While many people view funerals as an unpleasant experience, cultural funerals are an inherent part of celebrating life. Everyone will die someday. Honoring the deceased and their culture through a beautiful celebration is how we can best deal with their passing.

Regardless of your culture, there is an inherent need for some type of ceremony. So, if your culture includes dancing, colorful flowers, sitting quietly, listening to a sermon, or other cultural expressions to grieve the loss of a loved one and celebrate their lives, we are here to help.

Every culture and family has its own unique way of celebrating one’s life when it is time to say goodbye. A cultural funeral ceremony is a way for loved ones to celebrate their culture and the life of their dearly departed. What matters is that the cultural funeral ceremony honors both the deceased and their loved ones while sticking to their desired traditions in a meaningful way. 

Here are five funeral planning tips to consider when planning a cultural funeral ceremony. If you follow these steps and take time, you can plan something special.

This is your funeral, with your cultural customs and wishes involved. If you leave it too long to plan your funeral and put it in the hands of family members, will they honour your wishes in full? The safest thing to do is to plan everything yourself to leave nothing to chance. However, it isn't enough to talk about them in a verbal agreement. 

Instead, you are better off writing everything down so there is no dispute. You can create an informal binder with all your choices and information on cultural customs. Better yet, you can set up an ethical will in addition to your formal will. This will cover everything you desire in writing. It isn't legally binding, but loved ones aware of the plan should follow what it says.

This written ethical will can also come in handy when it is time to meet with one of our Ajax cultural funeral planners. These considerate and well-informed advisers can help you plan your funeral or memorial service to make all those specific wishes a reality. They may also have other helpful funeral planning tips. Doing so gets the stress and pre-payment out of the way. It also gives family members one less thing to worry about after you pass away. 

This meeting will also help you decide what service is best for you. You may be so caught up in cultural details that you overlook some basics. For example, do you want a memorial service or a traditional funeral? This all depends on whether you want the body present and how this relates to your culture's customs. A memorial service at a later date may be more suitable and convenient. 

Another consideration regarding the presence of the body is whether you desire a viewing or visitation before the ceremony. Viewings occur with the body present and may involve an open casket if this is in keeping with your customs. An alternative is an informal visitation where the family can gather before the ceremony.

You must also be clear on what will happen to the body following the service. Do you need a cremation to honour those cultural wishes, or is a burial more suitable? Cremations are increasingly common, with ceremonial ash scatterings afterwards. But you can still request a gravesite plot and burial service.

With that in mind, you also need to consider whether having a direct burial or an attended ceremony is best. Direct services allow for the family to hold a cultural funeral ceremony at a later date that is more suitable. They don't have to be involved with the burial at all. Alternatively, you can have a committal service or a graveside service.

While it is certainly important to work on your funeral plan and ethical will yourself, you can't keep all the details to yourself. You should involve other people as much as possible through the planning stages, especially spouses and children. They may have ideas that you hadn't thought of to enhance the ceremony. They may also have objections.

This is where cultural funeral planning gets difficult. You want to plan something personal that reflects your culture. But you also want to plan the final goodbye for them. They are experiencing it all, and you don't want to make it too hard on them. If necessary, explain your wishes and reasoning or try and compromise. Find that perfect middle ground.

Talking with friends and family lets you pick up on details you hadn't considered. Elders and siblings with experience in these matters may have sound advice on the ceremony and handling of your remains.

There are also aspects of the day of the funeral you probably hadn't considered. For example, what is everyone going to do afterwards? If your culture has specific demands for a post-service wake or meal, this will involve organization and catering. There is also the issue of what to do with any remains. Are you going to have your ashes scattered somewhere special or a physical memorial site set up?

Don't stop there if you are getting everything settled with your cultural funeral plan and perhaps an ethical will. The last of these funeral planning tips is to get as organized as possible to avoid excess stress. This includes sorting out your will and the beneficiaries of your estate. Talk to everyone now, settle any disputes, and avoid any fights once you're gone.

There is much to consider when planning a cultural funeral ceremony. But you don't have to do it all alone. Contact Ajax Crematorium & Visitation Centre at 289-372-3300 to speak with one of our specialists and get started on that plan. We promise you will receive a service honouring your wishes and culture.