Are you currently faced with planning your own funeral? Or perhaps you are planning the funeral of a loved one and either you or your loved one has decided to be cremated. If that is so then you have made a good choice, however even though you have made the decision to be cremated, it helps to know what are your cremation options. Your options are many and the nice thing about it if you are planning for your own funeral, you can be sure that the power is in your hand on the way everything goes. If you are planning for a loved one then you also have the power to be sure that their cremation will go according to their wishes. In this article we will look at some of the options that you have.

When asking the question “what are your cremation options” then you also need to ask what it is that you want.

No memorial service and no grave side service:
simply put this is where the funeral home drives to the place where you or your loved one has passed away and takes the body back to the funeral home for cremation. Embalming is not necessary for the cremation process; after the process is complete the ashes are then given to the person authorizing the cremation process in an urn of their choice. No funeral or memorial service is given although if the family wishes to they can have a memorial service at a later date.

Do you want to have a viewing?
Some times this helps to bring closure to people’s grief process. Embalming is done and the person who has passed away is taken to the church or place of their choosing and a traditional funeral takes place. After the funeral the person is transported back to the funeral home and the cremation process takes place. This is a good choice if your religious or ethnic beliefs dictate having a viewing.

Having a cremation memorial service:
After the cremation has taken place then a memorial service is performed. This service is usually the same as a traditional funeral service minus the person who has passed away. There are many beautiful cremation memorial services preformed all the time usually they have a board with pictures celebrating the persons life and a service according to their religious preference.

A graveside service:
The grave side service is preformed if the person wishes to be buried next to loved ones or in a family plot. This type of service can also bring a piece of mind to family and friends knowing that their loved ones are all resting together.

Urn choice:
One of the last things you need to look at for knowing what are your cremation options is the urn that you choose. Many funeral homes have a wide assortment of urns for you to choose from and they vary in price. Another popular option is to have an urn that is made by family and those close to you. If you choose to make an urn just simply ask your self what was the person who has passed interested in, perhaps they were an animal lover, and if that is the case then your urn could be of their favorite animal.

As you can see when you ask the question “what are your cremation options” there are a lot of possibilities. Some times these questions are better made with family or those closest to you. Your local funeral home is always there to lend an understanding ear and to help with the hard questions.