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Reasons To Have A Memorial After Cremation Services

After you have cremation services in Bellevue, WA for a loved one, their needs are taken care of. You don’t have to do anything more, if you don’t want to. However, it is often nice to have some kind of memorial for the person who passed away. You might want closure over their death or a chance to say goodbye. Even if you already have that, it is often nice to gather with family and friends to honor the person who passed on. Here are a few reasons why you might want to plan that memorial service at some point.

Reason 1: It Just Feels Right

If you are having a traditional burial, you almost always have a funeral service to go along with it. Just because you choose cremation for your loved one, or they asked for it themselves previously, doesn’t mean you can’t have a service for them as well. It feels like the right thing to do to give your loved one a proper sendoff of some kind, whether that’s a memorial service that feels like a funeral or more a celebration of life.

Reason 2: It Ties Up Loose Ends

You don’t necessarily have control over how you feel and, even more so, how your family feels about your loved one’s death. Having a memorial can help you get the closure you need and give you and others a chance to say a final goodbye. While it’s not going to make moving on easy, it will feel like you have that loose end tied up so at least you are capable of making strides in that direction.

Reason 3: Your Loved One Deserves It

Your loved one was a special individual and they deserve all the honor and respect you can give them. While that doesn’t have to happen through a service, it certain can. You can create tribute videos, share pictures, talk over memories, and just remember their life for all it was worth—which is a lot.

Reason 4: To Gather With Family

Some families don’t have the opportunity to get together very often, but weddings and funerals are generally good excuses to gather everyone in one location. You are able to meet with your family, mourn together, support one another, and simply catch up when you plan a memorial service.

One of the benefits of choosing cremation services in Bellevue, WA for a loved one is that it takes the timeline away from any other service you might want to have. You can certainly have a service soon after the cremation takes place, if you want. But you can also wait and take your time with the planning to get things right, give family time to travel, or for any other reason. The professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory are here to help you make those plans, either right away or sometime in the future. We want you to honor your loved one in the way you see fit.

Talking To Family About Pre-Planning

You may already feel like it’s important to look into your future and make plans for your final services with funeral homes in Bellevue, WA. But knowing that and being able to talk to your family about it are two different things. It’s not always easy to take on hard topics with family members and when you are talking about your own death, there’s nothing easy about that.

Even if it’s a hard topic, if you are planning on making your arrangements in advance, you really should discuss it with your family. You might want to talk to them before you set up the plans, so you are able to get their input. Or, if you know what you want on every level, you can tell them what you’d like to have happen.

Even if you don’t know all of the details yet, it’s good to tell your family what you do know that you want first. Let them know that you want to be cremated or that you want a traditional burial. If you have ideas for a service, let them in on that as well. IF you have a budget in mind, that’s good to tell them, too. If you are paying ahead, though, that part doesn’t really matter too much for them. It’s good for them to hear what you want directly from you rather than finding out from the funeral home after you pass on and the plans need to take action. That will help them to believe that is really what you want.

You will also want to listen to your family. Your final services are all about you, but they also need to consider what your family might need to have the closure they need and the chance to say a final goodbye. They might have a concern or input as to things they might want to see happen.

Prepare yourself for possible emotions. When you talk about a time when you are no longer with your family, it might bring up emotions in you, them, or even both sides. It takes time to get used to that idea and your family might be emotional when faced with that thought.

You will want to stay as strong as you can in what you want and don’t let your family dissuade you. Once you come up with the plans you want and possibly get their input, you can visit with the professionals and get things set up in writing.

Whether you have already spoken with your family, or you just want to get information so you can be more prepared for that conversation, funeral homes in Bellevue, WA are here to help. Give Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory a call to ask questions or to set up a time you can come in and get some options laid out for you so you can look them over and start seriously thinking about what you want for your future plans, including your family needs.

What Cremation Items To Consider For Cremation Services

When you buy a package for cremation services in Tukwila, WA, either for a loved one who has passed on or for yourself in advance, there are lots of options on the table that can go along with the package. Keep in mind that the package is all you need. It comes with every service and even every product that you have to have for a cremation service. The deceased’s needs will be met, and they will be well cared for. However, some people like to add certain things to the package, and these are some of the items that most funeral homes will have on hand to show you in case you want some of those items.

Urns

This is the most popular item that people pair with a cremation service. While the funeral home will provide a simple container for the person’s ashes after cremation occurs, many people like to have something different—something more personal and special. The funeral home will have a variety of urns available and they can also tell you what size you need for the person in question. You don’t have to buy an urn from the funeral home, and they can direct you to good vendors who might have what you are looking for. But you can get good examples from the funeral home and you might even find what you want there.

Cremation Jewelry

It’s become very popular for people to have a small piece of their loved one with them well into the future. That can be done through cremation jewelry. These pieces come as necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other such items. The jewelry acts as a tiny urn and can hold a bit of cremated remains. They are often hearts, pendants, crosses, or other such shapes. It’s a nice way for someone to be held close by many different family members, if they so choose. The funeral home can show various options of these pieces as well and advise you as to where else you can get them.

Memorials

If you decide to scatter your loved one’s ashes, you won’t have a cemetery headstone and grave to go visit in the future. You might want something special that will remind you of your loved one that you can sit in a certain location. That might mean a stone bench that you can engrave with their name, a rock with a phrase and their name on it, or other such items. Funeral homes often have memorial ideas and products available for you to peruse.

If you are working on cremation services in Tukwila, WA, either for a loved one or yourself in advance, getting the package you want is a good place to start. Once that is in place, you have everything you need. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop there if there are other things you want. You can also get certain products that go along with cremation and the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory are here to help.

Options To Traditional Funeral Home Services

When someone passes on in a family, many people opt to have a traditional service at funeral homes in Tukwila, WA and that’s a wonderful option. However, some people want something different based on their loved one’s personality, the family needs, or other reasons. There are plenty of options you can have instead of a traditional funeral service. Here are a few to consider:

A Simple Burial Service

If you know your loved one wouldn’t want a big fuss made over them, but you want to honor their memory in some way or another, you could skip the funeral and just have a simple burial service at their grave. You can gather close family and friends, say a few words about your loved one, put some flowers on their casket, and say goodbye. This is a nice way to give everyone closure, but not make a big deal out of the services.

Have A Memorial Service

While it’s standard practice that when you bury a loved one, you have a funeral first, but that doesn’t have to be the way you do things. Instead, you can have a small burial service and then later, have a memorial for them when you have more time to plan something special. It’s nice to know that your loved one has been taken care of and after that, you can plan something that will honor their memory.

Go With Cremation

When you have cremation services for your loved one in a direct manner, there aren’t any services beforehand. There are no options for a traditional funeral with direct cremation, though you could have one with a full cremation. Instead, you can have whatever kind of service you want for them later. That might mean a small memorial service or something open to the public. It could even be something like a celebration of life, which can be a nice way to remember a life well-lived rather than gathering in sadness over a death.

If you want to honor your loved one, but you aren’t sure how, consider all of the options. These are just a few. You might not feel right about traditional funeral home services and that’s okay. They are wonderful options for certain people, but they aren’t right for everyone. The professionals want to offer you choices so that they can find things that work well for every family.

When you are ready to start planning, or you want some options to help you with direction, contact funeral homes in Tukwila, WA and get information on the services that interest you. The professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory want you to be able to honor your loved one in whatever way you see fit, whatever that might end up being. We can go over the various options with you and even brainstorm some ideas that are new so you can find something that truly suits your loved one and your family in all the right ways. We’re here for you the whole way through.

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