Blog | Baldauff Family Funeral Home

Obituary Writing Mistakes

While there are a lot of differences between cremation services in Deland, FL, and traditional services, one thing that they have in common is that you will probably want to write an obituary for either service style. The obituary is an announcement to the public that your loved one has passed on. It doesn’t have to be long or involved, but it is something you want to do right. Here are a few mistakes to avoid:

Mistake 1: Not Reading Other Obituaries

One of the ways you can plan out what you want to say is to read what others have included. You will see there is a certain tone, length, and items included and you can follow suit to make the obituary for your loved one fit in well. You can also ask your cremation service provider for a list of things that are usually included, but nothing beats reading examples to help get you in the right frame of mind.

Mistake 2: Writing At Length

IT’s hard to sum up someone’s life in a few short paragraphs. But obituaries are not meant to be lengthy. You don’t have to have a long biography of your loved one in that announcement. It might confuse readers if you include too many details. Focus on a few milestones and if you want to write something longer, you can hand it out at the cremation service.

Mistake 3: No Proof Readers

After you have the basic obituary in hand, have several people read through it for any mistakes you might have made. You’ll want someone to read for grammar and punctuation, but also for the names of survivors, dates, and other facts. You don’t want to leave anyone out of invert numbers to make the whole thing incorrect.

Mistake 4: Forgetting The Service Details

If you are having a service that is open to the public, you will want to include those details in the obituary as well. Include the time, date, and cremation service provider address among other details that the public will need to know. If the service is not open to the public, you might want to include that a service is being held for family and list the funeral home name. That way, people know where to send flowers, cards, and other gifts for your family.

When you are trying to write an obituary, it can be very trying. You want to make sure you get everything in, and you are also likely planning cremation services in Deland, FL at the same time, which can also be very stressful. Talk to the professionals at Baldauff Family Funeral Home and Crematory about the process and we will make sure that the obituary comes together nicely. We want you to be able to honor your loved one through the announcement. Give us a call whenever you are ready to plan services and when you are ready to start writing, we can help with any questions at the same time. We’re here for your needs.

Questions For The Funeral Home

Arranging services for a loved one can be stressful, but you will need help from funeral homes in Deland, FL to get through the process. Not only do they have the services you need, but they will support you with compassion through the proceedings, which never hurts in that kind of situation. If you haven’t decided what funeral home to choose yet, narrow down the options and then, call around and ask some important questions. Here are a few you might want to include:

Do You Have Such And Such Services?

If you know what services you want from a funeral home, it’s important to ask if they have the services you need. If you aren’t sure what you want yet, ask what range of services they offer and then find what you’d like among them. Having a funeral home with a wide array of services is best if you are undecided.

How Much Experience Do You Have?

While there may not be anything wrong with a new provider, it’s important to find someone who has experience so you can trust that they know what they are doing. You want your loved one to have the best and experts are there to help within the industry. You can read about their history on their website, but you can also ask them about it. The company may have been around for a long time, but how long as the funeral director you are speaking with been working there?

Do You Offer Standard Rates?

It’s not fair to pay way more than you should for funeral services. You need rates that are standard and within the average ranges. If the company has rates that are way lower, their services might not be the quality you want, or they might try and stick you with fees later. IF the costs are way too high, they might be trying to take advantage of your grief and that’s not okay, either.

Can I Visit Your Facilities?

It should be perfectly fine for you to visit the funeral home, take a tour, and see what things look like. You might want to see where they implement plans and you might want to look over the rooms they have available for services. Seeing the operation in person can make a big difference in who you end up choosing. You can tell a lot about the facilities and the people who work there when you meet them in person as well.

There may be other questions you would like to ask and that’s perfectly fine. Make a list and ask all of the funeral homes in Deland, FL that you call the same questions so you can compare the answers and decide which company is best for your needs. The professionals at Baldauff Family Funeral Home and Crematory are here to help and we are happy to answer as many questions as you have at any time. We can give you a free consultation or a tour whenever is convenient for you.

What Should Your Loved One Wear For Cremation?

There are some things you might know about cremation services in Lake Helen, FL, like how the process works overall and how it costs less than traditional services. But there are some aspects that may never have crossed your mind until you are dealing with a cremation situation for a loved one. For example, what should your loved one wear when they are cremated? There are plenty of options and to help you decide, here are some of the most popular choices.

What They Were Wearing When They Passed

Since direct cremation can happen quickly after the paperwork is in order, some families send their loved ones into cremation wearing whatever they had on when they passed away. They likely don’t want to keep that clothing and it makes things simple and easy.

Their Most Comfortable Clothes

If your loved one valued being comfortable, perhaps putting them in pajamas, a tracksuit, a comfortable sweatshirt, or something else you know they appreciated for comfort-sake would be the best for your situation. Even something like a robe and slippers works if that’s what you want.

A Meaningful Outfit

If your loved one had a certain outfit they wore for special occasions, perhaps it seems fitting that they wear that outfit for their cremation. Maybe it was a sweater they always wore for graduations or pants they appreciated for Sunday services. Whatever outfit has meaning could be the right fit for this service.

Their Best

Some families want to dress their loved ones in their best outfit in order to give them a sendoff in the most proper manner. That could mean a suit, a nice dress, a pantsuit, or something else. If they would wear it to a wedding, to church, or other such places, it might be something to consider if you want to send them off at their best.

Nothing

Another option is to send your loved one into cremation the way they entered this world in the first place—is nothing at all. This might be a good option if you want to keep or donate their clothing, so you don’t have to send anything with them.

Something New

Perhaps there’s nothing that you see as fitting for this process, so you might want to buy something new for your loved one. It can be your final gift to them to put them into something you know they would like as they enter cremation.

There are plenty of other options for clothing for your loved one to wear for cremation services in Lake Helen, FL. If you’d like to talk to the professionals about the choices, contact the professionals at Baldauff Family Funeral Home and Crematory and we can go over the options with you. There are no right or wrong choices. You just have to figure out what works best for your family and their situation. We’re here to help you in any way possible, including figuring out what you would like for your loved one to wear during cremation.

Figuring Out Your Final Wishes

There aren’t many things that are guaranteed in this life. But the one thing that is—for everyone—is death. Instead of going through life with the wool pulled over your eyes, it might be a good idea to figure out what your final wishes are. It’s a good thing to do for your family and for your own peace of mind. You can think about it yourself or work with funeral homes in Lake Helen, FL to go over the options.

It can be hard to think about the end of your life. No one really wants to dwell on it. But when you think about planning your final wishes versus leaving things up to your family to guess, it’s understandable why you would want to figure out what you’d like to have happened. Planning your own services and figuring out what your final wishes are can help you have peace of mind. You won’t be leaving that burden on your family. They will be grateful for that and it’s nice for them to know what you want. It’s also nice for you to know that whatever you want is what will happen.

There are many things that might pertain to the end of your life. One thing you will want to take care of it assigning a medical power of attorney so that if you are unable to make decisions for yourself, the person you assign will do so for you. That person should be someone you trust and someone you know would make decisions with your best interest at heart. In order to help them even further, you could fill out a living will, which tells them what you want to have happened in certain medical situations.

It’s also important to have a will so that when you pass on, everyone knows what to do with your possessions. You can include big things like your house, your bank account, and so on, but you might also put in smaller things that are valuable to you. This is also a way to protect your children. If you were to pass on before they turn 18, you would need to assign them a new guardian.

After those things are taken care of, you might want to figure out what your final services would look like. You can plan those by looking through options with professionals. Once everything is arranged and in writing, the funeral home can save the plans, or you can pay for them upfront. Either way is perfectly fine.

When you get to the planning stage of your final services and you need help from funeral homes in Lake Helen, FL, the professionals at Baldauff Family Funeral Home and Crematory are here for you. We want you to have peace of mind that everything is under control. You never know when you might pass on so it’s best to be prepared as far in advance as possible. We’ll offer you ideas and suggestions that might suit your personality.

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Choosing Cremation

If you want to plan your own services, just taking steps in that direction is a great thing for your family’s future. You will be leaving them with as few burdens as possible and they will know just what you want. When you make the decision between traditional burial and cremation services in Daytona Beach, FL for your pre-plans, you want to be sure about the choice. Here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself before you commit to cremation over burial:

Why Does Cremation Appeal To Me?

If you’ve weighed the options and you’re leaning toward cremation, there are likely many reasons why that’s the case. You might want to think through them so you are ready to answer questions your loved ones might have. Plus, knowing your reasoning can help you gain your own peace of mind that you are making the right decision for yourself. You might want to go with cremation because of costs, options, or simple preference reasons, among others.

Do I Know Everything I Want To Know?

Before you set everything in store, you might want to make sure you have the research in place and that you know what you’d like to know. You don’t have to understand every detail about cremation, just whatever you want to know about it. If you still have questions, ask them or find out the answers online before you move forward so you can be sure about your decision.

What Will My Family Think?

It’s likely that your family’s opinion matters to you a great deal and you might need to sit down and have a talk to them either before or after you put your plans into place. It’s best for them to know what you have planned so they aren’t surprised by it when you pass on in the future. If you know they would be okay with cremation, that makes it easier for you to go that direction. While your final services revolve around you, they are also for your family members and you wat them to get what they need from them.

Is Cremation Absolutely The Best Option?

Before you sign any paperwork and make the ultimate decisions, you need to be certain that cremation is the choice you want. Cremation is permanent, once it occurs. And once you put the plans into place, you are saying unequivocally that it’s what you want. Don’t make the plans until you are certain it’s the best option for you.

When you decide that cremation services in Daytona Beach, FL is what you want after asking these and any other questions you have for yourself, contact the professionals at Baldauff Family Funeral Home and Crematory and we can help you put your pre-plans into place. We’ll support any decisions you make and keep a hold of the plans until you are ready to use them. We’ll implement the plans when that time comes and relieve your family of as many burdens as possible.