The death of a loved one is one of the most emotionally taxing events you can experience. Still, those close to the deceased have a responsibility to carry out various tasks following the death. The most urgent is planning a service and deciding what to do with the body. Below, we provide some guidance on this subject and explain why many families choose Winnipeg cremation over a traditional burial.
The Typical Burial Process
If you are in charge of somebody’s burial proceedings, you must complete some or all of the following tasks.
- Hire a Funeral Director – Your best bet at doing a good job is hiring a professional. This person will complete the death certificate, store the remains, and perform other essential tasks. One thing to note is that some people make their arrangements before they pass, so you’ll want to check and see if that is the case for your loved one.
- Choose Your Method – Your two basic options are a funeral or memorial service. The former involves getting together before the body is buried or cremated, while the latter occurs afterward. Additionally, you can choose to have the funeral beside the grave rather than at a venue.
- Make Cemetery Arrangements – You must choose a cemetery and a plot. Your funeral director can help you with both decisions if you’re unsure what to do.
- Plan the Event – No matter which method you go with, you’ll need to plan the proceedings from start to finish. Doing so will involve purchasing a casket, preparing the remains, and choosing a means of transportation.
The Downsides of Burial
The first issue you might run into with a traditional burial is its time-consuming nature. You will likely have many choices during the process, and each of them will take a significant amount of time and energy to handle correctly. The second is cost, which can add up quickly.
What is Cremation?
While most of you likely know what this process entails, we’ll quickly go over it for those that don’t. What happens is that a professional inserts the body into a cremation container. Once turned on, that machine reaches temperatures around 1400-1800 degrees. A few hours later, the remains will have been consumed by the heat, and only ashes will remain.
How Much Cheaper is it?
The most common reason why people choose cremation over a burial is the cost associated with each practice. While a typical cremation runs for around $800-3000, a traditional funeral will be more like $7000—the reason is that burials involve a variety of expenses that cremations do not require. The following are a few examples of this effect.
- Casket
- Embalming
- Grave Site
- Gravestone
- Transportation
Each of these costs is substantial and, when combined, can run your bill up significantly. Some additional benefits that people love about cremation are being less time-consuming, having little environmental impact, taking up less room, and easily transporting the remains. Families also enjoy honoring the deceased uniquely, such as scattering ashes or creating cremation jewelry.
How to Make Your Decision
Ultimately, your decision will come down to your values and beliefs. If cremation is against your religion or you believe it is not an acceptable treatment for the deceased, then go with the traditional option. That being said, you might have a different viewpoint. If you see cremation as equal or even preferable to burial, then take that alternative and enjoy the cost savings that come with it.
No matter what, there is no wrong decision when choosing cremation or burial. You should do what is right for your family and not feel stressed about your choice. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, with the cost being one of the crucial differences. If that factor is at the top of your list, then cremation is your best bet.
