when you feel you would like the funeral. If you have family that need to travel far to attend, or others who can only get certain time off work, or have reduced periods of childcare available to them. Some prefer to have an early morning funeral, to allow the day to begin with funeral, so that the rest of the day can be spent remembering the person together, other may choose late afternoons as that can allow more family, friends and colleagues to attend. Other choices such as specific dates, avoiding birthdays and anniversaries are also taken into consideration.
The availability of the service and committal location – It is important to ensure that there is availability at the Church/Service Hall and/or the Crematorium or Cemetery. It is important to find times where a separate service works alongside the committal, similarly burials in the winter must be undertaken by a certain time, so that the grave can be filled before darkness falls.
The availability of the Minister, Officiant or Celebrant who will be taking the service – Some ministers who have other obligations within their parish may only have certain times they can do. For funerals that wish to hold a mass at a Catholic Church, these may only be availability at specific times.
Our services – As the funeral director we can normally work around the availability of all of the other parties, however on occasion we may not be able to conduct the funeral, and may have to bring in additional staff and vehicles for which there may be an additional charge.
Some families may choose to have a funeral on a Saturday or Sunday. These options are subject to the availability of the Cemetery or Crematorium. There will be additional charges for weekend funeral from the crematoria and from us.
When deciding on the content of the funeral the main options that need to be considered are:
Whether you wish for Cremation or Burial?
There are a number of different Crematoriums available in the local area, with differing size chapels and availability of service times. Other decisions to make with a cremation are whether you wish to have the ashes scattered at the crematorium, scattered or buried somewhere else or to retain them at home. A number of different receptacles and bespoke pieces are available as well as the traditional urns and caskets.
There are options with regards to burials also, whether in a churchyard, traditional, lawn, green or woodland cemetery or upon your own land. There are a number of parameters and regulations regarding burials and we are able to help and provide advice with regards to residential and non-residential plots and the corresponding costs.
Whether the funeral is a religious or non-religious service?
You will need to decide whether the funeral service is to have religious content, and specifically which faith it should be. We are happy to inform you of who your loved one’s local parish minister is if you are unsure, or if there is one that you would prefer to use specifically we can check their availability for you. When deciding on a religious service there is also the decision of whether you wish to have a service in church before the committal, a memorial service after the committal, or a religious ceremony at the crematorium or cemetery, (in the cemetery chapel if available or at the graveside).
If you feel that a non-religious or civil service would be more appropriate, we have details of both Civil Celebrants and Humanists who will conduct the service with different content, based on your wishes.
Alternatively you might prefer for a member of the family or a close friend to take the service. We would be happy to discuss the options with you and assist in making recommendations if we can.
Whether you have a traditional or contemporary funeral?
With a large variety of options available now it is easy to make the funeral arrangements of your loved one specific to them, whilst maintaining the traditions and virtues that a funeral should be.
The traditional choices of horse-drawn carriages or motor hearse, can be changed for alternatives such as motorcycle and sidecar or Land Rover hearses. The tradition of a wooden coffin or casket can be varied for an environmentally friendly or bespoke colourful coffin. Hymns and Classical music can be altered for Contemporary pieces or bagpipers and soloists. A dove release or charitable donation collection may be preferable to flowers.
We endeavour to provide as much information regarding the options available to you through our Funeral Services Brochure and on this website, however if there is something specific that we are not showing that you have seen somewhere else, please do not hesitate to ask us to find out more for you.
What you would like to provide for those attending the funeral?
It is not only the close family that are allowed to travel in the cortege to the service, you can provide transportation for distant and elderly family, neighbours and friends and even staff and carers that may have looked after your loved one during the later stages of their life. We are happy to provide a variety of transport for the funeral for everyone. This can mean that you do not need to worry about driving, following the cortege or parking on the day. It is also nice to have family together at this already difficult time.
In additional other areas to think about are whether you wish to provide the mourners with service sheets to follow the service. Whether you wish to provide those in attendance with memorial or remembrance cards.
It is also important to think about holding a reception or gathering after the service. We can provide details of caterers that can look after all of the arrangements at your home or in a church hall or local venue.
These choices can also help when discussing a funeral before the person has passed, or if you are considering taking out a pre-paid funeral plan.
The Cost and Payment of the Account
Our arrangers will discuss all of the options that are available to you and will provide the relevant costs of each item as they go through them. We are happy to assist in fulfilling your wishes, however it is important to ensure that the funeral is within the budget available to you.
One of the main fears people face when having to make funeral arrangements is “How much is it going to cost?” and “How can we afford it?” This can weigh heavy on someone’s mind, especially in cases where the death is sudden or unexpected, or at the death of a younger person when provision for funeral expenses have not yet been made. As with every part of the Funeral we are here to help. It is not in our interest to offer, sell or provide anything which may be beyond anyone’s financial limits.
Our own policy is not to ask for payment of our charges until the funeral has taken place, although we do ask that you provide funds to cover all disbursements such as the Crematoria fees, Minister and Officiant Fees, Medical Certificate fees, provision of printing and flowers that we pay on your behalf prior to the funeral. The payment of disbursements prior to the funeral conforms to National Guidelines on policy and procedure.
We are happy to provide a pre-payment discount to those who would prefer to settle the funeral account at least two working days prior to the funeral taking place, and those details are available from your funeral arranger.
We are also happy to provide details with regards to payments available from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for anyone who is claiming or entitled to benefits. For more details please click on the link. Please note that the DWP may not be able to cover all of the funeral costs and you will be responsible for the remainder.
Details for the DWP Social Fund Claims for Funeral Expenses »
