Let us help you to discover all of your memorial options….
Memorial Options
Traditional Funeral
A traditional funeral service is a structured ceremony that provides friends and family with an opportunity to grieve and say goodbye to the person who has died while providing comfort to surviving family members.
The service typically begins with a viewing or visitation of the deceased that can last anywhere from one to three hours, where friends and family can pay their respects and share stories prior to the funeral service. If the casket lid is closed during the service, the ceremony is known as a visitation, and if the lid is open, the ceremony is known as a viewing.
The funeral service is then held after the visitation or viewing, either immediately following or the next day. The funeral service can be held at a funeral home or a church of your choice. During the service, people may deliver eulogies, say prayers, read passages, or sing, however, these activities can be personalized based on your family or your loved one’s wishes.
Cremation
Direct cremation is a simple and affordable alternative to a funeral. The crematorium will collect the deceased and conduct a cremation immediately, with no service (note there are waiting periods in some states and NJ is 24 hours). Then the crematory return the ashes to you, and you can choose how you’d like to memorialize them. This is a good option for those who can’t travel to a funeral on short notice.
There is an option to have a memorial service in a time and place that is preferred.
Burial (Traditional & Green)
A natural burial means the deceased is buried without embalming. A natural coffin or shroud is often used and the body is buried in a green burial site. Most of the time, a funeral director isn’t necessary, but some states do require it. There is no visitation, but that does not necessarily mean there is no memorial service — you can always choose to hold a memorial service if you wish.
Celebration of Life
As funeral alternatives gain in popularity, celebrations of life are becoming more common. They’re like memorial services, but take on a different tone. You might hold it in a nontraditional location, put together a playlist of music that the deceased person loved, create a theme around one of their favorite things, or release paper lanterns in their honor. Many families choose to hold both a funeral and a celebration of life to honor their loved one.
There are a variety of reasons that holding a traditional funeral may not feel right. Your loved one may not have wanted one or you may not be able to afford a lavish memorial ceremony. Whatever your reasons and desires, there’s a funeral alternative out there for you.
Military Service
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute, drumming and other military elements, with a flag draping over the coffin.
Ash Scattering
After cremation, holding a gathering in a place your loved one enjoyed visiting and scattering their ashes is a popular funeral alternative. If you’d like to invite only close friends and family and make the memorial ceremony more personal, this is a good option as well. Speak with your Pathlight memorial Specialist to discuss local NJ regulations for ash scattering before choosing this option.
Memorial Service
A memorial service is similar to a funeral service in many ways. The main difference is that at a funeral, the body is present as a focal point for the service, whether in a closed or open casket, but at a memorial service, the body is not present. Usually, a framed portrait or an urn serves as the focal point at a memorial service.
This service can be held in a number of different locations - please speak to your Pathlight memorial specialists to discover area venue options.
Living Funeral
A living funeral is much like any other kind of funeral service. The main difference is that the person who is being remembered is still alive. It's quite common for them to attend their own living funeral too.
There are no set rules about living funerals – they can follow any structure and include anything the person wants. Sometimes they're serious occasions where people wear dark clothes and share memories of the person as if they had already died. Other times, they're like a big party, where friends and family gather to celebrate the person's life.
Living funerals are sometimes called 'pre-funerals'.
Tele-memorial Service
A virtual funeral is a service that allows the family and friends of the deceased to gather on an online platform. The service may be solely to bring together those who live too far to travel for a personal gathering or this remote option can offer those far away to join in on the in-person service of choice as an additional option.
