Monthly Archives: November 2022

Making a Loved One’s Memorial Service Unique

If your family would like to wait until after a loved one’s cremation services in Lock Haven, PA to celebrate their life, you’re welcome to do it. Many families have started to hold memorial services for their loved ones once their cremations are complete. They like the fact that they don’t have to be in a huge hurry to celebrate a loved one’s life when they do this. They also like that they can do different things to make a loved one’s memorial service unique. Here are a few things that you can do to make your loved one’s memorial service extra special.

Pick out the right place to hold a loved one’s memorial service.

Oftentimes, families make the mistake of thinking that they have to hold a loved one’s memorial service at either a church or a funeral home following their Lock Haven, PA cremation. But this isn’t necessarily going to be the case. You’re free to hold a loved one’s memorial service at one of these places. But you can also hold a memorial service for a loved one at a restaurant, a park, or even in your own home if you so choose. It’ll be up to you to find the right place for the memorial service.

Incorporate photos and videos of a loved one into their memorial service.

As you mourn the loss of a loved one, you’ll usually spend at least some time going through their old photos and videos. Why not try to utilize some of these photos and videos when you’re planning your loved one’s memorial service? You can create a slideshow of these photos and videos and have them run on a loop throughout the memorial service. People will really enjoy looking through these photos and videos and remembering all the good times they shared with your loved one.

Select special songs, prayers, etc. for a loved one’s memorial service.

Your loved one’s memorial service is obviously going to include a bunch of different songs, prayers, etc. If you want to have a celebrant pick out some generic songs, prayers, etc. for your loved one’s memorial service, you can do that. But you can also spend some time picking out songs, prayers, etc. yourself. You should try to find ones that were either significant to your loved one or ones that remind you of your loved one when you hear them.

Put a loved one’s collectibles on display at their memorial service.

If your loved one spent their life collecting baseball cards, porcelain figurines, or something else, you shouldn’t be afraid to work them into the mix at their memorial service. Unless these items are very valuable, you might want to display them at the memorial service so that people can check out your loved one’s collection. It’s one more way in which you can set your loved one’s memorial service apart from the pack without putting in too much effort on your part.

Our funeral home has helped lots of families plan memorial services as part of their loved one’s Lock Haven, PA cremations. We can lend a hand to your family, too, if you would like. Give us a call now to discover more about the cremation services that we can offer to you.

How to Plan a Funeral for a Veteran

Is your family going to be celebrating the life of a loved one who spent time serving in the military sometime soon? Then you should do more than just put together plans for an ordinary funeral at one of the funeral homes in Lock Haven, PA. Instead, you should look into obtaining military funeral honors for the special veteran in your life. Learn how to plan a funeral for a veteran below and get to work.

Make sure your loved one qualifies for military funeral honors.

Before you begin planning a military funeral for your loved one, you should make sure that they will actually qualify for it. Not everyone who is a veteran will automatically be eligible for military funeral honors. In order for your loved one to qualify, they will need to be either an active duty military member or a former military member who was honorably discharged from the military. If your loved one was dismissed from the military under dishonorable conditions, it will usually prevent them from being able to get military funeral honors.

Look for a funeral home that specializes in planning funerals for veterans.

If you believe that your loved one will qualify for military funeral honors, you will need to search for a Lock Haven, PA funeral home that can help you with them. Not all funeral homes are going to be able to assist families who would like to plan military funerals. You should do your homework on the funeral homes in your area and attempt to find the ones that have experience when it comes to planning military funerals. You’ll want to have one of these funeral homes in your corner.

Provide a funeral home with the necessary paperwork for your loved one.

There is some paperwork that you will need to provide to a funeral home to get access to military funeral honors for your loved one. DD Form 214 is the most important form of the bunch. But you might also be able to get away with using other military discharge documents for the purpose of planning a military funeral for your loved one. It’s better to bring too much information along with you when planning a military funeral as opposed to not enough info, so don’t be shy about bringing whatever you can get your hands on to a funeral home.

Work with a funeral home to plan out a military funeral for your loved one.

As long as everything checks out and your loved one qualifies for military funeral honors, a funeral home should be able to help you map out a military funeral for them. They can get in touch with the right people to have military members on hand for your loved one’s funeral. It’s important for you to work with the right funeral home so that they can do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to bringing the plans for your loved one’s military funeral to life.

Is your family interested in holding a military funeral for a loved one? If you are, you can plan Lock Haven, PA funeral services for them through our funeral home. Reach out to us today to hear more about how we can assist you in honoring the special veteran in your life.

Forms to Fill Out When Planning Cremation Services

It’s going to be so much easier for your family to plan cremation services in Beech Creek, PA as opposed to burial services. It’s one of the big benefits of choosing to cremate a loved one in the first place. There will, however, be quite a bit of paperwork that you’ll need to fill out when you’re making plans for a loved one’s cremation services. You’ll need to make sure that you’re able to fill out all the necessary forms accordingly. Take a look at some of the forms that you’ll need to complete below.

Vital statistics form

When you first start working with a funeral home to plan a loved one’s Beech Creek, PA cremation, they’re going to need to gather some basic information on your loved one. They’ll need this information to do everything from obtaining their death certificate to writing their obituary. You will need to fill out some kind of a vital statistics form so that you’re able to supply a funeral home with all the important info on your loved one that you’ll need.

Cremation authorization form

Prior to cremating your loved one, a funeral home will need to get your written permission to start the cremation process. Without this permission, they won’t be able to proceed. They’re going to ask you to help them to positively identify your loved one. They’re also going to ask you to fill out a cremation authorization form that will give them permission to cremate your loved one. You’re going to want to stay on top of getting this form filled out since not doing it could delay your loved one’s cremation process.

Funeral planning form

Just because you’re going to be cremating a loved one doesn’t mean that you can’t still plan a funeral for them. You can (and you should!) plan to celebrate your loved one’s life in some way. You should talk about the different options that you’ll have with a funeral director. You should also work on filling out a funeral planning form so that a funeral home knows what you would like to do as far as holding a funeral for your loved one goes. This is another form that you should attempt to fill out sooner rather than later.

Payment authorization form

At some point, you will obviously need to pay for a loved one’s cremation services. If you’re going to be doing this with cash, you shouldn’t have to worry about filling out this particular form. But if you’re going to use a credit card to do it, you’ll need to complete a payment authorization form. It’ll provide a funeral home with permission to charge your card for your loved one’s cremation services.

Do you want to make sure that you don’t forget to fill out any important forms when you’re planning a cremation for a loved one? Our funeral home can provide families with all the forms they’ll need while they’re mapping out Beech Creek, PA cremations for their loved ones. Contact us today to get the cremation planning process going in the right direction.

What You Should Wear to Funeral Homes for Services

Are you confused as to what you should wear to funeral homes in Beech Creek, PA in 2022? If so, you should know that you’re not alone! Funeral homes have really loosened up their restrictions on what people can wear to funeral homes, and it has caused some confusion among those getting ready to attend funeral services at them. Check out some tips on what you should wear to funeral homes for services below.

You can’t go wrong with wearing a black suit or dress to a funeral home.

For a long time now, people have been wearing black suits and dresses to funeral homes for Beech Creek, PA funeral services. Although you don’t necessarily need to do this anymore, you should at least consider going with an all black suit or dress when you’re getting dressed to go to a funeral home. When you wear black to a funeral home, you’ll blend in with the crowd, which is sort of going to be the point. You won’t have to worry too much about your outfit distracting others.

You can also get away with wearing a variety of other darker colors.

While wearing black to a funeral home is always a good idea, you don’t have to wear black to a funeral home nowadays if you don’t want to. You’re also welcome to wear any number of other darker colors. For example, you can wear navy, brown, or charcoal to a funeral home if you would like. You should obviously stay away from any bright colors unless a family specifically requests that you wear them. But you can branch out and wear something other than just black if you so choose.

You should try not to wear anything with busy patterns on it.

It’s OK for people to wear colors other than black to funeral homes in this day and age, but they should still abstain from wearing anything other than solid colors. They should be especially diligent about staying away from any clothing that has busy patterns on it. These patterns could easily distract other people if you wear them to a funeral home, which is why you should leave clothing with patterns on them at home in your closet when you head off to a funeral home.

You should also stay away from wearing anything that is too revealing.

This should almost go without saying, but if you’re going to be attending funeral services at a funeral home, modesty will be the key. You do not want to put on anything that might be too revealing. This means that men should leave their shorts and V-neck shirts at home when getting dressed to go to a funeral home. It also means that women should leave their short shirts and plunging blouses at home. Otherwise, they might disrupt others at a funeral home by sticking out like a sore thumb.

Do you have additional questions on what you should wear to a Beech Creek, PA funeral home? We would be happy to answer them for you. We would also be happy to lend a hand to your family if you need help making funeral arrangements for a loved one. Call us today for all your funeral-related needs.

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