Finally, if you're planning your own funeral or memorial service in advance, you should inform your family about your end-of-life wishes to make sure they know what you want. Ideally, you should provide a written record rather than relying upon a family member's memory or keeping your plans on your computer, but even a single verbal conversation with your spouse or partner, child, sibling, or parent can prove better than nothing.
Planning a funeral or memorial service is a highly personal process, and your decisions will be shaped by your life experiences, your relationship to the deceased, what the deceased wanted or what you desire for yourself after you die, what you can afford, and a myriad of other factors. There are several reasons to plan a funeral in advance, but here are the decisions you will generally need to make.
Rodney Eugene Broady, age 63. Sunrise July 7, 1957 and Sunset September 17, 2020. Please revisit this page and pray for the Broady Family as they write the obituary for Rodney. Private Visitation 10:00 AM and Private Funeral Service 11:00 AM Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at MARLAN J. GARY FUNERAL HOME, THE CHAPEL OF PEACE… Read complete obituary here.
You will likely need a funeral director to help you make arrangements for handling the body, but in many states, this is not required. If you are in an area that permits home funerals and burials, you may be able to handle most of the preparation yourself. See our page on home funerals and burials. As far as arranging the ceremony, you may find that you would like to work with a funeral celebrant. A funeral celebrant is a trained professional whose job is to help you plan the type of ceremony you would like.
At no point should you feel pressured into making any arrangements that make you feel uncomfortable. While some people may opt for embalming, cosmetology, and a viewing or wake, others may simply want a graveside service or a direct cremation; all of these are valid options, and at no point should you feel that the funeral director is pressuring you to add on unwanted services.
Evangelist Ceola Walker Baker, age 78. Heaven Sent April 3, 1942 and Heaven Bound October 22, 2020. Ceola was born in Birmingham, AL to Samuel Sr. and Sally Walker. Ceola was a member of Miracle Cathedral where she served as an Ordained Evangelist, Church Mother, Missionary, and Mime Ministry. She loved feeding the community with… Read complete obituary here.
If the death has already happened and you do not have time to pre-plan, download a copy of our Funeral Planning Checklist and Planning Form. This comprehensive document will help you gather all the information that you will need when meeting with the funeral service providers you will be working with. Once you make the request we will email you right away with a link to download the document.![]()
If you visit a funeral home in person, the FTC requires the funeral provider to give you a general price list itemizing the cost of the items and services the funeral home offers. If the price list does not include specific prices of caskets or other burial containers, laws require the funeral director to show you price lists. If it’s more convenient and less stressful to call funeral homes by telephone, the Funeral Rule enforced by the FTC requires funeral directors to provide price information on the phone.
In addition, it is possible to formally arrange your services in advance with a provider and then pay in advance, whether all at once or through installments. There are many reasons why people enter into these "preneed" arrangements, including removing the burden of making difficult decisions once death occurs; to prevent financial hardship on survivors, or to spend down their assets in order to qualify for certain federal benefits.![]()
In the past few decades, funeral services have grown increasingly personalized, although many people still think of the "traditional funeral" as the norm. A personalized funeral or memorial service reflects the unique life and personality of the deceased individual, as viewed by the deceased and/or his or her surviving loved ones, and regardless of the form such services take.
Have you and your family discussed a budget, and decided on an amount that’s affordable for you—that you’re willing and able to spend without hardship? Shopping for a funeral should be like making any major purchase—you know what you can afford before you start shopping. Don’t make the mistake of buying a funeral the way many people do—accepting the funeral home’s price then scrambling to find the money.

