When planning a funeral service, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is which funeral home to select. The right funeral home will provide the amenities, religious or cultural atmosphere and general comfort that you are looking for, while the wrong one can make an already difficult experience even harder. Here are some of the questions you need to ask when planning funeral services in Oakland, CA:
- Do you want a religious or cultural funeral home? If your loved one was devoted to a particular religious or cultural tradition, you may want to honor that by giving them an appropriately synchronized funeral. Knowing which religious or cultural atmosphere you want your funeral home to provide will go a long way towards narrowing down your search.
- Do you need a crematory? This question is fairly self evident, but if your loved one intended to be cremated, selecting a funeral home with a crematory makes the process much less complicated.
- Do you want your funeral home to have its own cemetery? If your loved one doesn’t already have a plot reserved at a specific cemetery, choosing a funeral home with their own attached cemetery may make the process that much simpler.
- Which amenities and services do you need? Are any of your funeral guests disabled and needing special accommodations? Do you want a holding room for visitation before the service? What about flowers, music, an urn or casket, and funeral programs? Will you be providing those yourself, or do you want the funeral home to handle all of it? Knowing what you want will not only help you find the right funeral home—it will also help you when negotiating the price and planning the service.
- What is your budget? And speaking of the price, you can’t disregard it when selecting a funeral home. No matter how much you may want to honor the deceased with a lavish funeral, he or she likely would not have wanted you to go into debt paying for it. Determine your budget before even looking into funeral homes, prioritize what’s important and stick to your budget.
- Do you feel comfortable? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many nice features a funeral home has if you don’t feel welcome and comfortable there. Don’t feel pressured into picking the first funeral home you visit if it’s not the one for you and your family. If a funeral director does not see eye to eye with your vision for the service, then that is not a good way to honor your loved one. Listen to your inner voice and let it guide you to the right funeral home.
Choosing a funeral home can be overwhelming, so hopefully these questions will help you narrow down your search. If you are still unsure of where to start, feel free to contact Sunset Funeral, Cremation & Casket Company for funeral services in Oakland, CA. We’ll always be honest, fair and respectful toward you and your loved ones during this difficult time.