Guide to planning a funeral – why you should plan

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House moves, weddings, family get-togethers – organising important events can be stressful, time-consuming and expensive at the best of times, but imagine doing it when you’re grieving and trying to find a way to cope with loss. Planning ahead will protect your loved ones at a time when they’re likely to be struggling, and it can provide peace of mind all-round knowing that everything’s already taken care of.

Grief is natural and inevitable, but it can be a long and difficult process. Planning your funeral in advance will help make it easier for your friends and family. Rather than leaving it to them, you decide what your funeral should look like, and can make it a positive, healing and celebratory experience. Disagreements over funerals are unfortunately common. It’s going to be easier for everyone involved if there’s no chance of family and friends falling out over what you would or wouldn’t have wanted – you’ve made your wishes clear from the off, and planning ensures things are done your way.

It’s also entirely natural for family and friends to want the best for the send-off of a loved one, but this can be amplified in the emotional haze of bereavement. Funeral arrangements and costs can easily spiral out of control when we have to  juggle our own feelings with the grief of others as well as the logistical challenges of organising a funeral, but you can save your family this burden by getting things sorted in advance.