3 Important Functions A Graveside Service Can Fulfill
Posted on: 16 February 2023
Share
Should you plan a graveside service instead of or in addition to your loved one's funeral or memorial? While graveside services are common for some families, they may also be useful to fill a particular role or offer a solution to challenges. Here are a few of the most common reasons you might consider one.
1. To Simplify the Funeral
If you wish to or need to simplify the funeral service, consider replacing a traditional service with a graveside service. The graveside service is often shorter and has fewer elements, but you may also lengthen it and include religious traditions and other features more commonly seen in funerals.
Its shorter nature and outdoor location mean that there is less decor needed to set the stage, more complicated features are skipped, you don't have to find a venue, and fewer people will be involved. All this adds up to less work, less time, and less expense than a traditional funeral or even a memorial.
2. To Separate Private Services
By arranging for both a funeral or memorial and a graveside service, you have the ability to decide who is invited to which elements of the services. You might plan a larger funeral open to many people with a small, personal graveside service. Or your family may prefer the opposite.
Whichever way you choose to separate the guest list, you can ensure that the closest family and friends have a chance to grieve privately. But this combination also allows acquaintances and more distant relations the chance to say goodbye in a more open and public setting.
3. To Extend the Service
Perhaps your goal isn't to shorten or simplify your loved one's final send-off. If your family would benefit from extending it, the graveside service provides another opportunity for people to participate and mourn in their own ways.
Most graveside services are done after the main funeral or memorial, but they can also come in between the funeral and a later memorial or wake. There may be additional parts, such as the funeral procession or military honors, that lengthen the overall farewell even more.
Where to Start
A graveside service can help you design the right goodbye for the friends and family of the deceased person. Whether you add it to the schedule or use it to replace something else, the best place to begin planning is to meet with an experienced local funeral parlor today.
For more info, contact a local funeral parlor.