Understanding Funeral Home Procedures

Preplanning your funeral--through a place like Parsippany Funeral Home Inc--gives you the ability to make sure every element of the service is specifically tailored to your liking. And even though you won't be there to see it, you can find comfort in knowing that the service will reflect your wishes. Deciding who will give the eulogy is a major decision and will serve as an honor for the person you ask. If you just wish to have one person eulogize you but there are other people you wish to play a role, you can ask them to accept these roles.

Pallbearers

Those who serve as pallbearers at your funeral will consider this role to be an honor. Your pallbearers will sit toward the front of the funeral home during your service and, at the end of the service, help to transport the casket from the funeral home to the funeral home's hearse waiting outside to transport it to the graveyard. Because you'll need a number of pallbearers, this is a job that you can assign to several key people in your life, such as close friends, siblings or cousins. It's wise to think about the physical limitations of each person; if someone won't likely be up to the job, he or she can serve as an honorary pallbearer. This person typically walks behind the casket as it's carried out of the funeral home.

Greeters

Another way to involve those close to you in your funeral service is to have a couple people serve as greeters. This is also an honor for those who are chosen. In this job, the people will stand near the front doors of the funeral home or the entrance to the room in which your service will be held and will greet the mourners and hand out programs. If you have a lot of people you wish to involve in the service, you can think about multiple greeters — perhaps two people to say hello to those who arrive and two people to hand out the programs.

Assistants

There are some other ways to involve people in your funeral service and burial. Many burials have assistants — people who meet mourners in the parking lot and help them walk toward the gravesite. For example, an assistant might lend an arm to someone who isn't steady on his or her feet, or might hold an umbrella for someone during a rainy day. There are no hard and fast rules about this role, so you can have people close to you perform whatever job you'd like.