Bury Zone

Vanessa asked:


Limousines and limo hire are typically associated with weddings and funerals, unfortunately these are also the only two times when many families get together. While limo hire has come a long way from being used just for family occasions and is now equally likely to be transporting a girls’ night out as it is to be a part of prom night celebrations, this doesn’t mean that limo hire shouldn’t still be an important part of a funeral.

Funeral limo hire of course fulfils the practical function of transporting close family members to and from the funeral ceremony, to and from the cemetery or burial site, and then to and from the wake. However, limo hire can also help to ease the pain and stress associated with a funeral by allowing family members to lend love and support to one another, rather than spending time worrying about where the right entrance is for the church or whether they will all arrive at the cemetery at the same time.

Limo hire hands over the stresses of driving, traffic, car parks, funeral convoys and schedules to your chauffeur, and gives you and your family a chance to focus on saying goodbye to a loved one. You and your close family members can chat, cry, hug and reminisce in the privacy and comfort of your chauffeur driven limousine – private from the outside world behind your tinted limo windows, and private from your attentive, but never nosy chauffeur behind the glass divider.

To hire a funeral limo, or a convoy of limos, first choose a limousine hire company which specialises in funeral limo hire. This is important to ensure respect and quality of service throughout from an experienced limo hire company, and to put your mind at ease that if you have overlooked a detail in the organisation of the funeral, your limo hire company will point it out and rectify it for you – they’ve done this many times before.

When organising your funeral limo hire, also do a careful head count of the family members you want to transport in the limo convoy, and consult with your limo hire company about the best size of limo, or limos, to transport everyone comfortably, while maintaining family groups, parents with children, siblings together and so on.

Organising the funeral of a loved one is the last time you want any added stress in your life, and in choosing quality limo hire services you are guaranteed to reduce at least some of the stress and worry surrounding the loss of a family member. 

Jerry R. Guy asked:


As a funeral director for nearly thirty years, I’m often asked by the public, why funeral and burial costs are getting so expensive. This question is one that I expect to continue to hear for the remainder of my career as I believe we are only at the beginning of a price explosion for these types of services.

In my opinion, the future of funeral and burial expenses will be dictated by one word,

“cremation.” As more and more people choose cremation for final disposition there will be a direct correlation in price increases for those who choose a traditional ground burial I believe.

Funeral homes and cemeteries are like any other business in most respects. These entities have the same operating expenses as others. Most firms operate on tight budgets with payroll, utilities, insurance, etc, again like any typical expense a business would have. In many cases these facilities operating expenses are much higher in areas like payroll as funeral homes for example must staff their business twenty four hours a day, seven days a week,. in many cases. Overhead expenses continue to rise and for many funeral facilities and cemeteries while revenues continue to decrease due to cremation.

When you think about it, really it’s no mystery why cremation is having this effect on traditional costs. Usually (but not always) with cremation, no casket or burial vault is purchased and quite often no formal funeral services are handled by the chosen facility.These items would normally accommodate some of the facilities overhead expenses. When they are not purchased however, this greatly effects how overhead costs would be spread out over a firm’s total volume of business each year. Because of increased competition from cremation societies and other facilities offering discount cremation services, to remain competitive price wise, traditional funeral facilities have nowhere else to cover these costs but through those families choosing traditional ground burial services. This is the real reason caskets, burial vaults, cemetery and funeral service charges are rising so fast and not just “greedy funeral directors” as the uninformed would have you believe.

Do funeral homes and cemeteries make a profit? Sure they do, but most funeral homes and cemeteries profit margins are actually very small compared to other industries. Those who would disagree simply are either uninformed and/or not being realistic to what is happening in the death care industry. Many times those who are usually touting “greed” in the death care industry to the public, are only doing so in order to sell their own products, leaving funeral facilities and cemeteries less opportunity to spread out these costs. This in truth is actually accelerating the rise in funeral costs, ultimately for everyone in my opinion.

My advice to anyone concerned about rising funeral costs is to consider preplanning.

Talk with your funeral facility of choice about current options they may offer to freeze or lower these costs. Many offer options that will do just that and ultimately provide for a lower cost and less stressful funeral.

Jerry R. Guy asked:


Making funeral plans can be a very stressful event. Many things must be considered and decisions made. This usually comes at a time when most people are at their worst, mentally.

Today, it is not uncommon for traditional funeral and burial costs to be well over $10,000+ in many areas of the United States, and these costs continue to rise fast! This is due in large part, to the rapid increase in cremation rates over

the past few years. As a result, many families are finding it difficult to pay these expenses. This makes an already difficult time much harder for the family.

As an active licensed funeral director with over 28 years funeral service experience, I have personally assisted thousands of families in making funeral plans for a loved one. While some were prepared, unfortunately in my experiences, most were not and finances was usually the key issue.

One way to avoid this problem is to consider prearranging funeral services. Many funeral homes and cemeteries now offer programs that allow you to preplan funeral and burial arrangements. In some cases, they will even freeze your costs for these services. As a funeral director, I strongly

urge anyone to consider looking into these options at your facility of choice. This one thing alone could potentially save you thousands of dollars as funeral prices continue to escalate.

Another way is to become educated about the process of funeral planning. There is an abundance of material available on this subject and much of it is free for the asking. Contact your funeral facility of choice, most will

be happy to send you educational material that could possibly save you thousands of dollars when the time of need arises and hopefully make that time less stressful.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Although a career in funeral homes may not sound too appealing and not many would necessarily opt for it, funeral jobs are actually one of the best paying jobs you would encounter. Here we provide you with some worthwhile facts you need to know about working for funeral homes.

When considering this, one of the best deals that you could get is to be a funeral director. This type of job has a very competitive salary to offer. On the other hand, having this type of job may demand that you relocate to be able to fill in the position. You have to take into account that death rates are actually increasing every year worldwide. However although this industry may prove to expanding, its job growth is much slower that other industries compared but a good side to this is that when you manage to get a job in this type of industry, it is noted to be one of the most stable jobs.

The industry would keep on no matter. This is for the reason that as the world population increases so is the death rate. In this case also, one of the most in demand jobs would have to be the embalmers. Embalmers are one of the toughest jobs in the funeral industry.

As we said, funeral jobs are one the best paying jobs around, in this case the average salary of a funeral director is approximately $43,000 as of the year 2002. For more, almost fifty percent of the funeral jobs have annual incomes that range from $33,000 to $59,000. There are only a few workers who earn $25,000 a year. In the case of the upper 10% of these employees, they earn by as much as $85,000 for a year. The compensation for the funeral directors usually differs when it comes to the years of work experience. The number of services performed is also another factor that affects one’s salary.

There are also other factors that could affect your salary in the funeral industry, these are as follows: geographical location, as well the facilities of the funeral service, how large the community the funeral service is catering to, and the level of educational background the funeral directo. With this, it is of course evident that those funeral homes that are located and is catering to big cities have their employees with larger salaries than those located and is catering to small ones.

Like in any other job, when you opt for a funeral employment there are also requirements that would be asked for you to accomplish. In the case of the funeral directors they must first acquire a license in the area that they operate in. Licensure exams are usually taken after formal education. If you plan to transfer to another area it is best to take a look into the licensure exams where they could work. There are other funeral jobs that you could take a look into. These are: transportation of the deceased, preparing the remains, performing ceremonies depending on course of disposing the remains of the deceased, spiritual needs of the family, and the religion of the deceased. Doing obituary notices and arranging burials are also part of these funeral opportunities that you might want to consider.

Gwendolyn Ladd asked:


Funerals and the many customs associated with marking the passing of a loved one allow people to express sadness over their loss. During times of grief and change, people often turn to different forms of art to help them heal and to express their pain. Usually, a close friend or family member is asked to deliver a memorial speech, also called a eulogy

to honor the deceased. Today, a eulogy can take the form of a speech, a letter and even a poem. Writing a funeral poem as part of a eulogy, to display at the visitation or for your own comfort allows you to use the art of language to convey what you’re feeling.

Writing a funeral poem

If you choose to write a funeral poem, decide first who the poem will be shared with. Will the poem be for your own personal use or will it be for a group of people sharing the loss of a loved one? If the poem is a private expression to help you address your own feelings, you can be more liberal in what you write. Private verses allow you to be completely open about how the deceased’s passing makes you feel. This personal type of poetry allows you to write about more intimate or private memories that you may not be comfortable sharing with others. Don’t feel that you have to write what others want to hear – just be honest in your writing and people will appreciate your thoughts and words. If you’ve decided to share your poem with others, be sure to consider the thoughts and feelings of others as you write.

Gathering your thoughts

After you’ve decided the purpose and audience of your poem, take some quiet time to let your thoughts flow. Think about the memories you have of your friend or family member – your fondest times spent together, their personality, passions and life achievements. Don’t feel hampered by rhyme structures or worry about your writing skills – simply let the word come; a funeral poem that takes the form of a verse, a letter or a speech is perfectly suitable.

Delivering a funeral poem

Usually, a funeral poem is read during the funeral service. If you choose to deliver your poem during the service, bring a copy of the poem to read from. Trying to memorize touching words while you’re coping with a host of emotions is very difficult. It can be even harder to remember the words if your voice falters or if you’re uncomfortable speaking in front of a group. Be sure to write legibly in large type and take some time to review the poem carefully several times.

You may prefer not to read your poem aloud, but still share it with others. Consider writing out the poem and displaying it in a frame at the visitation. Many funeral homes offer memorial pamphlets to mourners. Heartfelt words can be a touching addition to any funeral program or pamphlet and are often kept as mementos.

If you’ve chosen to write a funeral poem just for yourself you can preserve the poem in a frame on its own or behind a picture. Some families choose to place a memorial announcement in their local newspaper a year after the loved one’s passing. This is another option if you feel more comfortable sharing your writing after some time has passed.

Inspiration

If you’re not sure where to begin, we suggest reading a few of the classic poems below. Some of these poems are about loss and grieving and others are about honoring life. They can be used as inspiration, or can be read at the funeral if you’re having difficulty putting your own thoughts into words.

• Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep – Mary Frye

• All is Well – Henry Scott Holland

• Death, Be Not Proud – John Donne

• The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• The Oak – Alfred Lord Tennyson

• No Coward Soul is Mine – Emily Bronte

• Remember – Christina Rossetti

• A Parable of Immortality – Henry Van Dyke

Funeral poems are a very personal expression of your loss. While they can be touching and comforting for others to hear, thoughts and emotions can also be difficult to capture on paper. Talk to other people who were close to the departed if you need inspiration for your poem – this will help inspire you and allow you to share your memories with others.

Jerry R. Guy asked:


Prepaid funerals have been around for years now and have received a lot of bad and unfair press in my opinion. This is due to the targeting and sensationalism of those isolated incidents we’ve all heard about, where funeral home and cemetery owners have either disappeared or otherwise stolen funds that people have paid in advance for services and/or merchandise. Unfortunately, often these stories and reports are only being over promoted to sell books, newspapers, etc. by those who really have no concept of what preneed funeral planning really is I believe. Sadly the very people who promote this blanket negativity are in actuality only doing so to serve their own agendas in many cases, thereby harming the very people who need this protection most by using these and other “scare tactics.”

The truth is that in most all states now safeguards have been put in place to make sure that people who do preneed planning and prepay for funeral related services are protected. Is there opportunity for abuse in this area? Yes, but the reality is no more so than any other industry or profession where the same standards and opportunities for abuse would apply.

As a funeral director for nearly three decades, I’ve witnessed many changes in how preneed funeral plans were made and funded. In the early years of preneed funeral planning many funeral facilities, cemeteries, etc, would take prepaid funds and open accounts in local banks to be held in escrow until the time of need. This was the standard procedure for most in the funeral industry and set the stage for the abuses mentioned earlier. As time has gone by and due to abuses of this practice by the unscrupulous, other means of safeguarding those funds have been developed. Most firms now use insurance funding for those wishing to prepay for these services. The value of this method is that in most all cases the funds are placed in the purchasers name and controlled entirely by the purchaser. This provides the ultimate protection in that funeral providers have no access or control over these prepayments and most reputable facilities prefer it that way. The consumer is at no more risk of losing these funeral funds than with any other life insurance policies they may have in my opinion.

I have through my many years in the funeral industry assisted countless families in preplanning and often prefunding funeral services and merchandise. I have been privileged to serve these same families again when the death occurred. I have seen firsthand the value of not only preplanning but also prefunding for these families as in many cases it has meant savings of thousands of dollars in funeral expenses. In all my years in the death care industry I have never had a family tell me they were sorry they preplanned OR prefunded these services. On the other hand, I have had many families to tell me that they wish they had!

I urge anyone considering making preneed funeral and/or cemetery arrangements to really consider prefunding. Many firms offer price freeze and other benefits that are worth looking in to. The saving in many cases can be substantial and risks minimal.

If you’re still skeptical, contact your state’s funeral board and insurance commissioner to learn what safeguards you have when doing this type of prefunding. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re really at very little risk of losing any money now days and the benefits of doing this in advance are immeasurable for those you leave behind.

Last but not least, be wary of those advising you not to consider prefunding. Chances are great it will be an attempt to sell you something you really don’t need. Get advice from those you trust and make your decisions based on that. It is really the best way to assure lower cost and less stressful funeral planning.

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