The arrangement for the funeral can be done either at our premises or your home, depending on what feels more comfortable to you. Our Funeral Consultant will go through with you and your family, step by step, all aspects of the funeral.
Wattle Range Funerals endeavour to tailor a service that reflects the needs of the family whilst paying respect to the deceased, within a budget suited to you. At the conclusion of the arrangement you will be given an estimate sheet with the breakdown of all costs. This estimate in fact will be very close to the final total with the difference generally being cost of newspaper notices. You will also be given confirmation of the funeral arrangements. You can contact a consultant anytime you wish to discuss, confirm or alter arrangements.
Newspaper Notices
Your Funeral Consultant can help you word these or you may want to write something by yourself, either way we can put these notices into the paper for you.
Example:
SMITH Edna Everage
Passed away peacefully on 27th March 2007
Dearly loved wife of John.
Much loved and loving mother and mother-in-law of
Bob & Ethel, Richard & May and Fred & June.
Adored and devoted Granny of Ben, Jenny, Henry, Frank and Tess.
She never failed to do her best,
Her heart was true and tender
She simply lived for those she loved
And those she loved remember.
This is just one example of a death notice, sometimes people may want to add some words that reflect either their feelings or the personality of their loved one, or a photo. There is no right or wrong way to write a notice. Writing a funeral notice can sometimes be therapeutic. Most funeral notices tend to follow a pattern, advising people of the service, where it is, what time and any other details such as; which cemetery (if the service is a burial) and donations to a charity. Your funeral consultant will advise you of the wording of this.
Jewellery and Personal Possessions
Occasionally when people come into our care they may have jewellery or other personal possessions on them. Your consultant will ask if you wish jewellery to remain on your loved one or to have this removed and returned to the family. Sometimes families wish for items to be left on until after the viewing.
Preparation of the Deceased
Once your loved one comes into our care we will prepare them for you to visit if you wish, by means of dressing, hair and embalming. Sometimes it’s helpful if we are provided with a photo of the deceased to enable us to ensure we have the right look. You might want to consider dressing your loved one in clothing that you are used to seeing them in, including glasses. We can organize a time for family and friends if you wish to attend a viewing and spend some time saying goodbye.
Funeral Officiants
A funeral can be officiated by either, Clergy or a Civil Celebrant. On rare occasions family decide to run proceedings themselves, but at this sad time many find this hard to do without support. Our staff can assist you in this matter.
Music for the Service
Music has become an important part of a funeral service. Often family choose pieces that were enjoyed by their loved one or a reflection of their personality. Music can be in the form of a CD and at Wattle Range Funerals we have a large library to select from. Families can also choose to have live music played; a piper for the Scotsman or a violin or harp for the classical music lover. Your Funeral Consultant can assist you in choosing music pieces if family are finding it difficult.
Funeral Stationery
Some wish to have a keepsake from the funeral, we can help you with this in the form of memorial cards or bookmarks, these items can have your loved ones photo on or just a picture they would have liked. Details of the deceased and their family are normally printed in these and sometimes a nice poem or readings for reflection.
A memorial book is a keepsake for the family. All family and friends that attend print their name in this and it’s quite often nice for the family to look back at this book to see who had attended, because on the day it’s not only hard to get to talk to everyone, but hard to remember who attended.
Floral Tributes
Floral tributes are a way of the family paying respect to their loved one, these flowers are traditionally placed on top of the coffin. Your funeral consultant will help you select a floral tribute which best suits your loved one..
After a burial service the flowers would normally go to the cemetery with the coffin and are placed on the grave. After a cremation the flowers can either go with the coffin to the crematorium or we can deliver them to a Nursing Home.
Charitable Donations
These days families quite often don’t want to receive flowers after a loved one has passed and opt to invite people to make a donation in their loved ones memory to a foundation. These choices are quite often related to what was was near and dear to their loved one, an illness the deceased or a family member may have suffered or be suffering or something they think may be a worthy cause.
Other Memorabilia
There are many items that can be displayed around a lounge area or the front of a chapel that relates to the deceased. A hobby such as painting, writing, fishing or anything that the person may have liked doing. The possibilities are endless.
On The Day
On the day your Funeral Consultant will ensure that all the details you discussed in the arrangement will occur as requested. Your Consultant will support you and your family and advise you again of the proceedings and guide you through this.