Author Archives: Michael Bernardo

Do You Want to Bury the Ashes? Here Are Some Options

Many people choose to bury the ashes of their deceased loved ones after cremation services in Columbia, MD. There are different ways you can go about doing so. Once you find out about these options, you’ll want to consider which of the ways make the most sense for you.

Here are a few options should you wish to bury the ashes after a cremation service.

Urn Garden

Many cemeteries have areas that are known as an urn gardens where people can bury the urns containing their loved ones’ ashes. So this is an option if you’d like to bury the ashes rather than to take the urn home with you after the cremation is completed. You can ask the funeral director you work with for recommendations as to what funeral homes offer urn gardens.

Private Property

You can also choose to bury the ashes on private property, such as in the backyard of the family home. It can be buried near a flower garden or it can be buried a ways off with some sort of marker so that people know that an urn has been buried in a particular location.

Grave Plot

It’s also possible to bury a casket in a grave plot. Some funeral homes will allow you to bury the urn on the plot of a loved one who was previously buried in the cemetery. As you well know, an urn is quite a bit smaller than a casket, so there’s definitely room to bury an urn on the plot of a loved one who predeceased the deceased. Not all funeral homes offer this, so you’ll want to find out. The funeral director will be able to help you with this request.

Columbarium

Another possible way to bury the ashes of a deceased loved one is to place the urn in a place called a columbarium. What is a columbarium, you ask? It’s a building, or a section of a building, where cremation urns can be placed in wall spaces known as niches. If you want a place to store your loved one’s urn, you will need to contact a columbarium and buy a niche to place it in. After you place the urn containing the ashes in the building, a plaque or marker will be used to communicate the resting place of your loved one’s ashes. One benefit of the columbarium option is that you can easily retrieve the urn whenever you wish. So if you will be moving elsewhere for a career change or for some other reason, you can take the urn with you.

When you need a reputable funeral home offering cremation services for Columbia, MD families, get in touch. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. As well, we’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. So you can count on our long track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

4 Tips for Getting the Right Casket

You and your family will have a lot of decisions to make as you gather at a funeral home serving Columbia, MD families to speak with the funeral director. It can be difficult to think about planning a funeral service, graveside service, and burial right after a loved one’s death. But you and yours may very well find yourselves having to do just that. One of the decisions you’ll have to make is what casket to purchase. Here are 4 things you should do.

1. What’s Your Budget?

How much do you want to spend on a casket? This is a critical question because it can help you focus your search, which will make it easier to choose the right casket. Do you want a customized casket that is as unique as your deceased loved one was? You can definitely get something that is made to order. Of course, it will cost more to get a custom-made casket. But if you’re interested in going this route and have the budget to do so, why not? Whatever you decide to do, let the funeral director know your budget, and comb through the general price list.

2. What Type of Material Do You Want?

It’s also important to consider the material type. You can get caskets made from wood, metal, and other materials. Some people choose a material based on their deceased loved one’s style, personality, or interests. For instance, if your deceased relative was serious about reducing their carbon footprint, you might get a biodegradable casket.

3. What Size Do You Need?

You’ll obviously want to buy a casket of an appropriate size. This is where the funeral director will come in useful. They’ll be able to recommend appropriately sized caskets. You don’t want one that’s too big or that’s too small. The funeral director will help you find one that’s the right size.

4. What’s the Purpose of the Casket?

What do you plan to do with the casket? Remember that you can put the body into a casket that will be buried underground or you can put the body into a casket that will be placed into a cremation chamber. If you’re going to bury the casket, then you’ll want something constructed out of a solid material like hardwood. But if the plan is to put the casket into a cremation chamber, then you’ll want a casket made out of a cost-effective combustible material. So you’ll typically want to invest more into a casket that will be buried and less on a casket that will be put in a cremation chamber.

When you need a reputable funeral home serving Columbia, MD families, get in touch. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. As well, we’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. So you can count on our long track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

3 Reasons You Should Always Purchase a Cremation Urn at a Funeral Home

Consumer protection laws mean you have the legal right to buy a cremation urn from any retailer you choose. So while it makes sense to get one from the funeral home you hire to help with planning a cremation service, you can go elsewhere for an urn if you want to do so. You could buy one from an online marketplace that sells hundreds of thousands of different products, get one from a thrift store, or maybe even find one in the classifieds. But there are 3 reasons why a cremation services provider and funeral homes in Columbia, MD is your best option.

1. How Much Time Do You Have?

If you’re like most people planning final services for a loved one, you have to get a lot done in a short period of time. Unless the body will be embalmed, you’ll be working against the clock in order to get everything completed ahead of the actual cremation service. It will be a whole lot easier to buy an urn from the company you hire to cremate your loved one. And if you put that much faith in them, why not buy an urn from them? If you opt to buy an urn from elsewhere, that will just give you more work. Will the extra work be worth it? For most people, the answer is “no”. They know they can get a quality, competitively priced urn from the funeral home.

2. How Much Do You Know About Urns?

Another reason it makes sense to buy an urn from the funeral home working on the cremation is that they know everything there is to know about urns. Since it’s probable that you don’t know a whole lot about urns, it’s a good idea to go to a vendor that can give you the information you need. You’ll want to know about how to choose the right urn, what types of materials urns are made from, how big of an urn you will need, and more. If you buy an urn from a company other than a funeral home, you might not get the answers you need. This may, in turn, result in your buying the wrong type of cremation urn. You won’t run into this problem with a funeral home.

Find some great ideas for displaying your urns. The first thing you should do is decide what type of display will work best with the size and shape that it’s in now, then choose an area where there isn’t anything else too close by so people can come to see it without blocking any other items or distractions from view!

3. How Much Time Do You Have?

If you decide to order an urn from an online store someplace, can you be sure it will arrive on time for the cremation service? E-commerce companies are usually good about getting their products to customers, but there are variables – like the postal system – that they don’t control. You don’t want to deal with a situation where the urn isn’t delivered on time.

If you’re ready to make a final journey, consider buying an urn or visitation. These are the perfect ways for loved ones and friends in your life can pay their respects when they visit with remains at home instead of traveling far away just so that everyone has enough time together during one last goodbye before said individual passes away forever!

When you need a reputable funeral home that offers cremation services to Columbia, MD families, get in touch. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. As well, we’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. So you can count on our long track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

What Value is There in Holding a Funeral Service?

Do you have to hold a funeral service after the death of a loved one? You don’t have to, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. There’s a reason why many families plan formal services in a church before casket burials in a cemetery. If you’re pondering whether or not a funeral service is worthwhile before the actual burial, contact a funeral home in Clarksburg, MD. When you get the chance to speak to a funeral director, you’ll come to see the importance of service.

Check out the following benefits you, your family, and friends of the deceased can get by attending a funeral service.

Honor the Deceased Corporately

One of the benefits of holding a funeral service is that it provides the perfect opportunity for everyone – family and those who knew the deceased personally — to pay their last respects. Everyone deserves the opportunity to say one final goodbye. Everyone will benefit from being at the funeral home to give the dearly departed a final send-off. Besides this, the deceased would have loved to see the people they cared about most assembled together. So if you decide against a funeral service, you will deny yourself and others an opportunity to show due respect.

Grieve in a Healthy Way

A funeral service is also about grieving in a healthy way. No two people grieve the same way, and no two people grieve for the same length of time. In the early stages of the grieving process, an event like a funeral service can be beneficial. Remember that everyone at the funeral service will essentially be on the same page and going through the same thing. At the event, there will be laughter as people recount the good times. But there will also be tears. Grieving openly in a group of like-minded people can definitely help with the healing process.

Obtain Closure

It’s an irony that the closer you were to the deceased is the harder it may be to accept that they are no longer around. If you had lived with them, eaten meals with them, watched movies with them, went to church with them, gone on walks with them, and did other things with them, you might have a hard time accepting your new reality. But going to a funeral service, looking into the open casket, and comforting others as they comfort you will bring closure.

When you need a reputable funeral home serving Clarksburg, MD families, get in touch to speak with our funeral director or someone else on our staff. We’re here to help you with planning a funeral or cremation. As well, we’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. So you can count on our long and distinguished track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

5 Things About Cremation That Most People Get Wrong

How much do you know about cremation services in Silver Spring, MD? While you may have accumulated a lot of information about the body disposition option over the years, you might find that there’s a lot you don’t know about it. There are, in fact, many things about cremation that people get wrong. Check out these 5 things about cremation a lot of people get wrong.

Fact #1: Cremation is More Common Than Burial

Once upon a time, a funeral followed by a burial was by far the most common body disposition type. But things have changed a lot over the decades. Cremation is now on par with, and in some jurisdiction ahead of, burial. And many industry experts believe that cremations will in the years ahead far outpace burials as the body disposition option of choice for most people.

Fact #2: You Can Pair a Cremation with a Funeral Service

While some funeral homes won’t allow you to plan a cremation with a funeral service, there are some that will accommodate this request. When you choose the right funeral home, you can arrange a cremation and also arrange a funeral service in a church or in a chapel. The funeral service can be held either before the cremation service or after the cremation service.

Fact #3: You Can Plan a Cremation Even if You’re Religious

There are a few religions that are not in favor of cremation. But the vast majority of them are okay with funerals and cremations, which means that you likely won’t have any issues. If you have questions about this, you can ask the funeral director you hire for the funeral or cremation planning. They will give you the answers or look into it and then let you know what they find.

Fact #4: You Don’t Have to Buy an Urn

While an urn is ideal if you want somewhere to place the ashes of your deceased loved one, you don’t technically have to use one. Funeral homes also offer other containers, usually made out of cardboard, that you can place the ashes into. The choice is yours.

Fact #5: Ashes Pose No Health Concerns

Another thing about cremations that people sometimes get wrong relates to the ashes. Some believe that ashes may pose health risks. This is false. There is no risk to health or to the environment. So you can scatter the ashes without worrying about causing harm.

We’re the sort of cremation services provider in Silver Spring, MD that you can turn to if you need more tips and recommendations about explaining cremation to children. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. We’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. We also have a track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

Why it Pays to Honor Your Loved Ones After They Pass Away

It’s always a good idea to honor your loved ones in life and even in death. When you go to a funeral home in Silver Spring, MD to plan final services for a loved one, you’ll want to keep in mind the importance of honoring them in a meaningful way. Whether you go with a funeral service, cremation service, memorial service, or celebration of life service, you’ll want to do something that shows how important they were, how much they mattered, and how much they will be missed. Here’s a look at some reasons why you should honor your deceased relatives.

You Can Say Goodbye

One reason why it’s a good idea to honor your deceased loved ones is that it will allow you, your family, and friends of the deceased to say goodbye one last time. For people who hadn’t seen the deceased for a long time, an event such as a funeral can provide the opportunity for them to pay last respects. You can be sure that this can be part of the healing process.

Gain Closure

Honoring loved ones who have died can also bring closure. People handle loss in different ways, and some will take it harder than others. Being at an event that honors the deceased can — especially if there’s an open casket or an urn present — drive home the reality that they’re really gone. This can be beneficial to family members who are struggling to accept the new normal.

Celebrate Their Life

Yet another reason to honor your loved ones after they pass away is that doing so offers the opportunity to celebrate their lives. There’s no doubt that there will be sad and solemn moments during the service, but there should also be light-hearted and even joyous moments. Discuss what they were like, tell stories that give glimpses into what they were really like, talk about their accomplishment and their dreams, and basically focus on the good times.

Bring Loved Ones Together

Families come together for funerals, cremations, memorials, and celebrations of life. This is another reason why it makes sense to honor family members who have died. Loved ones from all over the world will drop what they have to do so that they can come to the service. It’s a beautiful thing to see families unite to honor loved ones who have died. By so doing, they also encourage and support one another, which further helps to strengthen the familial bonds.

When you need a reputable funeral home serving Silver Spring, MD families, get in touch. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. As well, we’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. So you can count on our long track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

4 Reasons Why You Should Consider Prepaying After Preplanning

If you intend to go to a funeral home to preplan final services, you’ll have some decisions to make. After figuring out whether to arrange a funeral service or a cremation service with a Columbia, MD death care services provider, you’ll need to decide if you’ll also prepay. Not everyone does do so, of course, but there are at least 4 good reasons in favor of prepaying.

1. Complete the Task at Hand

What are your motivations for making your own body disposition arrangements anyway? For some people, it’s a matter of wanting to have control over the specifics of their final send-off, and for others it’s a matter of sparing their family from having to plan on their behalf after their death. But if you do preplan final services, you should consider taking an extra step by also prepaying. This is especially the case if you like to do things your way.

2. Ensure Family Doesn’t Have to Pay

Some people preplan but do not get around either to prepaying or to ensuring that they earmark funds for that purpose. While preplanning is worthwhile even if you don’t prepay, you can spare your loved ones from having to pay for the funeral service or cremation service. When families lose loved ones, they face a whirlwind of emotions. It can be difficult to focus on planning and then paying for a body disposition. When you preplan and prepay, your family can grieve in peace. It will make things a whole lot easier if they don’t have to shoulder the financial burden. You can bet that your family will be grateful for your thoughtfulness.

3. Get a Better Deal

Another reason you should consider prepaying is that you’ll get a better deal if you do. The price you pay will be locked in. So if there are price hikes over time – and there will be due to inflation – you won’t be subject to them. This means that prepaying is a good decision financially. You can speak to the funeral director to get more details and to learn more about payment options.

4. Feel Better

You’ll feel great after you’ve completed the task of preplanning and prepaying. It’s always great to do things to help family whenever possible. You’ll have a sense of satisfaction when you see that you’ve taken a burden off of those you love most. When you do pass away someday, your family will be able to focus on grieving and on healing rather than on planning and on paying.

We’re the sort of cremation services provider in Columbia, MD that you can turn to if you need more tips and recommendations about explaining cremation to children. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. We’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. We also have a track record of assisting people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

How to Select the Right Funeral Home for You and Your Family

Planning a funeral or a cremation with a funeral home in Columbia, MD will be a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, making final services arrangements means someone near and dear to you has passed away. On the other hand, arranging a body disposition means you can honor your deceased relative in a tangible way that comforts you and your other family members. So that you find a reputable service provider, here are some tips to help you choose.

Affordable and Transparent Pricing

One of the things you need to look for in a funeral home worth working with is affordable and transparent pricing. You don’t only want to feel that you’ve gotten a good deal – you want to know that you have. When you talk to the funeral home director or to someone else at the funeral home, you’ll want reasonable rates and transparency. They should offer you a general price list that shows you want they offer and what everything costs. You don’t want to make all your selections and then, after getting the bill, find that there were a lot of extra charges that had not been disclosed to you. If the funeral home is transparent and honest, this won’t happen.

Expertise

You’ll also want to work with a funeral home that employs experienced workers. It’s likely that you’ll mostly deal with the funeral director at the funeral home. Such a professional is licensed and has been trained to help people who are planning funerals and cremations. But it still pays to find a funeral home where the staff members have years of relevant experience. You’ll be depending on them to help you arrange an honorable final send-off for someone you love. So finding staff who are experienced at serving customers in and around the area is important.

Adaptable

It’s also important that you find a funeral home that is adaptable. Some funeral homes are more accommodating than others are when it comes to client requests for personalized services. Is it important that you find a funeral home that will respect your religious or cultural customs? If so, make sure you do some research and make some calls to find the best options out there.

Facilities

Depending on what type of body disposition you’re planning, you may have needs for different types of facilities. So it makes sense to find funeral homes that can accommodate you. Once you think you’ve found a viable service provider, ask for a tour of the premises. You will then be able to ascertain whether or not a specific funeral home has sufficient facilities for your needs.

We’re the sort of Columbia, MD funeral home that you can turn to if you want to work with a reputable death care services provider. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. Our funeral director will help you in any way you need.

We’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. We also have a track record of helping people who need the help of a funeral home. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

Tips for Explaining Cremation Services to Children

It can be quite the challenge to explain funeral services and cremation services to children. Depending on their age, they may have a limited grasp about matters concerning death, so you will need to be careful when talking to them about such matters. One source of information, if you need help broaching the topic, is a funeral home offering cremation services in Clarksburg, MD. They’re the experts on the body disposition and will be able to advise you.

Here are some tips that may help you explain to children in the family what cremation entails.

Simple Works Best

The first thing to remember is that you should keep things as simple as you can. The younger the children are, the simpler your language should be. You don’t want to confuse them unnecessarily with long-winded explanations that leave them more confused than informed. Stick with simple words and shorter sentences. And don’t assume they understand – ask.

Choose Your Words Wisely

When explaining cremation, be careful about the words you use. For instance, you don’t want to mention words like “fire” or “burn” when talking to children about the body disposition. Those words have negative connotations that may give children the wrong idea. You might, instead, say something like, “Grandma will be placed inside a warm room until her body turns into ashes.’ Remember to mention that their deceased loved one will be peacefully asleep during the process and that they will not feel any pain or discomfort whatsoever. In fact, they won’t even be aware of what is happening.

Watch Your Euphemisms

You’ll need to be careful when using euphemisms. You don’t have to avoid them entirely – but you should use them selectively It’s common to use terms like “passed away” when describing someone who has died, and that’s fine usually. But children who are especially young won’t understand such terms in the way these terms are expected to be understood. So consider the child’s age and level of comprehension when using euphemisms. In terms of describing something like a cremation, it’s often best to use words that have positive connotations. But there are other instances where going this route might cushion the emotional blow for the child.

Keep the Conversation Going

Let the children in your family know that you’re always there if they want to talk. And don’t wait for them to come to you either. You can ask them if they understand what you said. You can also let them know that it’s okay to open up and tell you how they feel and to ask questions.

We’re the sort of cremation services provider in Clarksburg, MD that you can turn to if you need more tips and recommendations about explaining cremation to children. We’re here to help you with planning for a deceased relative or with preplanning for yourself. We’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. We also have a track record of helping people who need the help of a professional death care services provider. You can reach us by phone or visit our office to speak to someone in person.

5 Things a Funeral Home will Help You with

After a loved one passes away, you will need help from a funeral home serving Clarksburg, MD families. A lot goes into planning funeral services and cremation services, so you’ll want help from professionals in the death care services industry.

What follows is a look at 5 things that a funeral home will be able to help you with so that you can plan final services.

1. They Will Explain the Process

It can be overwhelming, after a loved one has died, to know precisely what to do. This is all the more the case if you’ve never before had to make funeral or cremation arrangements. You’ll want to know what the process entails, and you’ll also want to work with a funeral home that will be able to explain everything in as much detail as you require.

2. They Will Let You Know Your Options

You will need to plan a funeral service or a cremation service. The funeral home will explain the two body dispositions and will let you know what final services packages you can choose from. If you have any questions, the funeral home will be able to give you the answers you want. By the time you need to select a final services option, you will be able to make an informed choice.

3. They Will Offer Grief Resources

The funeral home will also be able to help you with grief resources. You or other members of your family may need some extra help to cope with the loss in the family. Funeral homes have contacts with various organizations in their respective communities, so they’re often able to give referrals should you require help beyond what funeral homes traditionally offer.

4. They Will Help You with Documents and Paperwork

You’ll also get a lot of help with filling out documents and paperwork when you plan with a funeral home. They will let you know what needs to be signed and will even submit some documents on your behalf to expedite the process. This will make things easier for you at a time when you definitely won’t need any added stress.

5. They Will Offer You Suggestions

Are you unsure about what direction to go? The funeral home will be there to offer recommendations should you need them. Remember the people who work at funeral homes are the experts, so they will be able to offer tips and suggestions that help you make the decisions you need to make.

Do you need help from a reputable funeral home in Clarksburg, MD? We’re here to help you with planning and preplanning final services. We’re a family owned and operated funeral home that has been serving the community since the early 1900s. And we’re committed to helping people by offering compassionate support, providing various final services packages, answering any and all questions, and offering recommendations. Get in touch for help arranging final services. Our funeral director is here to help you. Call or visit when you need us.

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