Cremations offer great benefits from flexibility that allows you to have a unique and meaningful service for the deceased and gives the bereaved an easier time planning and executing the memorial or cremation itself, to different choices in the type of cremation. You’ve got a lot of choices when it comes to cremation services in Grand Rapids, MI.

There are three main types of cremation services: funeral, memorial, and direct. Each one offers variations on the basic cremation idea, with differences in price, planning, and timeline.

The first kind is cremation with a funeral. These cremation services have a regular funeral that is finished by cremation instead of a burial. As with a traditional funeral, cremation services with a funeral come with a wake or some kind of visitation within two or three days after the person dies. These cremations come with more costs than other types, mainly embalming, and caskets. Embalming is the process in which the body is preserved for the viewing and does cost money. The viewing and funeral also require a casket, not just a plain cremation box. Funerals followed by cremation can be hosted by a religious leader, funeral celebrant, or family member, and generally take place in a funeral home or church. The typical service includes readings, music, poems, sermons, eulogies, and prayers.

Memorial cremations are very similar to cremations with funerals save for one big difference: the body is not present at the service. This cremation style can be held at a later date after the death, sometimes weeks or months later. This is possible because the body is cremated directly after death. The body can be present in a way at a memorial in a cremation urn, or, the family can choose to display photos of the deceased. Since there is nobody, the service can be held almost anywhere like a park, church, home, funeral home, or even on a beach. The cremated remains are generally given back to the family right before the memorial so they can do with them what they choose.

Direct cremation services are the most cost-effective and efficient cremation services. As the name denotes, the body is cremated directly after death and the remains are united with the family without a ceremony or service. Typically, all the direct cremation costs are included in one flat fee, from transportation to the cremation itself. This method is cheap but doesn’t offer any sort of celebration or honor for the deceased’s life.

All that matters is to honor the deceased in ways that are as unique as she or she was, so there really is no wrong choice when it comes to choosing a cremation service for your lost loved one.

Do you have more questions about the different kinds of Grand Rapids, MI cremation services? Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care offers expert cremation services with years of experience and a dedication to compassion. You can stop by and visit us or give us a call to learn more about what we can do for you.