Funeral Etiquette - Part 1 - Let Their Soul Be Your Pilot
At Northern Beaches Funerals we always regard the deceased as being a 'live soul' right up to the point of cremation or burial.
We talk to them, move them with care and respect and will never enter a room without acknowledging their presence and announcing ourselves and what our purpose is.
Just as the nursing staff in a care facility will do so while the person may be unconscious.
This simple attitude provides a very useful pilot - in ceremony, we always acknowledge the deceased with a light touch of their coffin, or a brief bow as a show of respect to them.
We don't turn our back on the coffin during the ceremony without acknowledging them and we always wish them godspeed and safe passage as we lower them into the ground or present them to the cremation chamber.
Much as, if we were visiting someone at their home or in hospital, we greet them, we behave with kindness and respect in their presence and we farewell them in person.
We encourage everyone in the chapel to approach the coffin at some point in the ceremony - whether to say "hello, it's me and I'm here" on arrival, or to say a final goodbye.
It's human nature to make a greeting when you see someone again. It certainly connects you to the ceremony and can remove anxieties and help with tranquility.
Acknowledgement and embrace of their soul and their way of being can also be your pilot for dress code.
If they were a formal dresser, consider a suit and tie - if they lived in board shorts and bare feet, feel free to dress informally for their funeral.
For people who loved to give speeches, perform, or were the life and soul of the party, applause and laughter during the funeral is definitely appropriate.
These expressions of emotion are just as valid as tears and sadness and offer no disrespect if that was the way they lived.
Let Your Soul be Your Pilot is the title of a fabulous song by Sting, but we think it works pretty well in this context too.
Every person is unique. Every family is different.
With us, every Funeral is Individual.
Contact Northern Beaches Funerals at any time :
-- 0455 285 041
-- info@northernbeachesfunerals.com.au