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cremation services in Roy, WA

Transporting Remains By Plane After Cremation Services

One of the benefits of going forward with cremation services in Roy, WA for a loved one who has passed away is that after the cremation is complete, the person’s remains are in a much smaller, easier to transport form. If you want to take that person back to their hometown across the country, or you want to take them to a special location out of state for an ash scattering service, that is much more possible with cremation. You can easily place the urn in a safe location in your car and drive them wherever you want to go, but there are also flying options.

If you decide you are going to take a flight somewhere and your loved one is going to come along in the urn, you need to make sure you have the remains prepared correctly. They need to be in an approved container that will keep everything in order. Rather than use the simple container that the funeral home provides, you will want an urn that can be tightly sealed to avoid any accidental spilling while the plane shifts around.

Once you choose an airline, you will need to look into the rules and policies they have on traveling with an urn. Different airlines have different regulations so check with a few, or ensure that you know what the rules are on the airline you have chosen. You will want to clarify anything you don’t understand so you can get everything in order without confusion later.

It is important to make sure you have a certified copy of your loved one’s death certificate for you. It might be something you are asked to present to prove what is in the container. Your urn will need to go through the x-ray process, which is not a problem with plastic, cardboard, glass, or other such materials, but metal can cause issues. If you have a metal urn for your loved one, talk to the airline to see what they need you to do in order to pass through.

cremation services in Roy, WA

The biggest piece of advice is to know the airline rules and to follow them so when you check in and board the flight, there aren’t any issues that you haven’t already addressed. You will want to make sure things go as smoothly as possibly as you are likely mourning and dealing with a lot as it is.

The professionals who have helped with your loved one’s cremation services in Roy, WA may have further insight and advice as to what you can do when you want to travel with an urn by plan to another location. If you decide to make the trip, even a month or longer after the cremation has taken place, you can still call Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary and get advice as to what you will want to do to get things ready in advance so you are as prepared as possible. We’re always here to help you with whatever you need pertaining to your loved one’s services.

funeral homes in Eatonville, WA

Virus Issues And Funeral Home Plans

Remember when you first heard about the coronavirus? Then things started to shut down and you thought, surely this will pass in a few weeks. It didn’t. And now, things are not normal, but have been adjusted to a new normal for now. The virus impacts many parts of your life from how you work, how your kids do school, and even how you get your shopping done. Then, when someone in your family passes on, you realize that the virus can even impact the way you plan final services with funeral homes in Eatonville, WA. Here are a few things you might do differently to get your loved one what they need while you keep your family as safe as you can.

Keep The Service Small

During past years, you might have considered opening the service to the public so anyone whose life was touched by your loved one could attend and pay their respects. But right now, that’s just not possible. You will likely want to have a smaller funeral service with a limited group size. You may just have immediate family attend so you can keep others that you don’t know as well safe. You don’t want anyone spreading anything right now.

Have The Service Outside

Though you still don’t want a large group of people, if there are several different family groups that are going to be mixing because they all want to say goodbye to your loved one, it might be best to have the service outside in the fresh air where it’s easier to stay separated and safe. You might normally have the service at your church or in a funeral home, but today, outside is often the safest location for gatherings.

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Consider A Virtual Option

It can be hard for people who really want to attend to stay away, but the last thing you want is for a high-risk individual to attend the service and get sick as a result. You could keep those people at bay and safe by telling them that you are going to have a virtual option for the service. Livestream the service, for example, so anyone who wants to participate can watch it and get the closure they need from the proceedings without actually being there and opening themselves up to danger.

There are lots of other changes you might see and have to make when working with funeral homes in Eatonville, WA during this unique time in history. And while no one wants to have to work with a funeral home on a final service for a loved one, there is some good news. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary have adjusted to these times very well and we are here to give your loved one the services they need with honor and respect all the way through. We have flexible options with all of the safety protocols in place to keep everyone as safe as possible while your loved one goes through their final services.

cremation services in Eatonville, WA

Decisions To Make Surrounding Cremation Services

Once you decide that you want cremation services in Eatonville, WA for your loved one, there are a lot of other decisions to make around that choice. You have made the largest, most important decision already, so that’s a weight off your shoulders. But there are other things you are going to need to think through and decide as well. Here are a few of the larger choices to start thinking through.

Where The Cremation Will Take Place

Just because you decided on cremation doesn’t mean you know where you want to have it done yet. You can have a crematory take care of it for you or you can contact a funeral home for the process. It can be helpful to have a funeral home’s help because they offer other services that you might want as well. Plus, they have a lot of experience with grief and will show you the compassion and support you need.

What Services You Want After Cremation

Once the cremation is complete, you can do whatever you’d like for your loved one. Some families want to follow certain traditions and have a memorial service that feels more like a funeral while others air on the celebration of life side. There are also options between the two that are less somber, but still feel more like a memorial service than a celebration event. Once you decide what kind of service you want to hold, you can start thinking about location, time, day, and so on.

What You Can Spend

It is important to set a budget for the process or things can get out of hand rather quickly. You want the best for your loved one once they pass on and that’s understandable. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend everything you have to get them what they need. Cremation, for example, is a cost-effective process. You don’t have to spend a lot and your loved one’s needs are met. After that, you can have a cremation memorial service of some kind in a way that you can afford that will honor your loved one greatly.

cremation services in Eatonville, WA

What You Want To Do With Cremains

After the services you planned and held are complete, you will want to figure out what to do with your loved one’s remains. You can bury them, keep them in an urn, spread them somewhere, or choose one of the other many options. Think through the choices with care and consult with family members about what you might want to do.

When you are working on cremation services in Eatonville, WA, the biggest decision you will have to make is to move forward with the cremation itself. Once that decision is made, you can take your time with the others. Cremation has a way of removing the timeline from other decisions, so you are able to relieve yourself from the pressure and take your time moving forward. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary are here to help support you with compassion through it all.

funeral homes in Roy, WA

The Truth About Embalming With Funeral Homes

Until you are in the position of making final service plans with funeral homes in Roy, WA for a loved one, you likely don’t think about embalming. You might even assume it is a part of the process no matter what—that it is required. However, embalming is something the funeral home should never force upon you. If they do, choose another funeral home. While it is a good idea in some circumstances, it is not a requirement and you need to think carefully about what you want for your loved one.

Embalming is something families generally want to do if they are going to have a viewing for their loved one, or an open casket at their funeral. The process will keep their loved one’s body in the best conditions for those services. But embalming uses chemicals that some people don’t necessarily want to place in their loved one. The chemicals can seep out into the soil after burial and harm the environment. There are alternatives sometimes, but not always, so you will want to ask about that.

This embalming process makes your loved one look as if they are sleeping and resting for their visitation or funeral service. Sometimes, seeing a person in that state can give family peace of mind about their status. It can also give them closure, seeing the person in a casket. It’s one way to remind everyone that the person is indeed gone and not coming back.

However, embalming does have a cost to it and if you are on a limited budget, you might not be able to afford this extra service. Instead of embalming, you could skip that service, have a closed casket, or another kind of service. Your budget is going to determine a lot about what you can and can’t do for the final services.

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Embalming is a highly common service that is often used in conjunction with funeral services, especially with a visitation and/or open casket funeral is involved. But it is not a required service and there are things you can do to get around it, if you so choose. Don’t let a funeral home tell you that you have to do it because that is not the case. Use another funeral home before you feel forced into this service, or any other, for that matter.

When you are working with funeral homes in Roy, WA, ask about the embalming options if you are having your loved one go through a regular funeral service and burial. You might want to include it to get the benefits of an open casket and the closure it can bring. Or, your budget might force you to avoid it and there are options for that as well. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary understand that you are going through a hard time and this topic, among many others, is just not easy. But we’re here to help you through the decision by giving you the information you need.

cremation services in Lakewood, WA

Considerations For Cremation Service Options

In your lifetime, you will likely find yourself in charge of planning a loved one’s final services at some point or another. When that time comes, it might be a first for you, which means you may not really have experience in that area. The professionals will help you by providing you with options. Once you decide on cremation services in Lakewood, WA for the person who passed away, you will want to keep these things in consideration as well: 

Pricing 

You want your loved one to get the quality, honorable services they deserve. It might seem strange to think about price in terms of final services, but there are costs to these things. When you look into cremation providers, you will want to consider their pricing. Fair prices are best. Not something too low or too high, but something along the average in this area for these services. Once you ensure you are getting fair prices, you will want to consider your budget and see how much you can afford in addition to the cremation package. You can add whatever you want to it, if you can afford extras like an urn, a memorial service, and so on. 

Final Resting Place 

With a traditional funeral, the final resting place is the cemetery for a burial. With cremation, that doesn’t have to be the case, though it is still one of the options. As you decide what elements to draw together for a cremation service, you will also want to think about the final resting place you intend to have for your loved one. That decision can help you inform other things. For example, if you are going to scatter your loved one’s ashes, you might have their memorial service in that location so everyone can participate. If you are going to keep their ashes in your home, you might want a special urn that reminds you of them and will look nice in your house. The final resting place will make a difference in some of your other decisions. 

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Memorial Service Options 

Choosing cremation services means you open the door to lots of options in terms of services that you could have for your loved one. You don’t have to have a service at all, but if you do decide to honor them in that way, the choices are nearly endless. You can do something that feels like a funeral, an ash scattering, or a celebration of life, among many other things. Talk to the professionals about the options as you make plans that suit your family and your loved one. 

When you are looking into cremation services in Lakewood, WA, there are going to be important decisions to make and plans to form, but you aren’t alone. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary support your choices with compassion and help you every step of the way. It’s important to us to help you get the services you need for your loved one so that your family is able to feel good about the final plans. 

funeral homes in Lakewood, WA

Streaming Funeral Home Services

With the power of technology and the internet, more things are available now than ever before, even with funeral homes in Lakewood, WA. When you have to plan final services for a loved one, it’s important to feel like you are getting everything right. You want your family members to appreciate the services and get what they need from the experience as well. There are lots of different things you can do and one of the options that people are taking up more and more often is streaming the funeral services live. There are lots of reasons why you might want to do that. Here are a few to consider: 

 

Stay Safe In A COVID Era 

For a while, groups simply weren’t allowed to gather. Funerals were held on a tiny level. Even while things are more open today, there are some people who shouldn’t be out and about and in larger groups of people. You want your family to stay safe and healthy, but you also want your family to be able to say goodbye to a member who passed on. Having a funeral live streamed can allow family members who are more susceptible to illnesses to simply stay home, but to still participate in things live as they occur. It’s a good way to keep everyone safe and include everyone at the same time. 

 

Include Everyone 

You’d like to think that your family would be able to drop everything and have a service with everyone there whenever necessary, but life doesn’t work like that. Funerals are planned on short notice, for the most part, and occur within a few days of someone’s death. If you have family scattered throughout the country, or even across the world, it’s might be important to you to include as many people as you can. While not everyone will be able to jump on a plane with their schedules and travel options, everyone can attend the services, in some way or another, if you decide to live stream them through the funeral home. No one should miss out if they want a chance to honor your loved one. But if they can’t make it to the area at the right time, they might feel that way. Having a live streamed service helps to include anyone who wants the opportunity to be there in whatever way possible. 

funeral homes in Lakewood, WA

When you are working with funeral homes in Lakewood, WA to honor a loved one with final services, ask about the livestreaming options, whether you are having a traditional funeral, a cremation service, or a combination of the two. The experts at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary want your family to get everything they need to get through the grieving process and to honor the loved one who passed away in the way they feel led to do so. We are here to support your decisions and to help you make them in providing you with the information you need. Give us a call for a tour or a consultation. We’re here with compassion every step of the way. 

cremation services in Roy, WA

Cremation Services Still Come With Grief

When you are working on cremation services in Roy, WA for a loved one’s final services, you may notice that cremation avoids certain things. You don’t have the large bottom like that you would with a traditional funeral, for example. You don’t have to have a casket, a burial plot, a headstone, or other such things if you don’t want. But there are also some things you can’t avoid when you work with cremation—like grief. There is no final service that will allow you to avoid the emotions and grief you feel. Here are some of the things you might feel as you grieve through the process. 

 

Denial 

Many people go through this as the first stage in their grieving process. They don’t want to admit that their loved one is gone. It can be soothing to avoid the death, for the time being. But it’s usually a short stage as you start to plan and recognize that your loved one is coming back. It is good to have a memorial service for yourself or anyone else who might be stuck in this phase. With a final service, you have to admit that your loved one is gone and not returning. It can bring closure to your denial and give you a chance to say goodbye. 

 

Anger 

Anger is something many people feel as they grieve, sometimes right away and sometimes later one. You might feel angry at yourself for not telling your loved one how much they mean to you before they passed on. You might feel anger because you were in a fight when they died. You might even just be angry at the situation and over the fact that they died at all. It’s normal to feel anger, but you won’t want it to overshadow your rationality or you might regret actions later. 

cremation services in Roy, WA

Sadness 

One of the most common emotions surrounding a death while you are grieving is an intense sadness. You will feel sad and down, possibly even depressed, as you plan final services, carry them out, and then even after they are over. It’s hard to pull yourself out of this phase and you may feel it come and go throughout the grieving process. There are times when you want to be alone with your emotions and that’s okay, but you should also talk about how you are feeling with loved ones, so you don’t feel alone. 

 

These are just a few of the things you might feel as you work through your grief before, during, and after cremation services in Roy, WA. Keep in mind that the professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary are here for you every step of the way. If you need extra help with your grieving process, we are here with resources like counselors, grief support groups, and even websites to visit, depending on what you are comfortable doing. We want you to have the compassion and support you need to walk through your grief at whatever pace you need. 

funeral homes in Roy, WA

The Commonality Of Cremation With Funeral Homes

In the past, funeral homes in Roy, WA generally conducted traditional burial services and that was what they did. There were a few that helped with cremation as well. That had changed a great deal in recent decades as cremation has become much more popular in common. Today, almost every funeral home will help with cremation. And, in fact, most find that half of their services are cremation related. Why is cremation so common within funeral homes today? Here are some of the many reasons. 

 

Cremation Is Not Taboo Anymore 

Cremation used to be this mystical, unreachable thing that most people didn’t understand. There were so many myths out there and not a lot of information, so it makes sense that people were leery of the method. Today, though, there is plenty of information out there and people are able to understand what the method is all about—and the fact that it is perfectly respectful and honorable. Since cremation is understood as a dignified option, it no longer feels like going against the grain to use it. In general, it’s socially acceptable. Even more major religions approve, use it, and some even prefer it. 

 

Costs Are Lower 

While it’s hard to think about costs in terms of final services, they are very much a part of what you might be able to do. Whether you are planning final services for yourself or a loved one, there are costs involved. Some people don’t want to spend a lot on themselves while others don’t have a lot available to spend on a loved one who has passed away. Cremation has become much more common because users are recognizing how much lower the costs are with that method. There are no quality sacrifices and the person who has passed on gets everything they need, but the bottom line is a smaller cost, which makes it enticing to many people who don’t have a larger budget on hand for services or simply for those who want to leave what they do have behind for loved ones. 

funeral homes in Roy, WA

A Greater Availability 

As cremation became more popular and more requested, more funeral homes started to offer it as a service. Instead of having to search down a funeral home that offers that method, families can find it almost anywhere. Since it’s available, those who aren’t sure what direction they want to go will at least look at the option and then, they might go that direction as well. The availability goes hand in hand with the commonality of this service. 

 

If you are looking for funeral homes in Roy, WA to help you plan final services for yourself, or for a loved one who has passed on, you will be able to look at the options between traditional funeral services and cremation choices. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary won’t push you in any direction or decide anything for you, but we will make sure you have the details you need to make an informed decision yourself. 

cremation services in Lakewood, WA

Never Hesitate To Ask Questions About Cremation Services

If there’s one thing that providers want you to know, it’s that you should never hesitate, feel bad about, or silly over asking questions regarding cremation services in Lakewood, WA. Almost everyone that has to plan these types of services is going to have questions and the funeral homes are used to hearing them and answering them. They don’t even mind answering the same things over and over again as they realize the information is new to the client they are speaking with. There are plenty of questions you might ask, whether you are planning a service for a loved one, pre-planning for yourself, or just going into a cremation service that you want to attend for someone who has passed on. Here are a few things to consider asking so you know what you need to know.

How Are Memorials And Funerals Different?

Those who are going with a traditional funeral might use the term interchangeably, but the two things really are different. Memorial services are generally held without the person’s body present. Funerals, on the other hand, have the casket there with the guests. Memorials are generally held after a cremation service while funerals happen before burial services. IF you are invited to a memorial, it could be a variety of different styles. It could feel much like a funeral or it could be more light-hearted or even a celebration of life. It’s good to know what you are attending before you get there, so you know what to wear and how to act.

What Will Funeral Directors Do?

When you have a funeral at a funeral home, you know the funeral director is very busy. When you have a cremation service, though, what does the funeral director do? The answer is that they do many of the same things. They take care of your loved one, help to organize services, and ensure that whatever decisions you make, they are implemented. They are there to support you through this process with compassion, no matter what process you choose.

What Can Be Sent To Services?

Most people automatically send flowers to a service and that can be very nice. But there are also lots of other options. You could send a card to let the family know you are sorry for their loss. You can send money for them to donate to a charity in their loved one’s honor. You could also take food to the family, so they don’t have to make meals for a while.

cremation services in Lakewood, WA

There are lots of other questions you might have about cremation services in Lakewood, WA and that’s just fine. The professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary are here to help. We’re able to answer your questions in person, by phone, or even over email, whatever works for you. It’s important for you to be comfortable with attending or organizing these services, depending on what situation you might be in at this time. No matter what you face, we’re here for you.

funeral homes in Lakewood, WA

Taking Burdens Away By Offering To Host Receptions

When someone you know is organizing final services for a loved one with funeral homes in Lakewood, WA, you might not know what you can do to help them. Grief is different for everyone so they way you might support one person could be different than what you would do for someone else. However, if you know they are having a funeral, that will generally be followed by a reception. If you really want to relieve their burdens, you might offer to arrange and host the reception for them. If someone else has already offered, you can at least help that person. If not, you can take that burden away from your friend and they will likely be very grateful.

You will want to first thing about where you will hold the reception. If they are having the funeral at a church, there might be a space available there that you can utilize. You could also have it in a community center, a family home, your home, or even a restaurant. It is nice to know about how many people you can expect so you know what type of space you will need. If they are having a small, intimate funeral for close family, that’s different than something that is open to the public.

It’s also important to have a budget in mind. If the family is going to pay for it, they should set the parameters for you and you can fit in what you can to that amount. If you are paying for it yourself, you will want to set a price that you can afford and stick to it. You don’t have to get extravagant with this event. You can keep it simple and still do something that your family will appreciate. You can get sandwich trays or even organize others to have a pot luck so you are able to spread the work around a little.

One of the big things you will do for the family in the midst of the reception planning is ensure that all they have to do is walk in and sit down. You will set everything up and clean everything up, or you will ask people to do so with you. There are likely lots of other people who want to help in some way and that is a great place for them to fit in.

funeral homes in Lakewood, WA

When you are working on the reception for after the services at funeral homes in Lakewood, WA, talk to the family and see if they have any requests. There might be family members with dietary needs, or they might have ideas and suggestions. If their loved one had a certain preference, perhaps they want to incorporate that food into the menu. When you are working on ideas, the professionals at Weeks’ Dryer Mortuary are here to help you with suggestions. We have been through many services and receptions are a big part of that as well. We want to help you to support your friend through the services for their loved one.