Types of Funerals

In general, there are three types of funerals:

• Traditional, full service funeral
• Direct Burial
• Direct Cremation

There is no restriction or limitation on combining the various types.

A traditional, full service funeral in the U.S. usually includes:

• A display of the body and a chance to visit with the family at the funeral home.
• A service at the funeral home and/or a house of worship.
• A vehicle to transport the body to the cemetery.
• A burial or entombment in the cemetery -- usually with some type of service at the gravesite.

A traditional funeral is generally the most expensive type of funeral. Costs include:

• The funeral home's basic services fee.
• Embalming and dressing the body.
• Rental of the funeral home for the viewing or service
• Use of the funeral home's vehicles to transport the family.
• Casket.
• Cemetery plot or crypt.
• Miscellaneous funeral goods and services.

In a direct burial, the body is buried shortly after death, usually in simple container. No viewing or visitation is involved, so no embalming is necessary. A memorial service may be held at the graveside or later. Direct burial usually costs less than the "traditional," full service funeral.

Costs include:

• The funeral home's basic services fee.
• Transportation.
• Care of the body.
• A casket or burial container.
• Cemetery plot or crypt.

If the family chooses to be at the cemetery for the burial, the funeral home often charges an additional fee for a graveside service.

Cremation reduces a corpse to bone fragments using high heat and flames. To learn more, see: Cremation.