Sample plans
Start from a plan like yours.
Each sample opens the planner with its choices already made. Keep what fits, change what doesn't.
Twelve ways to begin. Each one is only a starting point.
Keep it simple
A simple cremation, and a gathering at home
- Direct cremation, with no service beforehand
- Ashes kept at home in a wood urn
- Family and friends gather in the backyard
A funeral and burial, led by your faith
- A visitation the evening before
- A funeral at your place of worship
- Burial beside family
A celebration of life at a favorite place
- Cremation first, then a celebration
- At a favorite restaurant, with live music
- Photographs, and time to share stories
Direct cremation, with no service
- Cremation soon after death
- No viewing or service
- Ashes returned to family in a simple urn
A funeral Mass and burial
- A vigil the evening before
- Funeral Mass at your parish
- Burial in a Catholic cemetery
A simple burial, soon after death
- A plain wood casket
- A graveside service led by a rabbi
- Shiva at home with family and friends
Burial as soon as possible
- Washing and shrouding, as tradition asks
- The janazah prayer at the mosque
- Burial facing the qibla
Cremation, with family at the last rites
- Family gathers for the last rites
- Cremation soon after death
- Ashes later placed in flowing water
A veteran's burial with honors
- Burial in a national cemetery
- Military honors, and the flag presented
- A government headstone or marker
A green burial in a natural cemetery
- No embalming, and a simple shroud
- A grave in a natural burial ground
- A native tree or stone to mark the place
Body donation, and a memorial later
- Donation to a medical school program
- A memorial whenever family is ready
- Ashes returned afterward, where the program offers it
A funeral first, then cremation
- A visitation, with a rental casket
- A funeral service with family and friends
- Ashes placed in a niche family can visit
Don't see one like yours?
Start from a blank page. The planner asks one question at a time and explains each choice as you go.