Planning A Beautiful Service

Some Practical Reasons For Choosing Cremation Over Burial

23 May 2015

Cherly Fox

As you are doing your funeral pre-planning, one of your major decisions is burial or cremation. The National Funeral Directors Association notes that cremation is becoming more popular with 43 percent of people choosing it over traditional burial in 2012. Here are some good reasons to consider cremation as part of your funeral plan.

Less Expensive

This may or may not be a factor for you depending on other choices in your plan. For example, if you choose to be cremated and have the cremains placed in a columbarium vault, here is where you'll save money:

• No casket - You'll have an urn for your cremains.
• No embalming - Direct cremation bypasses a viewing and the need for embalming.
• No grave vault - You won't need the concrete vault required by some states and cemeteries for a casket burial.
• No large cemetery plot - You'll have a small niche for your urn in the columbarium.
• No large graveside service - A columbarium service is usually small and family only.

These savings may not be the case because you can choose many of the same options with a cremation as you would with a traditional burial. For instance, you may want to have a viewing, in which case you'll need embalming and a casket. You can also choose to have your urn buried in a casket in a standard cemetery plot.

If you're considering cremation for cost reasons, make sure your plan doesn't include all these "extras."

More Convenient

With a traditional burial, the interment must be done within a certain period of time. Some states have restrictions as to how long a body can be held before burial. It can be stressful for your family to get all of the arrangements done in time, and for everyone who wants to attend your funeral who needs to travel long distances.

With a cremation, your family can hold the cremains as long as necessary to get everything in place for the funeral. Since the cremation services don't require the cremains to be present, your family can place your urn in the columbarium and have a public service later.

Environmentally Friendly

Cremation is becoming a green alternative for people for these reasons:

• It avoids the use of embalming chemicals
• It uses less physical space for interment
• It uses even less space if you have your cremains scattered

Before you settle on cremation in your funeral plan, make sure it works with all of your other choices. Get input from your family, too. Since they will be making the arrangements after your passing, they may have some thoughts on what they need for closure after their loss of you. To find out more about cremation, contact a business like Suess Bernard Funeral Home Inc.

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