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Arranging a Funeral is not a piece of cake and there are a lot of details that cannot be overlooked if you want to give your loved ones the perfect send-off. For this reason, a lot of people hire funeral directors that are responsible for designing and organising the most appropriate funeral service for your loved ones. However, putting your finger on the right funeral director is not easy and can be a tricky task itself. Even though the general processes around funerals is the same, and it may seem like directing a Funeral may be a very mundane and straight forward task. However, in reality, that is not the case since there are a lot of funeral directors to choose from and they all offer a variety of different services that could be tailored to the client’s personal preferences. For this reason, in this article, we have compiled a list of ways in which you can shortlist your perfect funeral director and elements to look for before shortlisting.
The responsibilities of funeral directors
Even though in the beginning it might sound like a very daunting task, at the end of the day, hiring the perfect funeral director is bound to be a fulfilling and rewarding experience for the person responsible for organising the funeral.
This is because a good funeral director will aim to ensure a smooth implementation of the funeral and will enable you to give your deceased loved one the send-off that they deserve.
Let’s take a look at the responsibilities that fall on the shoulders of a funeral director and the tasks that they will have to fulfil while giving the grieving family the time and space that they need to process their tragic loss. One of the key jobs, of the funeral directors, is the transportation of the deceased person. Initially, they will have to collect the body and take it to the funeral home. After this, the funeral director will be expected to then transport the body to the place of the funeral, where the deceased individual finds their final resting place.
Moving forward, other tasks that fall on the Shoulders of the funeral director include the preparation of the deceased person for the funeral and sometimes for the family to visit them in the chapel of rest. This refers to the bedding and dressing of the individual and placing them in the coffin for viewing by the guests present at, or before, the funeral.
Besides handling the deceased person’s body, the funeral director will also be responsible for providing you with support and guidance regarding the organisation of the funeral.
Depending on the beliefs of the deceased individual are his immediate family members, the funeral director will also have to take charge of any necessary documentation and paperwork that needs to be filled regarding the burial or cremation process.
Not only is the funeral director responsible for placing the deceased person’s body into the coffin, but they are also responsible to provide the coffin or urn in which the remains of the deceased person will be stored.
The funeral director’s job is not restricted till the pre-funeral day, but also extends to the actual day of the funeral. This means that the funeral director will have to be present at the funeral and provide guidance to the family members and the guests that are present at the funeral, afterwards if needed.
Furthermore, the funeral director will also have to tackle all third-party issues and ensure that there is no last-minute crisis related to transportation, catering, or other key elements that are involved in directing a funeral.
Costs involved with hiring funeral directors
Hiring a Funeral director is the same as any other commercial transaction. When a person passes away, there is a high possibility that you might not have left behind enough money to cater to the arrangements necessary for a funeral. For this reason, the deceased person’s relatives or immediate family members might be expected to fulfil the funeral costs. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the budget that needs to be allocated for this purpose and opt for an option that falls within the boundaries of affordability.
The budget presented by the funeral director, and the pricing strategy used, may consist of a variety of different expenses including any necessary medical expenses, transportation costs, the cost of hiring a religious representative to carry out the ceremony, cost related to the purchase of a headstone, memorial expenses, catering and flowers, and other similar expenses that are likely to occur during a funeral. When hiring a Funeral director another thing to keep in mind is to give preference to funeral directors that are in the vicinity of your desired funeral location. This is because some funeral directors start increasing their fees as the funeral house’s location no further and further away from where they are based. This would cause an overall hike in your final budget thus making the funeral more expensive. Memories Funeral Service covers the entire Greater Manchester area.
Memories Funerals are highly competitively priced and offer an affordable packaged service or bespoke services. However, there is no such rule that the funeral director who does not charge excessively high rates will also offer credible services. Therefore, clients should also take a peek at the funeral director’s reputation before making their final decision. Take a look at our testimonials here.
Things to keep in mind while choosing a funeral director
When choosing a Funeral director, it is beneficial if the shortlisted candidate is willing to work flexibly. this means, that the funeral director should be able to fulfil any additional last-minute requests or fix any unforeseen problems that may occur.
Things that you should keep in mind before finalising your choice Funeral Director:
The first and foremost rule behind choosing a Funeral director is to not get pressurised into making a decision straight away. The client should take their time and assess the funeral director’s portfolio before giving them a final yes or no. To proceed with the selection process, clients should shortlist a few funeral directors and then compare their prices, reviews and previously hosted funerals to get a better grip over their work ethics and capabilities.
Organising a funeral is not cheap, in addition to the already underlying cost of organising a funeral service, these costs are further elevated by hiring a funeral director.
For this reason, as mentioned above, it is recommended for the clients to compare the prices of a few funeral directors. Clients can also ask funeral directors for a breakdown of their costs and make sure that there are no third-party expenses that have been kept hidden before the final arrangement of the funeral. Some funeral directors would go as far as letting their clients divide the payment and paying them off in a payment plan instead of demanding an upfront payment on the day of the funeral.
Before choosing your funeral director, it is highly recommended to thoroughly go through the funeral director’s services and see if they have all the necessary skills that are required for directing the funeral of your choice and preferences. This includes analysing if they offer all of the services that you are looking for. These services are not just limited to onsite facilitation, but also refers to the work that has to be done in the background. The funeral directors should be very accommodating by nature and should aim to facilitate, but ease the suffering of the people who are affected.
Last but not the least, the funeral directory that you choose to work with should be someone with excellent work ethics, someone who knows how to deal with crises and is not a headache to work with. This is essential because funerals are generally challenging, so having a difficult funeral director to work with can worsen the situation.
Conclusion
Funerals are extremely sensitive and emotional events therefore the person responsible for the handling of funerals should be extremely capable. This means that they should not have an insensitive attitude towards the situation and should know how to work in a tense and stressful environment while simultaneously providing guidance and support to the people around them. Funeral directors have a lot of responsibilities, therefore choosing a newly established firm or hiring a funeral director who does not have a sufficient amount of resources might not be the most ideal choice.
The funeral director that you choose can make or break the funeral and will say a lot about the final send-off of your loved one. Therefore, choosing a funeral director is a very critical issue that requires some serious thought and a sufficient amount of research needs to be put into finding the perfect fit. It is recommended to ask around and refer to funeral directors that the people in your surroundings have experience with.
An efficient and ideal funeral director will not just have a skill set that consists of an extremely efficient work ethic, but the funeral director should also have an element of empathy and understanding in the way they work. A good funeral director will honour and try his best to fulfil the wishes of the deceased person’s family and will respect their boundaries and personal space while giving them the time they need to grieve.