Cremation in no way prevents family and friends from participating in the traditions, ceremonies, or rituals of a funeral service.
Simplicity, environmental concerns, and flexibility in ceremony planning add to its increasing selection. Some choose cremation for economic reasons.
As with the option of burial, cremation can occur after a traditional funeral celebrating the life of the deceased where the casket is present at one's place of worship or a funeral home chapel. Often times the only difference between a funeral celebration followed by a burial and one followed by cremation, is that the body is taken to the crematory after the services instead of the cemetery.
The memorial serve, like a funeral, is a service of remembrance, only without the body present. A family may choose to have the cremation process take place and then hold a service in a church or at the funeral home with the cremated remains displayed in the selected urn. The urn is usually placed on a table with a portrait of the deceased and a vase of flowers or other floral tributes.
As the name implies, direct cremation takes place shortly following death without any scheduled viewing or services.
Religions and Cremation
With the exception of the Orthodox Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Islamic and a few Fundamentalist Christian faiths, most faiths and religions allow cremation.
