Once you figure out that you want cremation services in West Seattle, WA for a loved one who has passed on, you open the door to a myriad of other options. You can have whatever kind of memorial service you want to have whenever you want. You can also do whatever you’d like with your loved one’s remains. The options are completely open, but there are reasons to consider placing your loved one in a cemetery. You might bury their remains there in an urn, or look into scattering their ashes in that location. Here are some good things about putting cremated ashes in the cemetery for a final resting place.

The Resting Place Is Honorable

Many places you might consider for a final resting place are honorable, but there might be other locations that are a little more questionable. If you want honor for your loved one, you know you can get it from the cemetery burial process. It’s an acceptable location and you will feel that you are leaving your loved one somewhere safe and secure.

Loved Ones Can Visit Any Time

There are some locations that loved ones can’t visit, or may not feel like your loved one is present any longer. For example, if you keep your loved one in an urn within your home, your family would have to arrange a time with you for them to come by. If you scatter ashes in a park, your family might not feel like your loved one is there. But if you place your loved one in a cemetery, family can visit any time. They can stop by during visiting hours whenever they want to think about your loved one or honor them in some way or another.

It’s Affordable

While it’s free to do some things, like keep your loved one’s remains, or bury them in your family garden, or even scatter them in certain locations, cemetery burials aren’t as costly as you might think. It can cost quite a bit to bury someone after a funeral, but urns are much smaller and take smaller plots and less work for the burial process. They are going to cost less and can be quite affordable.

Remains Are Safe

Placing your loved one in the cemetery after their cremation means they are going to be safe and secure, which can mean a lot to you as well. They are in a managed location and they aren’t going to be bothered. You can have peace of mind over that fact and it can help you to move forward with your life confidently.

There are options for your loved one’s remains after cremation services in West Seattle, WA, but if you are considering cemetery options, that’s an honorable, respectful way to go. The professionals can help you go through the choices to take your time deciding the best option for your loved one and the rest of your family. They are there to help you.

When a loved one passes on, you might be in charge of their final services. The first thing you are going to want to do is to decide between a funeral and cremation services in Bellevue, WA for that person. If you go with cremation, direct cremation is the most popular way to go. That means that cremation happens soon after the person died without any services beforehand. But you can still have a memorial service after the fact. While all your loved one needs are the cremation package, your family might feel the need for the memorial service. It can help with the grieving process. Here are a few reasons why.

1-Access Closure

One thing that everyone who is grieving will need in order to move forward is a closure over the death. You need to recognize that your loved one has died and is not coming back. Perhaps you access that closure, but your family members have not. A memorial service can give them the feeling they need to move forward. That closure is an important part of the grieving process overall.

2-Say Goodbye

It’s also important to your grieving process to say goodbye to your loved one in your own way. Some people can get that through writing a letter or on their own. Others will be able to say it through a memorial service. These services can be customized in any way you see fit and they can really help your family members to move forward after saying that goodbye.

3-Have Support

Your family will need to support one another during this hard time. When you have a memorial service, you are going to have that time together. You will gather at the same time and be in one place with one another. That can help you to commiserate, remind each other of those family connections, and get what you need from one another.

4-Honor Your Loved One

Even if you feel like you have what you need to move forward, giving your loved one a memorial can be something you want to do to honor their life and their memory. It’s a nice way to give them the send-off you feel they deserve. Memorial services are a nice way to do that because you can do whatever you want for that event. You can customize them in any way and do something that feels somber, like a funeral, or something more celebratory, like a life celebration. You will want to do something your family appreciates and something your loved one would have liked as well.

If you decide to have cremation services in Bellevue, WA for someone in your family who has passed on, the cremation package is all you have to have in order to meet their needs. However, having a memorial service for your loved one can also meet family needs to get closure, say goodbye, and simply honor that loved one. It also brings you together so you can support one another through the process.

You may have been through the grief process at some point or another. You know that there’s really nothing anyone can do to take away your pain. But at the same time, you also know that support from your friends meant a lot. When a friend of yours loses a loved one, there are things you can do to reach out and support them, whether you are close by or not. The cremation services in Tukwila, WA are going to be hard on your friend, and showing your support can only help them to remember there are people around who care deeply about them. Here are some reasons to go with a care package.

You Are Thinking Of Them

When someone you care about is going through a hard time, they are on your mind. When you think of your loved one, you might want to consider what you can do to help them out. Many people are going to reach out with flowers or cards, but you can go another step and customize a care package for them. They will know you are thinking of them through the items you choose for them.

You Have Ideas

It’s easy enough to send a card or flowers and your friend will appreciate the gesture no matter what you do to reach out to them. However, if you have ideas for a care package of items that your friend would appreciate, it’s a nice direction to take. You might know what their favorite candle scent is and what kind of shampoo they use. You might also know their taste in books and what they do to relax. Taking that knowledge and placing it into a gift basket can help them to recognize just how much you care.

Show Support From Afar

Your friend might be someone you got close to in college and then, you went your separate ways, but you stayed in touch and remained close and in contact. No matter how far you are away from your friend, you can show your support to them during a hard time with a care package. You can order things and have them sent or you can put the package together yourself and mail it to them. There are good ways to show support from a distance and this is one thing that can really make them feel good about your relationship.

To Add A Smile To Their Face

It can be hard to feel good when you lose a loved one. You might know that all too well. When your friend gets a care package from you and sees how much time and effort you put into your choices, it might just make them smile and appreciate your relationship that much more. Making them feel cared for and loved for even just a few minutes can make the whole effort worth your time.

Cremation services in Tukwila, WA are hard for anyone, but death care packages can help your friend feel your support, even from a distance.

When a loved one passes away, that person is gone, but their memory is going to live on within you and your family members. Having a memorial after their cremation services in Tukwila, WA is a nice way to start in honoring them, but you can memorialize then in other ways as well. Here are a few ways to honor your loved one with a memorial action after the cremation services are behind you.

Start A Website For Them

If you are technologically gifted, one thing you might do for your loved one is to have a website placed for them. You can create a website that others can post onto and enjoy the results as they come in. People can put up pictures, type out memories, share birthday greetings when your loved one’s day rolls around, and so on. This website is something you can look at and comment on whenever you want to think about them. It can be a nice tribute for your family members to enjoy as well.

Create A Scrapbook

Some people enjoy putting together crafty items and you could gather pictures and other small mementoes and create a scrapbook to look over in the future. You can flip through the book whenever you want to think about your loved one and take it to family events to share with other people as well. It’s a nice memorial to them, and something you can enjoy as well.

Gather Memories From Family To Write Up

You have certain special memories of your loved one and others in your family do as well. You might take some time, emailing or writing to family members, and asking them to share memories with you. You could compile those memories into a book of your own and distribute it to family. Whenever anyone wants to think about their loved one, they can read through the memories and appreciate the person they love and miss.

Start New Rituals In Their Honor

While it can feel good to do some of the things you used to enjoy doing with your loved one, you are going to have to find a new sense of normality in your life as well. You might want to start some new rituals, so you are able to honor them in a new way. Consider going to the charity where they volunteered and take their slot. Set a place for them at the table and share stories about them at the holidays. These new rituals can honor them well into the future.

Plant A Tree At Your Home

Your loved one meant a lot to your life and it’s nice to have a memorial to them right there in your yard. Plant a tree for your loved one and you can have a new life coming from the memories you have of them. You will think of them when you see the tree and feel like you are honoring them by having that new life nearby after their cremation services in Tukwila, WA.

There are a lot of myths and pieces of misinformation around cremation services in Seattle, WA, and some people turn away from cremation because of those items. However, you need to know that any kind of cremation services are completely regulated and there are a lot of processes in place. It can help you to understand how things operate and make you feel better about considering the process for your loved one, or even for yourself as part of a pre-plan. Here are some of the regulations that are in place.

The Crematory Leaves No Ashes Behind

One of the concerns a lot of people have is that their loved one’s ashes will be mixed with other people’s remains. That’s something that can’t happen because crematories leave no ashes behind in the crematory between uses. The remains are completely taken out and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned. You don’t have to worry about having someone else’s remains, even in part, mixed in with your loved one. What you receive is only your loved one, through and through.

Bodies Aren’t Cremated With Certain Materials

You might want to send your loved one into cremation with certain items, like their wedding ring, their glasses, or jewelry items. However, people cannot be cremated with certain materials, like metal. You can send letters, family photos, and some other things with them, but metallic and other materials aren’t possible. If you really want them to have things like their wedding ring, let the cremation process happen and then place the ring into the urn with your loved one’s remains. You are able to reunite them with those special items.

Records Are Highly Important

There’s a paperwork trail and records involved with every cremation and they are highly important to any provider. Those records are accurate and can help you to maintain a semblance of normalcy with the process. You can also rest assured that the records are kept private so you aren’t releasing personal information in any way, either. These records can help to show you that the cremation providers are organized and keep everything in order.

Identity Is Checked Regularly

Could your loved one be mixed up with someone else who is also waiting for cremation? No, not really. Identity is checked at several stages of the cremation process so you can have peace of mind that it’s your loved one who is being cremated and returned to you. There’s a process in place and that can help you to recognize the crematory knows just what they are doing.

Quality Containers Are Required For Remains

You can use a variety of items for your loved one’s remains after direct cremation services in Seattle, WA. The only requirement is that they have to be quality containers to protect your loved one. The professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory can help you find an urn or another container that can protect your loved one, and be something you appreciate functionally and aesthetically. They are here for you to help you through every aspect of the process from start to finish.

When a loved one passes away over the winter months, of course you have options as to what you might want to do for them. However, cremation services in Bellevue, WA might be the easier way to go. Here are a few reasons why cremation services work so well in the winter, in addition to other times of the year.

The Ground Is Rather Hard

Burying a loved one during the winter months can be hard because the ground is, well, so hard. Once those hard freezes hit, the ground is hard to penetrate. The cemetery has ways of getting burials to happen either way, but if you are going to bury your loved one after cremation in your own garden, you might want to wait until an easier time. With cremation, you can wait for that final resting place until the spring months. The burial process can be more beautiful at that time as well, since you can plant new flowers around their final resting place right away.

Traveling Can Be Dangerous

Snow and ice are an imminent danger during the winter months in this area of the country. You never know when the skies are going to drop several inches of the white stuff on your city. And, if it does and you happen to have a memorial service planned, it can be dangerous for your loved ones (even those who are local!) to travel to the funeral home for the services. Instead of taking those chances, you can go with cremation and put off the memorial for a spring month that will more likely be pleasant, and safe, at the same time.

Outside Temperatures Are Uncomfortable

Sometimes you want to do something outside, at least in part, for your loved one’s final services. In the winter, the outside temperatures are rather uncomfortable, if not downright miserable. You can go with cremation instead of enduring and simply put the memorial service off until the spring comes and things will brighten outside. Everyone can be comfortable and enjoy the outdoor weather along with the memorial you want to plan, even if only part of it is outside.

Plans Can Wait

There are a lot of advantages to cremation services any time of the year. However, if the winter months are upon you, you can give your loved one what they need with cremation and then you can wait until spring for a memorial service. That can give you time to plan, time to process what has happened, and time to make something really special for your loved one and the rest of your family.

If a loved one passes on during the winter months, you still have all of the regular options included. But cremation services in Bellevue, WA might feel like the easier way to go. There’s no right or wrong reason to choose cremation and the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory will help you to understand it’s always an honorable, respectful choice to make. Give us a call for any help at all.

Key Takeaways:

• Most funeral home and cremation providers can help you with pre-plans, but it’s important to compare them before making a decision.
• When planning for cremation, there are many decisions to make such as whether or not to have a memorial service and what type, choosing an urn, and deciding on a final resting place.
• The funeral home will keep your cremation plans, and all your family has to do is give them a call in the future when the plans are needed.

fact of life remains—everyone dies. And if you decide you want to plan things ahead of time, that can help you to feel peace about what happens. If you are interested in cremation services in West Seattle, WA, you can plan those ahead with ease. Here are a few steps you will want to take.

Decide That You Want To Make Plans

The first step sounds simple, but it can be harder than you think. You are going to want to decide that you want to make pre-service plans in the first place. Once you make that decision, you can move ahead and start thinking about what you’d like to do specifically.

Find A Reputable Provider

Most funeral home and cremation providers are going to help you with pre-plans, but you are going to want to find a provider to help you with the planning process. Look through the options in your area and compare them to one another. Remember, you have time on your side since you are planning in advance. That gives you the luxury to take your time with every decision, including who you are going to use for the planning process. After you decide on a provider, you can get their help with the plans.

Look Over The Plan Options

The funeral home or cremation provider you choose can help you to look over plans and get the information you need to make decisions. They will have cremation packages you can consider, for example, and those packages include everything you have to have for the process. Once you have a package in place, you can look over the additional things you might want to place into the plan on top of that package.

Lay Out What You Want

While choosing a cremation package doesn’t have to be hard, there are a lot of other things that can go into the plans. Do you want a memorial service? What kind? Where should it take place? Where would you like your final resting place to be? Do you want an urn? You can look through all of those options and figure out what’s best for you, and the rest of your family.

Put Things In Writing

After you have made the important decisions, you will want to put them into writing so the complete plans are ready for you whenever you need them. The funeral home will keep the plans and then, all your family has to do is give them a call in the future when the plans are needed. The plans will take action at that time. However, you can also have copies of the plan to keep yourself and to give to family members so they can prepare their minds for your cremation services in West Seattle, WA as well. Contact the experts at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory for help with planning ahead.

If you decide to go with cremation services in Bellevue, WA, your loved one’s body will be changes from its current form into an ash-like state. One of the reasons many people choose this avenue is to cut back on costs. They don’t have to worry about the burial costs, or even about buying a casket. However, there are some reasons that you might still want or even need a casket for your loved one. You can purchase a casket for some of these occasions and some professionals even allow casket rental for short-time use. Here are some reasons you might need a casket for your loved one, even in conjunction with cremation.

A Pre-Cremation Visitation

While the cremation process doesn’t require a casket, if you are going to have full cremation, that comes with a visitation service. Your loved one gets a visitation, much like one that you would have before a funeral, where family members and friends can view them. You will want a casket for that service so people can see them and get the closure they need over their death. They might also appreciate the chance to say a final goodbye directly to your loved one before the cremation process occurs.

Full Cremation With A Funeral

If you do go with a full cremation, you could have a visitation (or not), and you can also have a full funeral for your loved one prior to the cremation process. If you want your loved one’s body to be present at that funeral, which is customary, you will need a casket for their remains. Some people will purchase something special for their loved one or, you might have the option of renting a casket for that service. You would then turn that product back over to the funeral home when the service is over and your loved one moves on to cremation.

For Display At The Memorial

Even if you have your loved one cremated as part of a direct process, your family might be more comfortable seeing a casket at the memorial service, whether your loved one is inside or not. They might be able to get closure and understand that the person is cone when they see a casket at the front of the room instead of an urn. That’s always an option, if you want to have something like that at the memorial service.

For The Cremation Process

There are special cremation containers, but you can also send certain caskets into cremation with your loved one if you are more comfortable with that. You can find something that works and that is unique so your loved one is inside something you appreciate and you know they would like as well.

When you work on cremation services in Bellevue, WA with the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory, you can get details on what you need, and what you might want, for that process. If you need a casket, we’ll help with that.

Most funeral homes today also have options for cremation services in Tukwila, WA because cremation is honorable and prevalent today. If you are going with cremation, you can have that process done with a crematory that only does cremation or you can choose a funeral home. There are many advantages to going for help with professionals who run funeral homes. Here are a few things you can expect from those experts.

Expert Knowledge On The Process

Even though funeral home professionals fun lots of different services, including funerals and burials, if they have cremation as one of their service options, they are going to be experts on that process as well. You can ensure that they know what they are doing and they can answer any question you have about cremation. They can give you a tour of their crematory and detail what is going to happen and how they put people through the identification process to give you peace of mind about the process as a whole.

Answers To Any Questions On Cremation

If you have questions about cremation, whether you are setting up a service right now or not, the professionals at the funeral home that also has the cremation option can answer them for you with ease. IF you are setting up a service, any question you have, all you have to do is ask and they will give you an answer in terms you can understand. You should never feel silly about asking questions, even if they feel basic. If you want to know something, they are there to help you with that.

Options For Further Services

While crematories provide the cremation process and nothing else, you can have a variety of other services with your funeral home. The cremation process will run much in the same manner, but you can also get a memorial service after that, or a variety of other things that you might want for your loved one. They have lots of options to consider and if you aren’t sure what you want, they can even offer ideas and suggestions that might sound good.

No Pressure To Make Decisions

The funeral home has funeral services as well as cremation, but they are not going to pressure you to decide one way or the other. They will help with the decision in that they will give you the information you need to have the right details in place in order to decide what’s best for your family. But they won’t decide anything for you or pressure you in any way.

Reassurance and Support

Above all else, the funeral homes that offer cremation services in Tukwila, WA are there to give you reassurance and support. You will feel peace of mind that cremation is just as honorable as a traditional funeral and that will help you understand that no matter what you decide, your loved one is honored. The professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory are here to support your choices.

When you are going to attend cremation services in West Seattle, WA to support a friend who has lost a loved one, you might feel like you want to bring some kind of sympathy gift. There are plenty of options that can work well. And, keep in mind, if you attend the service, that says a lot to the person you care about as well. Here are some ideas for sympathy gifts that people often offer for cremation services.

Meals For The Family

One of the popular things to do is bring a meal to the family. You can offer to help with the reception, if they are having one, or you can simply take a meal to the family in the week around the cremation service or even beyond that. Take something they can freeze if they don’t need it right away and put it in a container they don’t have to return so it’s one less thing for them to worry about. Families that are in the grieving process often have a hard time taking care of basic things and having meals already prepared for them can be a big help.

Flowers For Service Décor

You want your friend’s loved one’s cremation service to look nice and be everything they want it to be. You can get some flowers for their loved one’s service to serve as a decoration. Making the venue look nice in their honor can mean a lot to their friend. You could even get a plant, like a peace lily, that your friend can take home with them. They will remember your support and their loved one all at the same time when they water that plant.

Gift Baskets For Comfort

There are tons of customized things you can do with a gift basket to support your friend. You know that person well and you know what kinds of things they might appreciate to honor their loved one. You could get them a book from their favorite author that just came out with something new. You can include bubble bath to help them relax. Snack items are always nice as well. There are plenty of options and you can make it personal for your friend and their situation.

Cards And Money

There’s nothing wrong with going for something standard, like a sympathy card with some money in it. The card can show your support and let you write a few kind words about how you have been thinking of them during this hard time. And the money can help them pay for the memorial they are having or be something they use to honor their loved one through a donation. Either is much appreciated.

When you are going to attend cremation services in West Seattle, WA to support a friend, your presence can say plenty and really is the most important gift. But if you want to bring something else, the professionals at Columbia Funeral Home & Crematory can help you with ideas and options.