Monthly Archives: August 2021

Tips for Holding a Viewing for a Loved One Who Is Being Cremated

If you and your family don’t want to hold a viewing for a loved one as part of their cremation services in Lock Haven, PA, you don’t have to do it. But many families like to take advantage of the opportunity to stage viewings for their loved ones. It gives them a chance to say their goodbyes and helps them come to terms with the deaths of their loved ones. If your family wants to hold a viewing for a loved one prior to their cremation, here are some tips that will help you get it done.

Choose the right funeral home to help you.

Not all Lock Haven, PA funeral homes are going to be able to help you hold a viewing for a loved one prior to their cremation. There are some that don’t specialize in offering this service. With this in mind, you’ll need to look for a funeral home that is up for the challenge. You should be able to find out whether or not a funeral home can help you in this regard by checking out their website.

Let a funeral home know you want to hold a viewing as soon as you can.

Once you find a funeral home that you know can help you plan a viewing for a loved one, you should contact them right away to get started. You should also make it a point to tell them that you want to get a viewing for your loved one on the calendar ASAP. This will give them the time that they need to prepare your loved one’s body for a viewing. If you wait too long to let a funeral home know that you want to hold a viewing for a loved one, you’ll run the risk of telling them too late and ruining your chances of being able to hold one.

Rent a casket for your loved one’s viewing rather than buying one.

Some families are under the impression that they’re going to have to buy a casket to hold a viewing for a loved one. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Most funeral homes will be more than happy to help you rent a casket specifically for your loved one’s viewing. This is going to be so much cheaper than buying one would be. It’s something to keep in mind if you’re going to be cremating a loved one on a tight budget.

Make sure people know about your loved one’s viewing.

Oftentimes, people will assume that a family isn’t going to hold a viewing for someone who is being cremated. For this reason, it’s going to be up to you to make sure that your family members, friends, etc. know about your loved one’s viewing. You should include information about the viewing in your loved one’s obituary. You should also reach out to people directly to inform them about the viewing that you’re planning. It’ll ensure that everyone who might want to come to it knows about it.

Is your family going to plan a viewing for a loved one and hold it right before their Lock Haven, PA cremation? If so, let Maxwell Funeral Home help you plan it all out. Give us a call today to start putting together the pieces of your loved one’s cremation services.

Signs That Suggest You Should Stay Away From Some Funeral Homes

When you’re searching through the different funeral homes in Lock Haven, PA and attempting to narrow your search down to just one, it can be very difficult to do it. A lot of the funeral homes that you consider are going to feel like carbon copies of one another. But there are going to be some signs that’ll show you that you should knock certain funeral homes out of contention. Let’s take a look at the signs that will suggest that you should stay away from certain funeral homes.

They lack experience.

“How long has your funeral home been around?” is one of the very first questions you should ask to the person that you meet with from a funeral home. You don’t want to get stuck planning Lock Haven, PA funeral services for a loved one through a funeral home that doesn’t have any experience. You’re going to be asking for trouble if you do. If you find that a funeral home is inexperienced, you’ll be much better off searching for one that has earned its stripes over the years.

They’re in a less-than-ideal location.

You’re going to be making your fair share of trips back and forth to a funeral home while making funeral arrangements for a loved one. You’re also going to be asking lots of people to make their way to a funeral home on the day of your loved one’s funeral services. With these things in mind, you want for a funeral home to be set up in a great location. If it’s too far off the beaten path, this could be a sign that a funeral home won’t be a great fit for your family.

They don’t offer the right funeral services.

You might be under the impression that all funeral homes offer the same exact funeral services. But the truth of the matter is that some offer more funeral services than others. If you have specific services in mind that you know you’re going to need, don’t be shy about asking about these services when you first contact a funeral home. It’ll help you cross any funeral homes that don’t offer these services right off your list.

They cost too much money.

Prior to making funeral arrangements for a loved one, you should come up with a budget for their services. You should also check to see how much different funeral homes in your area charge for their services. This should allow you to see which funeral homes will fit into your budget and which won’t. If you discover that a funeral home charges way more than the other options in your area, this could be a surefire sign that working with them isn’t going to be in the cards.

When you take the time to see what Maxwell Funeral Home brings to the table, you won’t spot any of the signs that we just mentioned. It’s why so many families turn to us when they need help making Lock Haven, PA funeral arrangements for a loved one. Reach out to us today to see what sets us apart from the competition.

How to Respond When Your Kids Ask Questions About Cremation

Cremation is no longer the taboo topic that it once was. People are talking about cremation and cremation services in Beech Creek, PA today more than ever before. As a result of this, you shouldn’t be shocked if your kids come to you with questions about cremation in the near future. You should be prepared to face their questions head-on and to provide them with the answers that they’re looking for. Here is a guide on how to respect when your kids come to you with cremation questions sometime soon.

Ask them what they know about cremation before you say or do anything else.

When your kids first turn to you for help with trying to learn about Beech Creek, PA cremations, you might be tempted to dive right into giving them an explanation on what cremation is. But rather than doing this, you should begin by asking them what exactly they know about cremation. It’ll give you some idea of where you should even start. Chances are, your kids have learned a little bit about cremation from TV and/or movies. Seeing what they know will help you have a more productive conversation with them.

Give them a very basic rundown of cremation and all that it entails.

Once you find out what your kids know about cremation, you can get into talking about cremation itself. You should be prepared to provide your kids with a really basic rundown of cremation. You should talk about the cremation process and tell your kids why some people decide to go with cremation services for themselves or their loved ones. If you don’t know enough about cremation yourself, you’re not going to be able to give a great explanation, so you might want to spend a little time reading up on it prior to talking to your kids. It’ll allow you to set them up with the information they need.

Avoid saying anything about cremation that might scare your kids.

When you’re discussing cremation with your kids, there is a chance that you might get too deep into it and say something that could upset them. You should avoid doing this at all costs, especially if your kids are on the younger side. You’re going to be asking for trouble if you explain every single aspect of a cremation to a child who is unable to wrap their head around it at this time.

Look up some questions about cremation with your kids and learn together.

No matter how much you might know about cremation, your kids are bound to ask a few questions that you don’t know the answers to off the top of your head. When you find yourself in this situation, you and your kids should pull up Google and look up the questions that they have. It’ll give you an opportunity to learn something about cremation with your kids by your side. This is a very effective way to teach your kids about something like cremation.

Are you interested in learning more about cremation before talking to your kids about it? Maxwell Funeral Home is a Beech Creek, PA funeral home that can provide you with the info you need. Contact us now for all your cremation needs.

4 Common Challenges Families Often Face at Funeral Homes

In a perfect world, working with one of the funeral homes in Beech Creek, PA wouldn’t be challenging at all. You and your family would breeze right through the funeral planning process without a care in the world and then head back home to heal in the aftermath of a loved one’s loss. But of course, things don’t always go this smoothly. There are usually at least a few challenges that pop up along the way and complicate matters. Learn about four of the common challenges that families often face at funeral homes below so that you can plan ahead for them.

Agreeing on whether to bury or cremate a loved one

Ideally, a loved one will tell you whether they want to be buried or cremated prior to their death. It’ll take all the guesswork out of the equation for you and your family. But if they don’t do this, you and your family will be left to try and figure out what your loved one would have wanted. And it can be a challenge getting everyone in a family to agree on it. You should try to take care of this aspect of funeral planning at home so that you show up at a funeral home ready to get to work.

Deciding what kind of funeral services to stage for a loved one

Once you know whether you’re going to bury or cremate a loved one, you’ll need to move on and decide what kind of Beech Creek, PA funeral services you want to hold for them. Will you hold a traditional funeral service for them? A memorial service? A celebration of life ceremony? The choice will be yours, but you and your family will all have to aim to get on the same page about it. This can be a little more challenging than you might realize.

Figuring out a budget for a loved one’s funeral services

Planning funeral services for a loved one can be costly in some cases. But fortunately, you can get around facing a surprise bill at the end of the planning process by coming up with a budget from the start. The only thing to keep in mind is that it might be a struggle creating this budget when your entire family has some sort of say in it. You’re going to want to determine how much everyone in your family is prepared to kick in for a loved one’s funeral services so that you can budget for them accordingly.

Working together while making funeral arrangements for a loved one

Tensions are sometimes going to be at an all-time high within your family when you’re making funeral arrangements for a loved one. It’ll be very important for you to make it a point to do your best to work together throughout the planning process. You should constantly remind yourselves that your loved one wouldn’t have wanted their funeral services to cause arguments. This should help you and your family collaborate without getting onto one another’s last nerves.

Do you want to make sure that making Beech Creek, PA funeral arrangements for a loved one doesn’t prove to be too challenging for your family? Maxwell Funeral Home can help you plan funeral services for your loved one and keep you and your family on the right track at all times. Call us today for more information about how our funeral home can assist you.

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