Funeral or Memorial Service - Which Should You Pick

1. Funeral or Memorial Service - Which Should You Pick? Many a times, people confuse a funeral for a memorial service. Although, both aim to help people cope with the loss of their loved ones, they’re not one and the same. Let’s take a brief look at how the two are different and help you understand what works for you. A typical funeral service always has the body of the deceased, except under special circumstances where the body isn’t available. Family of the deceased can choose to have a closed on an open casket funeral based on financial feasibility. Here the body of the deceased is intact and soon after people have viewed the embalmed or refrigerated body, the actual funeral takes place where the casket is lowered into the ground. A memorial service, on the other hand, does not require the body of the deceased. One can may respects even in the presence of the deceased’s ashes in cremation containers. Unlike a funeral, a memorial service can take place at a later date which gives the family of the deceased the time to get together for a memorial. Family members that live away can also keep small amounts of ashes in small keepsake cremations urns as a way to honor them. Holding a memorial service at a later date is growing to become the more popular option since it gives people the time to accommodate the event into their schedule. It is especially convenient to mourn for those that have the ashes of their dearly departed in family cremation urns like in brass urns or any other metal urn. Either way, both methods work to commemorate the life lived by the deceased individual. We hope this article has helped you gain some clarity on the differences. If you’ve lost a loved one we offer you our heartfelt condolences.