What Is A "Conventional" Funeral?
The conventional funeral, sometimes called a traditional or "full service" funeral, has been the standardized American funeral for many generations.
What is a Conventional Funeral?
A conventional American funeral usually includes the following:
There are many reasons why you might choose a conventional funeral. Some of the most common are:
It will be your funeral, and that means it's your right, your choice, your decision. As you think it over, consider the following:
What is a Conventional Funeral?
A conventional American funeral usually includes the following:
- Use of a licensed funeral director to oversee all aspects of the funeral from removal of the body to the lowering of the casket.
- Transportation of the dead body to the funeral home.
- Embalming with a formaldehyde based fluid.
- Other preparation and dressing of the body.
- Placement of the body in a casket.
- Public viewing of the body at the funeral home.
- Floral tributes.
- Service at the funeral home or at a church, sometimes preceded either by an open casket viewing or closed casket visitation.
- Transportation of the body to the cemetery from the funeral home or church in a hearse.
- Graveside (committal) service, either public or private.
- Burial of the casketed body in a grave into which a burial vault has previously been placed, or entombment in an above ground mausoleum.
There are many reasons why you might choose a conventional funeral. Some of the most common are:
- You already own a burial plot.
- You want to buried next to a spouse or among other family member(s) already buried in a cemetery.
- You want a public viewing of your body at a funeral home.
- You want a funeral service in a church or other place of worship.
- Your family and friends have chosen conventional funerals.
It will be your funeral, and that means it's your right, your choice, your decision. As you think it over, consider the following:
Embalming: The Heart of the Matter
The most prominent feature of the conventional funeral is embalming. The funeral industry promotes embalming as the most fitting, loving and respectful way to prepare the body for burial. Embalming allows the family and members of the public to view the body as if in repose or asleep, lying in a bed of satin or polyester, head resting on a pillow, one hand on top of the other, in a half-opened casket. Viewing the embalmed body in this way, the funeral industry believes, provides loved ones with a beautiful memory picture of the deceased, and helps the grieving process. |
What is embalming?
Almost never required by law, embalming is a process that involves puncturing internal organs, draining the body of fluids and injecting a formaldehyde-based fluid, along with other chemicals and dyes, to provide for temporary preservation of the body and a life-like appearance to the skin and other features of the body, especially the mouth and eyes.
Most people are unaware of what is involved in the process of embalming and other body preparation. To learn more, go to the Wikipedia entry on Embalming.
How did the practice of embalming begin?
Embalming was never a ritual practice of any of the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). In fact, Jews and Muslims look upon embalming as an invasive procedure which dishonors the body and largely forbid it.
Almost never required by law, embalming is a process that involves puncturing internal organs, draining the body of fluids and injecting a formaldehyde-based fluid, along with other chemicals and dyes, to provide for temporary preservation of the body and a life-like appearance to the skin and other features of the body, especially the mouth and eyes.
Most people are unaware of what is involved in the process of embalming and other body preparation. To learn more, go to the Wikipedia entry on Embalming.
How did the practice of embalming begin?
Embalming was never a ritual practice of any of the three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). In fact, Jews and Muslims look upon embalming as an invasive procedure which dishonors the body and largely forbid it.
"Embalming restores a lifelike appearance to the deceased. Refrigeration does not, which may only matter if you expect the dead to resemble the living." Mark Harris, GRAVE MATTERS: A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial (2007) |
Modern American funeral practices began during the Civil War when families demanded the return of their fallen loved ones. Embalming, previously used to preserve cadavers for scientific research, was adopted to slow the decomposition of the war dead long enough to transport them over hundreds of railway miles. Over the past 150 years this wartime necessity transformed into our routine death care practice.
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Embalming, and later, widespread use of refrigeration, allowed the body to be kept above ground for a longer period of time, extending over a few days what would have all taken place within 24-48 hours.
Caskets
The casket is usually the single most expensive item of a conventional funeral. The majority of caskets sold in the U.S. today are made of steel. In 1950, half of the caskets sold were cloth-covered caskets. After the Korean War sheet metal became more readily available and metal casket production exploded. By the 1970s, two-thirds of the caskets sold in the U.S. were metal. Today, the cloth-covered casket has become the casket of the poor.
In making arrangements for a conventional funeral, the selection of a casket is certainly the most emotion-laden task. What would Mom want? Does that color fit Dad's personality? What impression will the casket make on those who come to view Grandma? What can we afford? Is that color masculine enough for Dad? Or feminine enough for Mom?
For all practical purposes, the casket serves one basic function: as a container in which to bury a dead body. In addition, it functions as a means to display and transport the body.
Caskets
The casket is usually the single most expensive item of a conventional funeral. The majority of caskets sold in the U.S. today are made of steel. In 1950, half of the caskets sold were cloth-covered caskets. After the Korean War sheet metal became more readily available and metal casket production exploded. By the 1970s, two-thirds of the caskets sold in the U.S. were metal. Today, the cloth-covered casket has become the casket of the poor.
In making arrangements for a conventional funeral, the selection of a casket is certainly the most emotion-laden task. What would Mom want? Does that color fit Dad's personality? What impression will the casket make on those who come to view Grandma? What can we afford? Is that color masculine enough for Dad? Or feminine enough for Mom?
For all practical purposes, the casket serves one basic function: as a container in which to bury a dead body. In addition, it functions as a means to display and transport the body.
A major casket selling point is the degree to which it will protect the body from the elements, the elements being anything that can seep, creep, crawl, or otherwise get into the casket after burial. (The same goes for burial vault features.) A casket and vault may delay decomposition, but will not prevent it indefinitely. Since many funeral consumers are willing to pay a lot for these added protective features, is it because they believe such protection better honors and respects the dead?
Our forebears buried their beloved dead in a pine box or directly in the ground without a protective vault. Underground protection of a dead human body was not a value before the rise of the modern funeral industry. One is hard pressed to think of another material consumer purchase that costs several thousand dollars, is viewed, in total, a mere six to eight hours, and is then buried underground, never to be seen again. (One hopes.) |
Checking Out Conventional Funeral Goods and Services
All funeral homes maintain a room where casket models - and examples of various casket materials, interiors, colors, finishes, design elements and optional features to personalize the casket - are on display along with burial vault options and other funeral goods. For many people, the first time they visit a funeral home display room is when a loved one has died, and they've come to make arrangements, often under duress.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) strongly recommends that funeral consumers do comparison shopping before they buy. It's often too late to do this once someone has died, and time constraints and other factors make shopping for a funeral stressful. Below is information on the General Price List (GPL) which every funeral home is required to make available to anyone who stops by, no questions asked. The itemized list is what every funeral home is required to include on it's GPL. Following the itemized list is a sample GPL prepared by the FTC. Funeral homes have some latitude on arrangement and wording, but basically the sample is similar to what a funeral home will hand to you when you ask for a copy of its General Price List.
All funeral homes maintain a room where casket models - and examples of various casket materials, interiors, colors, finishes, design elements and optional features to personalize the casket - are on display along with burial vault options and other funeral goods. For many people, the first time they visit a funeral home display room is when a loved one has died, and they've come to make arrangements, often under duress.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) strongly recommends that funeral consumers do comparison shopping before they buy. It's often too late to do this once someone has died, and time constraints and other factors make shopping for a funeral stressful. Below is information on the General Price List (GPL) which every funeral home is required to make available to anyone who stops by, no questions asked. The itemized list is what every funeral home is required to include on it's GPL. Following the itemized list is a sample GPL prepared by the FTC. Funeral homes have some latitude on arrangement and wording, but basically the sample is similar to what a funeral home will hand to you when you ask for a copy of its General Price List.
Cost of A Conventional Funeral
National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has calculated the median cost of a funeral by totaling prices for the items listed in the chart to the right. IMPORTANT NOTE: The total does not take into account cemetery costs (a grave plot, opening and closing the grave*), monument or marker, or items, such as flowers** and obituaries***.
The national median cost of a funeral for 2012 was $7,045. If a vault is included, almost always required by a cemetery, the median cost is $8,343. (See chart on right.) ______________ Possible additional charges: church rental, honorarium for clergy, fees for musicians, cost of a luncheon or other refreshments following burial . __________________________________________ * For example, Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis charges $1,435 for either "lot internment," meaning burial in the ground, or "mausoleum entombment." ** A casket spray is a flower arrangement placed on top of the casket. A "half couch" spray is placed on the lower closed lid of the casket when there will be an open casket viewing. A "full couch" spray is larger, and is placed in the middle of the casket. It is usually ordered if the casket is closed to viewing. Casket sprays can easily cost $200-$300, depending on whether a half or full couch casket spray is chosen, and the type of flowers and their seasonal availability. *** Newspaper obituaries average $10 per line. The Minneapolis Star Tribune charges $54.75 for a five-line obituary for the first day, half that amount for each additional day. A 17-line obituary costs $186. A typical obituary in the Sunday Star Tribune averages 25 lines. |
2012 NATIONAL MEDIAN COST OF A FUNERAL
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How to GREEN a Conventional Funeral & Keep Costs Down
If you choose a conventional funeral, there are steps you can take to reduce its impact on the environment, and at the same time lower costs. Consider the following:
▪You have the right to choose only the funeral goods and services you want. For more information, see "The Funeral Home General Price List" below. ▪Forego embalming and choose a closed casket funeral. The funeral home will keep the body refrigerated until the time of the service and burial. ▪You may also choose Immediate Burial. Immediate Burial means there will be no funeral home service or public visitation in the presence of the body. ▪Ask your funeral director if he/she is willing to use a non-formaldehyde based embalming fluid. ▪Choose a casket made of soft wood, if available through the funeral home, or you can purchase a casket. (See Resources.) A funeral home is required to accept a casket you purchase on your own, and can not charge an additional fee. ▪ Chose a grave liner instead of a concrete burial vault. While almost all cemeteries require a vault or liner, state law does not require one. |
▪ Dispense with limousine funeral cars.
▪ Resist the impulse to buy expensive floral arrangements. ▪Funeral homes charge for a visitor book and the printing of memorial cards and programs. You don't have to buy these items from the funeral home. ▪ You can choose a conventional funeral up to the point of full body burial, and instead be cremated following a funeral service in the presence of your body. You can chooses a readily combustible casket for cremation, or have an open casket viewing in a rental casket. You can opt for burial or inurnment of your cremated remains in a cemetery, or choose some other form of final disposition. |
Environmental Impact of the Conventional Funeral
Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:
Each year, 22,500 cemeteries across the United States bury approximately:
- 827,060 US gallons of embalming fluid (includes formaldehyde)
- 90,000 tons of steel (caskets)
- 2,700 tons of copper and bronze (caskets)
- 30 million board feet of hardwoods (caskets)
- 1,600,000 tons of reinforced concrete (vaults)
- 14,000 tons of steel (vaults)
The Funeral Home General Price List (GPL)
In 1984, the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule took effect. The FTC Funeral Rule was the first national set of regulations to protect funeral consumers from fraud and deception. It was the first regulation that set out how funeral homes could sell their goods and services, and what measures funeral homes needed to take to ensure their customers get accurate and complete information necessary to make an informed decision.
All funeral home General Price Lists must comply with the FTC Funeral Rule, but not all GPLs are easy to navigate. Funeral service terminology is also unfamiliar to many consumers. Most people don't see a GPL until they're at a funeral home making arrangements for a loved one, a time when they're burdened and grieving. Below is a list of items a funeral home is required to put on a General Price List.
The Funeral Rule requires a funeral home (FH) to itemize the prices for certain goods and services so consumers may choose only those elements of a funeral that they want. The FH must list the following 16 specified items of goods and services on the GPL, together with the price for each item:
All funeral home General Price Lists must comply with the FTC Funeral Rule, but not all GPLs are easy to navigate. Funeral service terminology is also unfamiliar to many consumers. Most people don't see a GPL until they're at a funeral home making arrangements for a loved one, a time when they're burdened and grieving. Below is a list of items a funeral home is required to put on a General Price List.
The Funeral Rule requires a funeral home (FH) to itemize the prices for certain goods and services so consumers may choose only those elements of a funeral that they want. The FH must list the following 16 specified items of goods and services on the GPL, together with the price for each item:
Required Itemized Prices on the General Price List
1. Forwarding of remains to another funeral home.
2. Receiving remains from another funeral home. 3. Direct cremation. 4. Immediate burial. 5. Basic services of funeral director and staff, and overhead. 6. Transfer of remains to funeral home. 7. Embalming. 8. Other preparation of the body. 9. Use of facilities and staff for viewing. |
10. Use of facilities and staff for funeral ceremony.
11. Use of facilities and staff for memorial service. 12. Use of equipment and staff for graveside service. 13. Hearse. 14. Limousine. 15. Either individual casket prices or the range of casket prices that appear on the Casket Price List. 16. Either individual outer burial container prices or the range of outer burial container prices that appear on the Outer Burial Container Price List. |
A Funeral home can list these items in any order they want. The FH only has to list the items that it actually offers. If the FH does not offer one or more of the 16 items, it need not list those items on the General Price List. In addition to these 16 items, the FH also may list other items that it offers, such as acknowledgement cards and cremation urns. The FH also may provide prices for package funerals on its GPL. However, it must offer any package funerals in addition to and not in place of the required itemized prices.
Below is a sample General Price List prepared by the FTC.