Finding Funeral Homes With Great Reputations

When you are in need of funeral homes in Shelby Carter Township, MI, one thing you are going to want from that funeral home is a great reputation. When you hear that the funeral home has impeccable standing within the community, you know you can trust them to handle your loved one’s needs and to honor their memory. If you are looking into the reputation of the funeral home before the final services are arranged, here are a few things you can do.

Ask Family Members For Recommendations

Just because you haven’t used a local funeral home recently, or at all, doesn’t mean other people you know haven’t. Ask family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers what recommendations they have. You may run into someone who has used a funeral home recently and had a wonderful experience with them. They say that word of mouth is the best advertising and you would probably rather go with a funeral home that has great word of mouth advertising over one with decent commercials or billboards. Those recommendations can help you to trust the funeral homes you approach based on what you have heard about them.

Look At Reviews Online

Funeral home websites can tell you a lot about them, but if you want to hear the truth about them, you will look at reviews outside their websites. People are going to be brutally honest, you will find, and if you see only good things about a certain funeral home, you will feel better about using them for your loved one’s final services as well.

Check Their Social Media

Most funeral homes, in addition to websites, will also have social media today. Take a look at past and recent posts to get a feel for how they deal with things. If you see anything that is in poor taste, you might want to think twice about using them. Their reputation should look clean and shining, even through their social media, if you are going to trust them with your loved one.

Ask Local Churches Who They Have Worked With

Many of the area churches are going to have relationships with funeral homes because funerals are often held in either the funeral home or the churches in the area. Talk to churches you trust and see what kind of experiences they have had with certain funeral homes. They may prefer one over another for a variety of reasons and that can help you make a decision as well.

If you are looking into funeral homes in Shelby Carter Township, MI, you are going to want fair, affordable prices, the services you want for your loved one, a good location, and a variety of other things. You also want a great reputation so you can trust those professionals to honor your loved one in the best ways. The experts at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home are here to help you with every step of the planning process from start to finish. Our compassion and support is behind you.

Reasons To Put Off Memorials After Cremation Services

When a loved one passes away, it’s customary to have some kind of memorial service for them, even if you go with cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI. However, if you choose cremation as their final disposition method, you have time on your hands. Once the cremation process is complete, you can do whatever you want at any time that you want to do it. You can have a memorial service right away, if that’s what feels best. But you can also put services off, if you need to. Here are a few reasons to put services off for a week or more once the cremation is complete.

1-To Give Family Time To Travel

If your family is spread out throughout the country, it might be hard for them to drop everything and make it to your location for the memorial service. When you put the service off for a week or more, they will have the date to mark on their calendar and that can give them the time they need to plan things out at home and travel to your area. It’s a nice way to gather more people instead of having things at the last minute, which makes it hard on many people.

2-To Allow Time To Plan Something Special

When you think about what you want to do for your loved one, it might be hard to figure it all out in short order. You want to plan something special, but that can take time. If you want to do something that takes more time to plan out and organize, you should. There’s no reason to hurry and you can do whatever you want at whatever time you want. If you need more time to plan, take it. You can place whatever timeline you want on the process.

3-To Give Grieving Time Before Planning

Grief can be heavy and you might feel like you are in a fog when you first go through the grieving process. You may want to give yourself and your family a little time to work through what has happened before you have to dive into plans. You may be able to make decisions with more of a clear mind when you let some of the grief pass before you get into memorial service options.

4-To Wait For A Specific Time

Perhaps there is a certain holiday coming up that your loved one adored, or their birthday is next month. You can put the memorial service off so you are able to hit that time for the service. It can mean a lot to have the service on a special day. Whenever that day comes around other years, you will always remember the memorial service along with the other things behind the day.

If you are working on cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI for a loved one, you may first want to take care of their needs. Then, you can worry about the memorial service with the professionals at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home later.

Worst Decisions Made At Funeral Homes

The professionals at funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI want to help you with your loved one’s final services. They want to take care of that special person’s needs and your own personal needs. While the professionals are there to support you with compassion, they are not going to make decisions for you. And sometimes, when people are grieving, they can make bad decisions. Here are some of the worst decisions made at funeral homes.

Going Against The Person’s Wishes

If you know what your loved one wanted for their final services, one of the worst decisions you can make is to go against those wishes. If they wanted cremation and you go with a traditional funeral and burial, you may have regrets later. It can feel bad to go against something you know they wanted and you don’t need to deal with regrets in addition to your grief. It’s best, in order to honor that special person, to do what they wanted, if you know what that is. If you aren’t sure, you simply have to do your best and guess at what they might have wanted.

Not Holding Any Services

While you don’t have any requirements on you to have services of any kind after your loved one’s needs are met, you aren’t necessarily addressing your needs, or the needs of the rest of your family members. It can be a huge mistake not to have services because you might not get that final goodbye you need to move on. You might not feel the closure that you have to have. Even if you have those things, the other people in your family may not have gotten them and that can come back around later, too.

Going Overbudget In A Big Way

When you address the funeral home, it’s a good idea to look at their price list and figure out what a reasonable budget is for what you want for that person. Then, set a budget and stick to it. It’s a bad decision to just pick things that are expensive from the funeral home, only to go way above that budget that you set. You want your loved one to get nothing but the best, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend everything you have and then some.

Not Relying On Funeral Director’s Help/Support

The funeral directors are there to help you and support you through this process. It’s a bad decision not to take them up on that offer. You are going through a lot right now and these professionals can help you to relieve the burdens from your own shoulders. Once you make decisions, they can implement them for you and that can really help you get a lot done in the right ways.

There are many great decisions you can make at funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI to address your loved one’s needs, but you will want to make the worst decisions and the professionals at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home are here to help.

Why Is Cremation So Popular?

When you have to have final services for your loved one, there are two main options. You can go the traditional route and have a funeral or you can have cremation services Washington Township, MI. While both are respectful ways to go, cremation has become more popular over the years. Today, cremation is used in about half of the cases. The other half, of course, use traditional funeral and burial services. Here are some of the many reasons why cremation has become so popular in recent decades.

It Costs Much Less Than A Funeral

Cremation is going to cost less than a traditional funeral, mainly because you don’t have a lot of the products and services involved with a funeral as necessary with a cremation. You don’t, for example, have to buy a casket, worry about embalming, get a burial plot, and other such things. Those are products and items you have to have for a funeral, but you don’t have to have those with cremation. That takes the costs down right away.

Cremation Is Honorable

This method is completely honorable and respectful, as is a traditional service. More people understand that now more than ever before and that is making the process more popular. Those who are unsure might still go with a funeral and that’s fine. But it’s important to know that no matter what direction you take, it’s a dignified send off for your loved one.

The Method Allows For Variations On Services

When you decide to go a traditional route, that means a visitation, a funeral, and a burial service. Those are the services included. When you decide on cremation, you have a lot of options available and you might find those more fitting to your loved one and your family than the alternative. When you consider cremation, you can have whatever kind of service you want for your loved one around the cremation. It’s nice to know you can customize anything you want as a part of the process.

The Final Resting Place Can Be Special

Funerals mean you have to bury your loved one. If you decide on cremation, you can have a varied final resting place that might mean more to you. You can scatter ashes in a certain location or you can even keep your loved one in a family home. That might feel right to you and that’s another reason why cremation is so popular today.

There’s No Timeline

Once the cremation process is complete, there are no timelines that are necessary. You don’t have to have a memorial service right away, though you can if you want to. You don’t have to decide on a final resting place right away, either. Those things can be decided whenever you want in the future with no pressure to make decisions too quickly.

When you are thinking about a loved one’s final services, cremation services Washington Township, MI are an option to consider. They are popular and work well for many people and the professionals at Lee Ellena Funeral Home can help with the choices.

Benefits Of Direct Burial With A Funeral Home

You might know certain things about what you want to do for a loved one when they pass on. Perhaps you have a feeling that burial with funeral homes in Washington Township, MI is the right thing for that person. However, there are benefits that go along with skipping the funeral process and going for a direct burial. Here are some of those advantages to consider in certain situations.

Less To Plan

When you hear that a loved one has passed on, you might be rather shocked and you have to deal with their services as well as your shock and the imminent grief. When you go with a direct burial, there are fewer things to plan. You don’t have to worry about as many decisions on their behalf in a quick manner. You can always have a memorial service later, if you so desire, but you are taking care of their needs upfront so they get the things they have to have at this stage.

More Affordability

Burial is going to cost more than cremation, but when you go with a direct burial over a full funeral service, you get more cost options included. You don’t have to pay for the visitation space, the funeral elements, embalming, and other such things. When you cut those things out, burying your loved one can be a lot more affordable. You are able to have what you want for your loved one without worrying so much about the costs.

Less Time Constraints For a Memorial

When you go for a funeral with the professionals followed by a burial, there’s going to be a time crunch and you will need to get everything done within a few days. If you decide on direct burial instead, you don’t have the time constraints on a memorial service. You can take care of your loved one right away and then take your time in planning the services you really want for them at your own pace.

Takes Care Of Needs Quickly

Your loved one has needs that have to be taken care of and it’s smart to consider what you want for them. That might mean burial and you can take care of that right away without considering the other services you want right away. You can ensure that your loved one gets what they need and you can take care of other things later on.

When you are working with funeral homes in Washington Township, MI, the professionals at Lee Ellena Funeral Home are here to help you with the options. We can go over the costs with you for any packages that you want to consider. We understand this is hard and we want you to get everything you want for your loved one’s final services. You deserve to honor that person in all the right ways and in every way you see fit. Let us get to know you and your family and support you through this part of your life.

Set Your Cremation Services Apart

If you have decided that you would like to have cremation services in Shelby Carter Township, MI sometime in the future (hopefully the distant future!) when you pass on, there are things you can do now to make them stand out from other services of that nature. You want something special because you know there is no one like you. Here are a few things to do ahead of time.

Plan Them In Advance

While you can tell family that you want to be cremated and they will likely make sure your wishes are met, you might want to plan your services yourself ahead of time. You can customize every detail and make things feel extra special for your family members. Planning things ahead of time means you are able to get the plans into place and you will have exactly what you want when that time comes.

Give Your Family What They Need

One of the big things you might want to do when you make plans in the future for yourself is to think about your family’s needs. It can be really special for your family to realize that not only are you getting what you need when you pass on, but you also are giving them the things that they need. That will help them to appreciate the services all that much more and make them set themselves apart from other options.

Customize The Experience

When you plan ahead, you also have the opportunity to think through the details and to help yourself get exactly what you want. You can customize anything you want. You might get pictures together that you would like used or you can plan activities for your family that you appreciate. Customizing the details can help you to leave a last final gift for your family members.

Pay For Things Ahead Of Time

Planning out your final services for your family members in advance, you are able to give them a nice final gift. Another thing you can consider doing is to pay for things in advance. That’s a great way to not only relieve your family of the planning burdens, but also taking away the cost issues they might have with the process in the future.

When you are thinking about your own final services, the first decision you will want to make is whether you want a funeral service or cremation services in Shelby Carter Township, MI. If you go with cremation, there are a lot of other decisions to make. How will you customize the services? Do you want an urn? Would you like to figure out your final resting place? There are plenty of questions and you have time to answer them. There’s no pressure and the professionals at Lee Ellena Funeral Home are here to help. You can get the options from us and then decide on the details little by little from there. You can also make the plans with us whenever you are ready to move forward.

Regrets Over Funeral Home Choice

You don’t want to regret things when you have funeral homes in Shelby Carter Township, MI helping you to plan final services for a loved one. There are plenty of mistakes you can make and there are plenty of regrets you could have. When it comes to something as important as a final service, you don’t want to have regrets. Here are a few things that can cause regrets as you go through the planning process.

Hiring Someone Without Experience

The first thing you are going to want to do when someone passes on is to find a funeral home to help you with their final services. You will likely have regrets if you hire a professional who doesn’t have a lot of experience. You can tell a lot about a funeral home based on their experience. Look into their history and background and make sure they have the experience you need so you are able to trust them with your loved one and your own needs.

Hiring A Company In A Bad Location

There are lots of funeral homes on the market and you are going to want to make sure you choose one with a good location. A good location might mean something close to the cemetery you want to use, something close to your home, or something in a good location in town so family can visit and help with the plans. You could regret choosing a funeral home with a location way out of the way as you work on plans for your loved one’s services.

Getting Experts With High Price Tags

One of the things you need to do when you are inspecting various funeral home options is look over the price lists with great care. They should be open about their prices and you need to take note of whether or not their prices are fair. If you hire a funeral home without taking those into consideration, you might have experts on your hand that have prices that are way too high. Average prices are the best way to go because you know they are fair. You deserve fair, affordable prices for the services your loved one needs.

Hiring People Who Don’t Have Suggestions

When you call funeral home experts to find out more about them, ask them questions and for ideas. You might have regrets if you end up with a funeral director that doesn’t have any ideas to share with you. There might be some things that you are unsure about and you want someone to offer you some options. Those with experience should have plenty of ideas that might spark something in you that feels just right.

There are plenty of mistakes you can make when hiring one of the funeral homes in Shelby Carter Township, MI and you don’t want that to lead to regrets later. Check out the details on the professionals at Lee Ellena Funeral Home and we will help you avoid anything that could lead to regrets later.

Sifting Through Funeral Home Options

There are a lot of different funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, which you will realize the moment you go to your computer and search for that type of business. If you have never been in charge of a funeral home service before, you may have no idea how to choose these professionals. There are going to be some funeral homes that are easy to rule out because they don’t fit into your plans in one way or another. Here are a few ways to sift through the options and land on the right company.

Rule Out Bad Locations

Before you look into too many details on any funeral homes, there might be some that are way out of your way and just in a bad location for your overall convenience. You don’t want a funeral home that takes you a long time to get to when you are trying to make plans. You might prefer something that is close by. Any funeral homes that are way out of your way and have bad locations overall, you should rule out.

Take Away Funeral Homes Without Experience

After you rule out funeral homes that have bad locations, you are going to have to look further into the details of those that are still left on your list. Start looking at funeral home websites and seeing how much experience they have. If you see any funeral home experts that seem brand new, or don’t have a very long history in the area, you should rule them out as well. You want experience when professionals are dealing with your special loved one. There’s no getting around how much experience can mean as you walk down the path with them.

Get Into The Reviews

When you look at funeral home websites, you are going to see only good things about those funeral homes—of course. What you need to do once you have some funeral homes with good locations and good levels of experience is look at other sites and check out reviews. You may find that you aren’t seeing anything bad about the funeral homes even on other websites, and that’s great. If there are a lot of negative rules about a certain funeral home, then you can rule that company out.

Take Out High Price Options

You may only have a few funeral homes left, and that’s great. You can then get price lists from those that remain and examine the prices. These professionals should be forthcoming with all of their packages and prices so you can see exactly what you are in for if you use them. If there are any price lists that are way higher than the others, rule that company out. Also keep in mind that you don’t want prices that are rock bottom later or they may not have quality that you want for your loved one.

Visit The Remainders

You may only have one or a couple of funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI left and at that point, you need to visit them and talk to the professionals in person before you make a final decision.

Choosing A Cemetery Without Regret

There are plenty of options when it comes to final services and the professionals at funeral homes in Washington Township, MI are here to help you with all of the options and choices. If you decide, as part of the process, that you want to bury your loved one, either in a traditional manner, or after cremation, you might need help from a cemetery. You want your loved one to have the best final resting place, not something you will regret later. Here are a few ways to avoid having regrets over the location in the future.

Choose A Good Location

Before you look too closely into any cemetery, you will want to consider its location. You want a location that is convenient for you and your family. That convenience could mean a lot of different things. You might want something located close to the funeral home so you don’t have to have guests travel far between the funeral and burial service. You might want something that is situated between your office and your home so you can visit your loved one easily whenever you want. There are lots of different criteria that could fit into a ‘good location’ and you have to be the one that defines what that means for you.

Appreciating Maintenance And Rules

Once you have a few cemeteries in mind in good locations, you can then look into their maintenance regulations and other rules to see if you appreciate that list of items. You need to understand their rules so you can follow them and also so you know if they are the right place for your loved one. If you already have a certain type of headstone in mind and the cemetery doesn’t allow that type or material, then they aren’t the right fit for you. You also want to know that the grounds are maintained nicely and whether you have to pay extra fees for that or take care of some things on your own.

Fair Prices

Like funeral home and cremation providers, cemeteries should be upfront with their price lists. You can find out what the prices are and then, compare them to other cemeteries and look online to see what the average is. It’s important to understand that there are fair prices within the cemetery you are choosing. You don’t want costs that are too high or too low, but rather something affordable.

Consider Spaces Nearby

When you get a space for your loved one, you might want to think about what you want for the future as well. Do you or other family members want a space nearby? You might regret it later if you don’t think about that in advance. The spaces won’t be there forever and you might consider getting more plots for other family. Working with funeral homes in Washington Township, MI can help you to get what you need for your loved one as well as finding the right cemetery for their burial. Contact Lee Elena Funeral Home whenever you need us.

Cremation Pre-Plans And Your Loved Ones

It’s easy to talk to your loved ones about the weather, their jobs, the kids, and other such things, but when you think about your future and decide to put plans into place for your own cremation services Chesterfield Township, MI, it can be hard to bring the topic up with them. While you want your loved ones to know what you have in mind, it’s not something that is easy to throw into a regular conversation. You are going to need at least a select few family members to know where your plans are held and it’s also a good idea to let them in on what the plans entail. Here are some tips to help you talk to them with as much ease as possible.

Set A Meeting To Go Over Final Plans

Don’t bring up the subject around kids at a family dinner, but rather set a specific meeting time to go over your final plans. Tell your family that you made plans and want them to know what will happen. You can also tell them that if they have any ideas on what they want, they are welcome to share that with you as well. It’s nice to know what they want in return so you aren’t stuck guessing in the future, even if they don’t have plans in place at this point.

Think Over Your Reasoning

Your loved ones might accept what you have planned without any issues or questions, but chances are, they will at least want to hear what you were thinking when you chose that avenue. Think over the reasons you have for choosing cremation and the other things you have lined up so you can present those to your loved ones if they have questions. There are no bad reasons and you can let them know what you were thinking as you made your plans.

Ask If They Want Anything Added

When you show your loved ones what your plans are, you might want to ask them if there is anything else they feel they would want added. They, of course, are going to want to follow your plans and your final wishes. But the services will be just as much for them as they are for you. That means they might have certain ideas of things they feel they will need to get what they have to have to move forward. Take their advice to heart and listen to what they might want added, if anything.

Ask What They Want For Their Future

You can then open the floor to the rest of your family and see what they might want for their future. They may not have thought about it as much, but they may also be leaning one way over another. You can share the process you put into place for your own cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI with Lee Elena Funeral Home and that could help them to have direction to get their plans into place sometime as well.

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