For a lot of us, pre-planning a funeral is the last thing we would think to do. We like to think that we are at the peak of our physical health and that planning for our funeral is unnecessary. The rest of us may struggle with the whole idea of our own mortality and leaving our loved ones behind is a daunting and unhappy prospect.

Remember, your goal here is to achieve the type of service that you want, in terms of how it looks and feels. For some, that may mean deviating from the sad aspect toward the celebration of your life.

So, why should we set aside time to pre-plan our funeral?

The chief reason why people should perform this seemingly somber task is to give their loved ones, and even themselves, a good measure of peace of mind. Taking the necessary steps enables you to take a substantial amount of the burden and stress off your family’s shoulders upon your death. Upon a person’s death, those left behind suffer a huge amount of sadness and stress, making them less capable of making complicated decisions at this emotional moment. Also the expenses associated may place family members under the pressure of coming up with a substantial amount of money in a short period of time. Taking up this task will also enable you to specify the exact things that you want for your own funeral or memorial service.

But how do you proceed with the planning process?

It may be tempting to plan every aspect of your funeral in advance. However, that is not always necessary. There are, however, a few key elements that you should account for and plan ahead of time. Remember, your goal here is to achieve the type of service that you want, in terms of how it looks and feels. For some, that may mean deviating from the sad aspect toward the celebration of your life. For others, this may mean highlighting their accomplishments in their lifetime.
In planning your funeral, there are a few elements that you need to make decisions about. First, you need to determine what type of service you want for yourself. You can opt for a funeral service to be followed by burial or cremation or vice versa, or even a funeral service at your own home.
From there, you may add other funeral events that you may want to include like viewings or wakes before the funeral.
From there, you can decide upon the things that will give your funeral a personal touch. This includes listing down your options for the location of your funeral service, your choices for the people to officiate the service, your choice of pallbearers and people whom you would like to deliver a eulogy for you, readings and songs you would like read or played, and the people and organisations you wish to be notified of your death and your memorial service.