The Advantages Of Pre-Paid Funerals

Many people have a hard time accepting the fact that one day their life is going to come to an end. Death is just a part of life and sadly something that no one can ever avoid.

Nowadays a lot people plan ahead and make a Will, but in reality that is not all that needs to be addressed. After you have passed away you will need to have a funeral, and having funeral plans in place will make it easier for your remaining loved ones at the time.

You have a couple options when it comes to planning your funeral, and having a pre-paid funeral plan will help your family avoid thousands of pounds in funeral expenses upon your death.

There are other benefits that your family will get if you have a pre-paid funeral. It can be incredibly hard on your family to make funeral plans when they are still in mourning because of your death. Having pre-paid funeral plans in place assists them in a time of need so they do not have to worry about arranging the funeral when emotions are running high.

The good thing about considering a pre-paid funeral plan is you can do all this in advance and make your choices from a range of options. It will allow you to make the type of choices you want, and provide the kind of service you want your family and friends to remember you by.

It is hard to know when the right time to start your funeral planning is. This is especially true for younger adults that have a very long time before they have to worry about death. However, there is no time like the present!

The first thing you need to decide is what location you want to have your funeral held at. Most pre-paid funeral plan providers will offer you a choice of local Funeral Directors to assist you with your plans and provide a choice of payment options.

It is hard for many people to accept that they will eventually die. Planning ahead with a pre-paid funeral plan will make your death much easier on your family. At some point you are going to have a funeral, it is important that you make that as easy for your family as possible, by reducing not only the financial burden but also the emotional stress.

So there is also a clear financial benefit to pre-paid funeral planning. You can fix the cost of your funeral at today's prices.

Most pre-paid funeral plan companies will also offer you a choice of how to pay for funeral plan. These are usually in 12, 60 or sometimes 120 monthly payments. These make it a lot more manageable for you over time.

Some pre-paid funeral plan providers present plans that are inclusive of the main components of a funeral. Other cheaper plans may come with costly, and sometimes hidden, add-ons. You need to carefully check each plan before signing your application forms.

Clearly there are two ways for you to arrange a funeral. You may either go direct to a local Funeral Directors, or use one of the pre-paid funeral plan companies. The advantage of this is they tend to have a packaged list of funeral options for you which ultimately make it a lot easier for you to arrange with the minimal of fuss.

Particular facets of your funeral service, limousine or disbursement allowance may not be clear with a Funeral Director, but should be shown clearly in front of you with any pre-paid funeral option. You should also note that some Funeral Directors may have a restriction about the distance they may be ready to travel to acquire the deceased.

You should also use any pre-paid funeral company you choose the same as you would a local Funeral Director. Seek in-depth information from them about what services they offer. What is included in each of their options. What additional costs, if any you may incur if you decide to take up one of their repayment plans. This will avoid costly surprises down the line.

Planning a funeral in advance is a good idea as you never know what is around the corner and you will have your wishes guaranteed in good time. Usually, funerals are planned in a hasty fashion after a death and leaves loved ones with instant and sometimes painful choices to make. Pre-planning your funeral will takes all these stresses away, and you get the services you wish.

Knowing that all your wishes will be carried out at a cost which fits into your budget gives huge comfort so that you can focus on everything else. With pre-paid funeral plans you can plan everything in advance so that your family won't have to worry about the cost or other arrangements and you will be buried or cremated the way you want. Paying for the funeral in advance gives you the peace of mind as you fix your funeral costs at current prices and will not be subject to any future price rises.

When choosing any pre-paid funeral plan provider make a list of questions that might affect your planning decisions::

- How long is the plan for?

- What are the terms and conditions?

- How can you make the payments?

- Can any changes be made?

- What if you change your mind?

- Does the plan include everything you wanted?

- How safe is your money?

- What if you die before making the full payment?

Having a funeral plan in place will be a great comfort to your family at the time of your death. It will save them from any financial burden. It will avoid the stress of having to contact a local Funeral Director. It will save them time and emotional family stress. And it will also clearly outline your funeral choices and avoid any discomfort at the time.



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You're less than 5 minutes away from a classic dessert with this carrot mug cake recipe!

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Selecting A Funeral Poem

When it comes to funeral poems it can seem like it is a huge task trying to choose the right one. This is because a well chosen poem can make a big impact on a funeral. Poems are great ways of expressing how you are feeling. They are also a great way for you to start healing your emotions, both for the people listening to the poem and to the person who are reading it out.

Most funeral poems as you would expect talk of loss and the sadness that comes with this. However the poems you use at the funeral do not have to be sad they can instead be uplifting. They can talk about valuing the amazing things about a person and their life. The poems can be a celebration; they can talk of love for that person. poems can have any tone which you want at a funeral.

Sometimes it can be quite fitting for the poem to having nothing at all to do with funerals or death. If the deceased enjoyed certain activities, for example, sailing, you could read a poem about the sea. In the same way, if the deceased had a favorite poet then the poem could be one by this poet. This will work especially if you tell everyone that it was their favorite poet before reading the poem out.

What will generally work well for a funeral poem is choosing something that will speak to the audience the most. A funeral poem should have a wide appeal. For example, if the deceased liked Shakespeare, depending on who else will be at the funeral, some might not be able to relate to it. This is why a lot of consideration needs to go into choosing a poem for a funeral. A funeral poem can be read during a funeral on its own or you could incorporate it into a part of any eulogy.

If you choose you can also read your poem away from the funeral service. You can read the poem together as a family or on your own. This all depends on personal choice and how you feel about the funeral poem. The choice is totally up to you do not feel pressured by what most people may expect. You may even wish to pass a funeral poem round before, during or after the funeral for everyone to read to themselves. Funeral poems help a great deal in comforting people, no matter which way you decide to incorporate a poem into the funeral service it will still have a big impact on many.

Remember if a funeral poem you like has a line or word that is inappropriate then you can always change it or remove it altogether. No one will notice or care, they will just listen to the poem and reflect upon it. If you feel you are able to write your own poem then that is also a great idea. It is a very personal method when having a poem. Seven of the most popular funeral poems are listed here:

• Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep
• If I Should Go Before the Rest of You
• Funeral Blues
• Remember
• Life Unbroken
• On Death (From the Prophet)
• Footprints

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Caskets and Remembrance- Ways Families Are Saying Goodbye

More info at http://www.remembranceprocess.com

Caskets and Remembrance- Ways Families Are Saying Goodbye

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Grief Support Resources

The emotional upheaval these trying times can cause is sometimes so overwhelming that even the support of friends and family may not help relieve the amount of sadness and grief you feel.

At Bryan-Braker Funeral Home we offer the following aftercare grief sessions:

»  Center for Loss & Transition 
A leading provider of information and inspiration in the areas of illness and dying, loss and grief, healthy caregiving, life transition, and spirituality.

»  Growth House 
An international gateway to resources for life-threatening illness and end of life issues. Hypertext topic pages link to sites around the world. Links to hospice and home care, bereavement, death with dignity, AIDS, and related topics in life-threatening illness.

»  GriefNet 
GriefNet is an Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major loss. They have many email support groups. Their integrated approach to online grief support provides help to people working through loss and grief issues.

»  National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization 
Committed to improving end of life care and expanding access to hospice care with the goal of profoundly enhancing quality of life for people dying in America and their loved ones.

Funeral Poem "When I Am Gone" - How To Write and Deliver A Eulogy Speech

The eulogy is a very important task. Eulogizing the deceased helps us mourn and remember, honor and celebrate their life. And in the process ease our grief and pain from the loss. So the pain of the loss fades with time, but not the memories, which are cherished.

Giving a speech is challenging at any time, but having to deliver it when you are facing the emotional shock of loss of a beloved one makes it harder. However, eulogies are far easier to deliver than ordinary speeches. The audience is fully on your side and want you to succeed. And a eulogy is really something very simple. As it comes from your heart.

This video was based on a guide to writing a great eulogy by Kevin Burch. He is an experienced teacher and trainer and has personally delivered around a hundred eulogies, and assisted others in as many a number since 1999. His guide on writing and delivering eulogies is based on years of experience and a sense of compassion for those who are suffering loss of a loved one.

I'll Remember You

This beautiful video is intended to be a gift to families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one. We know that death is difficult, stressful and confusing. We believe, however, that remembrance is good. And this touching video is a reminder of all the ways we can remember and cherish family members forever. The video is a poem and a song on film, that we hope you can watch many times—helping you begin the process of moving from grieving to remembrance.

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• Also included is a poem card with the poem and verse printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other.
This angel is for those whose path is on the road of courage. You have carried your weight of what you are going through and still plowed forward. You have stepped out of your zone of comfort to fulfill your vision. Obstacles and challenges have not held you back. In fact you have grown stronger and more confident, making the courage you have inside grow.

VERSE: "I command you- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." —Joshua 1:9

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Rehearse Your Eulogy Or Funeral Speech In Front Of A Video Camera, Not A Mirror

If you want to write and deliver an effective eulogy, you need to do two things before the day of the funeral or memorial service: prepare, and rehearse. Preparation helps you discover what to say. Rehearsing helps you know how to say it. And how not to say it.

But when you practice your eulogy, do so in front of a video camera, not a mirror. Speaking in front of a mirror is unnatural. You are speaking to yourself, looking at yourself, and that does not reflect reality, if you'll excuse the pun. As you look at yourself in a mirror, you are unlikely to do any of the things that public speakers do that distract their audience and detract from their talks.

Practicing your funeral speech in front of a video camera, on the other hand, is guaranteed to reveal any gestures, body language, posture problems, verbal ticks and other problems that you need to fix before the big day.

Let me give you a practical example. Back in 1982, when I was serving in the Royal Marines, I took a course on military instructional technique. It was a course that taught us how to teach soldiers. As part of the course, each member of the class had to deliver his lesson to the class while he was filmed on a VHS video camera.

The results of my session were illuminating, and uncovered a terrible habit I had. A habit I never would have discovered by rehearsing in front of a mirror: I didn't look my audience in the eye. As I spoke, I looked at the floor, at the back of the classroom, at the student's chests, anywhere but in their eyes. Effective communication between people requires eye contact.

I had no clue that I never made eye contact while delivering a talk or lesson. But the video camera did. It caught this problem in dazzling full colour, with sound.

As I am sure you can appreciate, I would never have discovered my error if I had practiced in front of a mirror. That's because, like most people, when I look at myself in a mirror, I look myself in the eye. I'm not nervous about locking eyes with myself. When I am speaking at my reflection, I am confident and unaware.

That is the beauty of rehearsing in front of a video camera. You are not speaking to yourself. You are speaking to an audience (sort of). The other big advantage of delivering your eulogy to a video camera is that you can watch yourself afterwards as many times as you need to in order to catch those mannerisms, idiosyncrasies, verbal ticks and other problems that get in the way of you writing and giving a great eulogy.

So prepare your eulogy, and practice your funeral speech. You'll be glad you did. And so will your audience.



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