Arriving at the church or crematorium
Your Funeral Director will ensure every detail has been taken care of in advance, from anymusicyou have requested to the order of service sheets. They will co-ordinate with the person who is conducting the service and meet with the chapel attendants to ensure all arrangements are in place.
We will provide sufficient pallbearers and ensure they escort the coffin with dignity and respect. If you wish to select your own pallbearers, the Funeral Director will be able to oversee these arrangements and ensure everything runs smoothly.
The Funeral Director will often lead you into the church or crematorium, walking either in front or behind the coffin before it is placed upon a wooden platform known as a catafalque. We will make sure that all of your guests have arrived before proceeding with the funeral service.
The funeral ceremony
The order of the funeral ceremony will be completely up to you, though please keep in mind that there may be a time limit at the venue you have chosen. The service may includefuneral music, funeral hymns, prayers,funeral poemsand readings from family and close friends.
The funeral ceremony can be held at a religious venue or at a crematorium which provides a chapel for you to use.
The Funeral Director may stand just outside or at the back of the church or crematorium during the service. Once the service has finished, you will be taken over to where flowers and floral tributes have been laid, before escorting you and your family to the committal service, if you are having one.
Learn more aboutfuneral etiquette in the UK.
Committal service
Whether your loved one is buried or cremated, you may wish to have a committal service after the main funeral service.The committal service may be held at the same location as the service which proceeded it.
If it is being held at a different location, we will escort you and your family back to your limousines and the coffin or casket will be carefully placed back in the hearse. Your Funeral Director will walk with you if the cemetery or crematorium is close by.
What happens at a cremation?
At acremation, you may wish to hold the main service at a religious venue and then have a shorter committal service at the crematorium afterwards, though both may take place at the crematorium if you wish. During a committal, there may be a closing of curtains, or the coffin may be gently lowered from the catafalque and moved into a committal room so it is ready for cremation.
What happens at a burial?
At aburial, the committal service typically takes place at the graveside of your loved one and may include prayers and readings. When you are ready to say goodbye to the deceased, the coffin or casket is lowered into the ground. You may scatter soil onto the coffin or throw flowers into the grave as it is lowered.
When the committal service concludes, we will give you enough time to place floral tributes next to the grave or in the crematorium's garden of remembrance and pay your final respects. You will have time to speak to guests outside before being escorted back to your limousines when you are ready to leave for the wake or reception, if one has been organised.
The wake or funeral reception
You may wish to hold awake or funeral receptionafter the funeral service. A wake often celebrates the life of the deceased and is typically less formal than the ceremony which precedes it.
If you are unsure of where to hold the wake, your Funeral Director will be able to provide of list of local venues which you may wish to choose from.
Following the funeral service, our caring professionals will drive you and your family to the chosen venue. We suggest including details of the wake and directions to the venue on the order of service sheets which are handed out to guests.
Your Funeral Director will answer any final questions you may have before leaving, allowing you to gather with family and friends for some refreshments.
The days that follow a funeral
Our caring and experienced funeral arrangers will call you the day after your loved one’s funeral to ensure everything went smoothly and the service was exactly how you wanted it to be. We can arrange to return any flowers orfuneral wreathsto you, or place them in the crematorium's garden of remembrance or by your loved one’s grave if you wish.
If your loved one was cremated, we can arrange a day for you to collect the ashes and provide useful advice on the scattering or burying them, should you need it. At Dignity, we have a range ofashes urns and casketsto choose from.
We also have a selection ofmemorials; your Funeral Director will be able to talk you through all of your available options and help you with your decision.
