Burial or Cremation?

Guidance on final disposition is one of the cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL. This is one of the end-of-life decisions that you should make before you die. Not only do you need to make sure you’ve got powers of attorney for medical and financial oversight set up, as well as a will or revocable trust, before you die, but you also need to discuss your funeral plans with your loved ones and let them know what you want. This is an incredible gift that each of us can give to our families because they won’t have the additional stress of making this decision, and can instead focus on grieving and healing.

Cremations and burials are the two most common funeral options. Each option has many avenues that will keep your memory alive and give your family comfort after your death.

Burials generally include funeral visitations, funeral services, graveside ceremonies, and burials underground. Visitations are usually held a couple of hours before funeral services, while gravesite ceremonies are held – often the next day – at the cemetery plot where the burial will be.

Burials will include embalming if there will be a viewing as part of the funeral visitation, but embalming is not necessary if you decide not to have a viewing during the visitation. The body will be stored at exceptionally cold temperatures to delay deterioration.

Burials have, until recently, been very traditional in American culture. In many communities where generations of people are born and die there, family or church cemeteries abound and burials are expected to be the final means of disposition.

Funeral burials offer a lot of advantages. First, most religions accept and prefer underground burials. Underground burials in cemeteries also provide families with a physical location where they can go to visit after their loved one has died. Headstones or grave markers placed on the graveside offer a tangible and long-lasting monument to the deceased’s memory.

There are also some disadvantages to burials. If you don’t have cemetery plots already purchased, have a church or family cemetery where burial plots are free to members, or are eligible to be buried in a national cemetery, then cemetery plots will have to be purchased.

Another disadvantage of burials is that they are permanent and in one location. Therefore, if family members who don’t live close by want to visit the cemetery, they have to make arrangements to travel there (and perhaps, if they live far away, making lodging arrangements). If a family moves to another location and decides they want to move the grave site, which can be done, the logistics can be complicated and the cost can be very high.

Cremations can be direct (no funeral service, with the option of a memorial service later), or they can include a visitation (with or without a viewing) and a funeral service, after which cremation happens.

With cremations, you have many options for the cremains. They can be buried underground (for instance, spouses who have a spouse already buried), stored in a columbarium (a memorial headstone is placed in the niche where the urn is stored), buried in a cemetery’s urn garden (a well-manicured section of the cemetery that is specifically designated for burying urns with cremains), or put into wearable jewelry to keep your deceased loved one close by.

For more information about cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can call us today at (850) 627-1111.