If you are planning for cremation services in Bellingham, WA, you may not think you have many options. But, in fact, there are many different types of services you can have when your loved one is cremated.

Having a service when your loved one is cremated is a healthy way to bring family and together to facilitate and support the grieving process.

First, you’ll need to decide what kind of service you want for your loved one. Funeral services are held before cremation and may or may not have your loved one present. If your loved one is present, the body will be laid out in a casket, which is traditional in funeral services. You can decide if you want the casket open or closed during the funeral service.

Visitations are typically held just before funeral services. Visitations give friends and family an opportunity to offer you and your family their condolences, support, and comfort. You can have a visitation for your loved one with or without their body present.

You should consider having a visitation for your loved one because it will enable mourners to pay their respects to your loved one (whether their body is present or not) and it will offer invaluable solace to you and your family.

The funeral service itself is a structured ceremony that usually includes someone presiding over the order of events, which often feature secular and/or religious readings, eulogies, a sermon (if religious), and music.

If the funeral service is during the day, a reception with food and drinks is typically held after the service to let people more informally interact with you and your family to offer their care and concern to you.

Memorial services, on the other hand, are held after cremation. These services can be held at any time, which can help people who live far away make plans to attend to remember their loved ones.

Memorial services can also be held anywhere. They are generally less structured and more focused on interactive conversations with stories and memories of your loved one. If memorial services are held in the funeral home, an urn with the cremation remains of your loved one will usually be displayed.

Both funeral services and memorial services can be highly customized depending on what your loved one wanted and what you and your family want.

In choosing a cremation service provider, be sure to ask the funeral home if they can live-stream and record the service, in case there are friends and family members who can’t be there because of distance, health, or other circumstances.

You make a copy of the recorded service, which is in a standard format that most computer video players can play, and send it to family members who were unable to be there in person.

The next decision with cremations is planning a service around the final disposition of the cremation remains. There are many options for the final disposition of cremation remains, but the most common include permanent possession (the family keeps the cremation remains in a decorative container in their home); scattering them; and burial (next to a loved one in a cemetery).

Some families choose to scatter or bury cremation remains privately, while others plan a more open (although it’s usually invitation-only) ceremony.

It’s also common to create permanent memorials for your loved one after cremation. It might be a marker in the cemetery, or a tree that is planted in your loved one’s memory.

For additional information when deciding on a cremation service in Bellingham, WA, our compassionate and experienced team at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory – Greenacres Memorial Park is here to help.