DeBordSnyder.com Blog
December 2015
Pre-planning your funeral arrangements is usually not on the top of most people’s “to do” list; however pre-planning a funeral often leads to many financial and psychological benefits knowing that your end of life plans will be handled to your every detail.
When someone you love becomes a memory – the memory becomes a treasure.
At DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, our goal is to guide you through the creation of a traditional or personalized funeral or memorial service.
We have put together a small checklist which will guide you through pre-planning your funeral.
- Decide on the type of service
A service is our gift to the deceased, and to ourselves, that allows us to cherish, remember, honor and celebrate a life well lived. The service can be Traditional, or Personalized. If you wish, your funeral director can help incorporate photographs, music, and other items to create a desired theme for the service to share a legacy in the most appropriate way.
Arranging for a Memory Table, or multiple ones, is a wonderful way to add a personal touch to any service. They can represent various life chapters, interests and accomplishments of your loved one’s life. Family and friends are encouraged to participate in reflecting on and preserving the deceased’s life through memories.
- Select the type of Disposition
You can select from many burial service options, and customize them to best reflect your loved one’s unique life. Depending on personal preferences and lifestyle, you can decide on a Complete Funeral Service with Casketed Burial, or perhaps a Graveside Service. Or perhaps you may choose to go the route of Cremation, building a customized memorial service.
At DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, our mission is to alleviate any unnecessary hardship, as we provide the highest quality of personal and compassionate service for celebrating, respecting, sanctifying, and remembering the life of a person who has died.
- Select the casket or urn
The use of a casket or urn traditionally plays a big role in a funeral service, and can be a way of personalizing the service and creating a memorable tribute for the deceased.
The selection of the casket is a very personal decision, and an important part of funeral preplanning. Whether you decide to use a wood or a metal casket is a personal preference and varies with each individual. The most significant difference between metal caskets and wood caskets, besides the material used, is the way in which the lid or cap – the topmost part of the casket shell – closes. Your funeral director at DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory can assist you in reaching this important decision and selecting what is best for you and your family.
In cases where cremation is selected, we provide families with the quality and elegance of urns that complement the uniqueness of each person and fit different budgets and personal tastes. Urns are, for many people the sacred vessels, as they hold the last physical earthly elements of the loved one.
In the selection room at DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, families can view a variety of caskets, vaults, memorial urns for ashes and other cremation products, memorial jewelry and more.
- Financial planning
Making financial decisions now and pre-planning your or your loved one’s funeral can help lessen the emotional and financial burden of having to deal with such important decisions during an already challenging time.
Decide whether to pre-pay the funeral costs, by selecting the exact, type and cost of service desired. You can take steps now to assure the funeral and burial chosen will be consistent with your individual standards and lifestyle right down to the smallest detail. You and your family can share in planning together, and your funeral director at DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory will help you with any aspect of your planning and provide vital information and options.
This is simply a checklist for you to use as a starting point to begin planning your funeral. To begin the pre-planning process, you are welcome to download our pre-arrangement guide at:
https://www.debordsnyder.com/pre-planning/download-pre-arrangement-form/ or call us anytime at (717) 394-4097
Your caring and experienced funeral directors at DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory will be there for you every step of the way from the decision-making process to ensure that your personal preferences are fulfilled to the smallest detail.
Place your trust in DeBord Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, a community-based, family-owned funeral home – we are proud and grateful that four generations of families have already entrusted us with their final arrangements, and would love to be of service to you and yours.
To learn more about pre-funeral planning and the services we provide, we invite you to contact us today: https://www.debordsnyder.com/contact-us/
Aria Wellington says
Would you recommend pre-paying vs the other option? We are considering starting the planning process for my grandma’s funeral but we aren’t really sure what to do for the planning. It seems like pre-paying would be beneficial so that you could focus on grieving during the the funeral.
Megan Alder says
I hope that my funeral director can incorporate a things about me when I die. I know that it’s too early to be thinking about stuff like this, but I want my funeral to be epic. My biggest thing is that I want beautiful flowers all around. Maybe I’ll figure it out in a few years.
Chris Winters says
I like the idea to consider your funeral as a gift to the deceased. My great aunt has recently passed away. I definitely think that I should look for some professionals that could make the funeral service a memorable experience for everyone.
Ridley Fitzgerald says
I appreciate your advice for planning a funeral. I want to pre-plan my own, so my kids don’t have to worry about it when I die. Having a personal funeral plan is definitely what I want to do, with pictures and things.
Jenna Hunter says
My 85-year-old mother was told that she only has two months to live. I was impressed that the selection of the casket is a very personal decision and an important part of funeral preplanning. In order to get the funeral preplanned, we will be sure to get professional help to make sure the funeral turns out great!
LNweaver says
That’s good advice to think about whether you want a funeral burial, a cremation, or something in between. Everyone has different tastes and beliefs. The important thing is to remember your loved one; my dad has been talking to me about what he’d want in a service if he passes.
Mia Dexton says
It’s nice to know that preplanning a funeral has financial and psychological benefits. My friend read something online about and mentioned it last time we went out for lunch. Since then, I’ve been curious to learn if it really was better to start planning your funeral earlier.
Roger Middleton says
My mother in law has been very sick and we’re starting to think that it might be that time for her, and although we aren’t fully sure, she’s been wanting to start the planning regardless. I liked that you had mentioned that it can be important to decide what casket you are selecting and deciding what material you want the casket to be made out of. We’re going to start shopping around for a funeral home in our area, and we might have to see if any of them offer help in deciding the casket type as well as a lot of the other planning.
Alexandria Martinez says
My best friend’s grandfather passed away recently and they are struggling to plan his funeral. I like the suggestions given for the service and will tell them about memory tables. He was a veteran so they will probably look into incorporating that as well as seeing if the funeral home has options with that service.
Earnest Watkins says
I liked how you pointed out that pre-planning your funeral can be beneficial by helping to ease the financial burden of your loved ones. I’ve been thinking of pre-planning my funeral, so this is good to know. It would be worth the effort and time to make sure my funeral is planned out completely and in advance to help ensure my loved ones aren’t put through any unnecessary grief.
Alice Carroll says
You made a good point that costs have to be exact when it presented to a person interested in a funeral pre-arrangement. I’m planning to get one soon after I finish paying the premium for my life insurance. I think it would be best for the comfort of my loved ones if I will be the one who will choose the specifics for my own funeral someday.