The Value of a Memorial Service

While a church service is customary before a traditional earth burial, such is not the case before a cremation. But it is customary to hold a memorial service after a cremation. There are numerous reasons why a memorial after a Chanhassen, MN cremation can be valuable.

So if you are planning a cremation for a deceased loved one, check out these reasons why a memorial service is something that you should hold following the cremation process.

Focus on Life

At a funeral service, it is customary for the body of the deceased to be present in an opened or closed casket, so the focus tends to be on death. At a memorial service, the body is not usually present in any form, so the focus tends to be on life. It is definitely easier to turn a memorial into a celebratory event than it would be at a funeral service. Furthermore, a memorial service, which can come after a funeral service or after a cremation service, comes when people have had a bit more time to process the reality of the death and to start the grieving process.

More Informal

A funeral service tends to be very formal and is usually held in a church or in some other house of worship. But a memorial service can be held just about anywhere, is usually informal and lends itself to customization. It will be easier for attendees to let their hair down, so to speak, and to talk and share if the environment is more informal than formal.

Come Together

Because a memorial service focuses more on celebrating a life than in marking a death, it will be easier for people to come together with positive stories and comments. Everyone has a story to tell, and a memorial is the perfect environment for people to share their stories about the deceased.

For the Living

When you really think about it, memorials are more about the living than they are about the dead – and that’s not something you can say about funeral services. At a memorial, there’s usually a bit of time between the death and the memorial event. This gives people a bit more time to come to terms with the new normal. Such an event also will help the living to deal with grief as they laugh together, sing together, cry together and eat together. In many ways, a memorial can offer closure for you, your family and your friends.

If you’re planning a cremation in Chanhassen, MN and are thinking about holding a memorial afterwards, we can help you with some helpful advice and recommendations. At Scott County Cremation, our goal is to meet or exceed expectations, and we are dedicated to helping grieving families to gain the sort of closure that comes with a properly planned body disposition. Our phone number and address are, respectively, (952) 402-9000 and 833 S. Marschall Road, Shakopee, MN 55379. Contact us for a free consultation. We’ll be happy to help in your time of need.

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The Worst Things to Say to Someone Who’s Grieving

It can be heart-wrenching to attend a memorial and to see the deceased’s family filled with grief. There are lots of good things you can say to honor the dead, but there are also some words that should never come out of your mouth at a memorial following a Savage, MN cremation.

Here are some things you should never utter out loud. If you’ve ever made any of these statements before, there’s nothing you can do about it now. But try to avoid them going forward.

“At least ___ lived a long life.”

While people who say things like that may be very well-meaning, the reality is that it’s a pretty insensitive thing to say to someone who’s grieving the loss of a loved one. It would almost be like assuming a god complex while determining who has had a long-enough time on planet earth. Whether the deceased died in relative youth, middle age or twilight years, the person’s death will deal a blow to their family and friends. So it’s best not to trivialize the pain and grief of those who feel the loss most by saying that the person lived a long life.

“I know how you feel”

The short answer to that statement is – “No you don’t!” The truth of the matter is that you don’t know how anyone else feels – you can only know how you feel. Even if you’ve suffered a recent loss in your own family, you still don’t know how another human being feels. What you can have is empathy and understanding. But you can almost trivialize what someone else is going through when you take the position that you know and understand their innermost pain.

“Everything happens for a reason.”

Yes, and the sky is blue, and water is wet. Saying something like “everything happens for a reason” when someone is dealing with grief is insensitive. You should save the philosophizing for when your favorite sports team comes up just short of winning a championship. When it comes to comforting the hurting, be a good listener if you don’t know what to say.

“___ is in a better place now.”

Again, this is one of those things that people sometimes say, with the best of intentions, but that should not be said to someone grieving a loss in the family. The grieving family wants the deceased to be alive and with them. So telling them that the person is somewhere else while they’re left to deal with grief and pain is insensitive.

Yes, you’ll want to avoid saying any of these sorts of things at a memorial following a cremation in Carver, MN. There are lots of good things you can say – like “I’m praying for you” or “I feel for your loss” or “Let me know how I can help.” So if you want to bring comfort to a grieving friend or colleague, do your best to avoid saying something that might come across as insensitive. At Scott County Cremation, we have the expertise and the services to help you plan a cremation service for your deceased loved one. Call (952) 402-9000 or stop by our office at 833 S. Marschall Road, Shakopee, MN 55379. Allow us to help you in your time of need.

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The Best Things to Say to Someone Who’s Grieving

Unless you have the gift of gab and somehow know exactly what to say to just about anyone in just about any situation, you might get tongue-tied when dealing with grieving people. Attending memorials that commemorate people who have been cremated will often lead to situations where you will come face-to-face with the grieving family. Since you shouldn’t simply stay button-lipped and say nothing, here are things to say during the memorial after a cremation in Carver, MN. You’ll be more comfortable when you know to communicate with the hurting.

“I am so sorry for your loss.”

This is one of the simplest things you can say to someone who, even at a memorial where the goal is to celebrate the life of the deceased, is still grieving. Those seven words acknowledge, firstly, that you empathize and, secondly, that you acknowledge the loss. Even if you say nothing but those words, you will have said enough. Depending on how close you are with the grieving family, you might follow up with a brotherly or sisterly hug for comfort.

“You’re in my prayers.”

This is the sort of thing you can say to a grieving person who has religious beliefs. Even secular science has found that religious people tend to deal with life’s ups and downs better than those who claim no faith in the divine. So letting a grieving person know that you will pray for them will bring comfort if the grieving person happens to be a person of faith.

“My favorite memory of ___ was…”

By saying something like that, you can give an anecdote that highlights the positive aspects of the deceased. Sometimes a story about the deceased while they were alive might even be enough to bring a smile to the face of their grieving family members.

“I’m here for you. Let me know how I can help.”

If you say these words to someone who’s grieving, make sure you mean them. Also be sure that there’s enough of a relationship between you and the person in question so that the words come across as sincere. In the aftermath of a death in the family, a grieving person may need help with certain things or may simply want to talk to someone. You can be a friend by helping with errands, being a shoulder to cry on or simply lending sympathetic ears to listen.

“I wish I had the right words to say. But I’m here if you need me.”

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say despite your best efforts. Acknowledging that you don’t know what to say but that you want the person to know that you’re available to help in any way you can will demonstrate your honesty and sincerity.

If you’ll be attending a memorial after a Carver, MN cremation, it pays to know what to say. Are you in the process of planning a cremation for a loved one? The good folks at Scott County Cremation are here to help you plan something that will honor the memory of a loved one and encourage your family. When you need our assistance, call us at (952) 402-9000 for a free consultation. You can also talk to us in person by coming to 833 S. Marschall Road, Shakopee, MN 55379.

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Tips to Customize Memorial Service

After a direct cremation for your deceased family member, a nice followup would be a memorial service to commemorate the person’s life. It will provide a time for healing, fellowship and celebration after a more sobering body disposition process. If you’re looking at how to customize a memorial service after the New Prague, MN cremation, here are some tips.

Memory Table

You can really have a lot of fun with this idea. Basically, it will involve setting up a table somewhere at the memorial site. What will the table contain? Things pertaining to the deceased that showcase who the person was, what his or her interests were and more should be put on the table. So, you can include the person’s favorite leather jacket, pictures of the person, personal letters, a favorite CD and other things. People who visit the memory table — or tables, if you have a lot of things to put on display — will take a trip down memory lane. The good thing about putting together a memory table is that it needn’t cost you a penny. The reason is that just about everything that you’ll need to put on the memory table will be found at the deceased person’s own home. Just visit and take some things to put on the memory table.

Tribute Video

Putting together a tribute video is another way that you can make the memorial service one to remember. You can include pictures, video clips and music. Allowing people to see pictures of the decease while he or she was alive can showcase his or her personality, interests and hobbies, landmark life events like marriage and birth of children, and much more. If you have audio and video clips of the person, you can include them to add another layer of depth. And don’t forget to include music since a soundtrack can help to convey the message you want. You can perhaps burn copies of the tribute video for memorial attendees to take home with them.

Decorate

Another way you can individualize the memorial is through decoration. You might have a theme that you’re going for or maybe you simply want to decorate in a way that commemorates the deceased. You can, for instance, decorate using the deceased’s favorite color. If the deceased was a sports fan, perhaps you can hang up some sports team jerseys or some posters depicting some of your relative’s favorite players. Basically, the sky’s the limit in terms of how you can decorate. And the great thing is that it doesn’t have to cost you much — if anything.

After cremation in New Prague, MN, don’t forget to host a memorial service to honor the deceased and to provide an opportunity for the living mourners to heal. At Scott County Cremation, we have experience helping people just like you during one of life’s most trying periods. Call us at (952) 402-9000 or visit us at 833 S. Marschall Road, Shakopee, MN 55379 for a free consultation with one of our professionals. We’re here when you need us.

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4 Advantages of Urn Vaults

After the Belle Plaine, MN cremation has been completed and you receive the ashes of your deceased loved one in an urn, there are plenty of things you can do with it. Keeping it at home, scattering the ashes in a place that holds sentimental meaning or transforming the ashes into memorial jewelry are just a few of the available options. Another option, one that you may not have considered, is placing the urn in what is called an urn vault.

If you intend to bury the urn following the direct cremation, you may, depending on the cemetery you contact, need to place the urn in an urn vault. An urn vault is a receptacle that the cremation urn is placed into, and it is designed to safeguard the urn from, among other things, the weight of the earth covering it. Whether or not you want to go with urn vault route, you owe it to yourself to know some of the potential advantages. Here are 4 benefits of urn vaults to mull over.

Protect the Urn

Many cemeteries actually mandate that any urn you bury first be placed in an urn vault. This means an added expense, but it will help to protect the urn not only from the earth packed upon it, but also from any equipment used at the cemetery. You don’t want to bury an urn without an urn vault only to have it crushed in short order, so an urn vault makes practical sense.

Customization

While you don’t have to customize an urn vault, you can if you want engrave something particularly special on it. Was there a favorite scripture verse that the person loved to quote? Did the person have a nickname that the family used to refer to him or her? You can customize the urn vault to better honor and commemorate the deceased.

Lightweight

When it comes to urn vaults, they are very lightweight and therefore easy to transport to the cemetery plot. Sometimes people get the false idea that an urn vault is heavy. It will be easy enough for you or someone else in your family to transport the urn vault to its final resting place.

Tough

As you might imagine, an urn vault has to be pretty solid and sturdy in order to protect the urn from caving in under the pressure of the earth or the weight of any equipment used on the surface. They are constructed to hold up and to maintain the integrity of the cremation urn.

You obviously don’t have to get an urn vault if you’re not planning to bury the urn, but it’s a good thing to know your options in the event that you do decide to go this route. If you need some help with planning a cremation in Belle Plaine, MN, get in touch with us at Scott County Cremation. Call (952) 402-9000 to speak to one of our professional and compassionate staff members. Our goal is to help you during a trying and stressful period in your life. You can also come down to 833 S. Marschall Road, Shakopee, MN 55379 if you want to pay us a visit.

The Value of a Memorial Service

Focus on Life

More Informal

Come Together

For the Living

The Worst Things to Say to Someone Who’s Grieving

The Best Things to Say to Someone Who’s Grieving

Tips to Customize Memorial Service

Memory Table

Tribute Video

Decorate

4 Advantages of Urn Vaults

Our Guarantee

Scott County, MN and Area Weather

Focus on Life

More Informal

Come Together

For the Living

Memory Table

Tribute Video

Decorate

Our Guarantee

Scott County, MN and Area Weather

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