Reasons why you should consider pre-planning your funeral

If you haven’t plan your funeral yet, you must do it now. There is no better time than today to plan your funeral. Now, you must be wondering what's the need to pre-plan a funeral? Because planning a funeral brings along many advantages for you as well as your family. Can you plan your wedding or any celebration in a few days? Of course not, right? So, why leave the best celebration of your life to the last moment? Michael Scarpaci, a share holder at Scarpaci Funeral Home, advises that pre-planning a funeral is a wise decision to make. 

The following are a few of the reasons why you should consider pre-planning your funeral ceremony.

You don’t want to put the burden of your funeral on your family - If your wishes about your funeral remain unknown to your family, they will have to face a difficult time deciding your funeral. How will they know if you want to be cremated or buried? Will all your family members agree on a close or opened casket? Lack of planning often leads to confusion and disagreements among people. All this can be solved or avoided if you leave behind your funeral plan.

You want your family to enjoy the benefit of a meaningful funeral - A funeral is important for mourning family. Typically, it is the time that offers a sense of closure and allows the family to start the healing process. Families usually get benefit both socially and emotionally by respecting the lives of the departed souls with a perfect funeral ceremony and by organizing a proper send-off.

You want your last wishes to be fulfilled - If you wish that your remains should be disposed in a specific way and have a plan about the nature of your funeral services, you can mention them all in your funeral plan such as the preference for cremation or burial, the epitaph on your headstone, or the reading, video or the music at your funeral.

You want to take on the financial responsibility of your funeral - Pre-planning a funeral allows you to make a financial arrangement to fund your funeral ceremony. Michael Scarpaci will help you to pre-plan everything you want at your funeral ceremony.

You want to be self-sufficient even at the last affair of your life -  Planning a funeral is a thoughtful and caring thing one can do for their family. It is such as a relief to know that you have done everything that can reduce your family burden.

Well, death is the real truth that no can deny or ignore. Pre-planning a funeral helps the family to arrange a personalized funeral and help them to overcome the grief.

Choosing A Perfect Song For The Funeral Of Your Loved Ones - Michael Scarpaci

Funeral service is the last moment to celebrate the departed.  Everything from caskets to flowers, urns, and music, play a significant role in the funeral ceremony. When it comes to choosing a perfect song for the service and memorial, it can be a quite challenging task. Michael Scarpaci, a funeral director at Scarpaci Funeral Home, attempts to make sure that every aspect of the service is perfect. He has compiled a few suggestions and factors to consider while choosing the perfect funeral song.

Of course, you want a song that won’t be noticeable or offensive to anyone, still want it to be pacifying, and that offers comfort to the people arrived at the funeral service. Most of the people spend a considerable amount of time to think of a meaningful song which reflects the deceased personality well. For many people, music is the most momentous part of a funeral service and is usually what people remember the most. It’s essential to choose the best funeral songs so that dead ones will always be associated with the particular piece of music.

The following is a quick guide to choosing funeral songs.

• Make it personal - If you want to add a personal and unique touch to the funeral, music is probably the most ideal way to do so. Make sure you pick songs that complement the personality of the decedent, even if they don’t seem to be perfect funeral choices. Look for music or song that the person used to enjoy listening to.

• Focus on the lyrics - While choosing a funeral song, it’s important to focus on the lyrics or read them carefully. You must choose a song with good lyrics. Some songs come with lyrics that are unsuitable for the occasion, or they might fail to represent death in a way that concurs with your beliefs. Lyrics are considered to be the most important part of a song and are very significant, so make sure the song you choose doesn’t offend the attendees at the funeral service.

• Set the tone - Music can really help to set the mood of any of any event, so should keep in mind how you want people to feel - uplifting, poignant, reminiscent, or comforting?  Even humorous songs can be played to make people laugh if that’s what your departed loved one wished. You can set two different tones with the music, used at the start and the end of the service and most attendees appreciate the contrast.

Well, there is no right or wrong song for a funeral. Just make sure the song you select reflects the personality of the deceased and set the mood of the gathering. Our director Michael Scarpaci at Scarpaci Funeral home helps you to have a perfect funeral of your loved ones.

Why you should opt for a funeral pre-planning?

Talking about death is tough. People avoid this topic as much as they can. However, what should be realized is that death and planning for the funeral beforehand helps the family to understand the death of a loved one better. The experts such as Michael Scarpaci, funeral manager at Scarpaci funeral homes advices to always prepan the funeral in advance. The option of preplanning a funeral is available at almost all funeral homes. Whether you are young, elderly, or sick or totally healthy, funeral pre planning can help you easily.

• Your wishes are taken into consideration:- One of the most important reasons why people opt for pre planning is because the funeral can easily be planned according to the choices of the planner. If you want to be cremated or buried, you just have to tell the funeral director and fill in your forms. The director of the funeral home will make sure that all your wishes are carried out.
• Pre-planning helps the loved ones grieve:- Sudden death of the loved one puts the family in the grieving. Funeral planning through the grief can affect its process. Pre-planning removes the burden of planning through the grief. With a pre-planned funeral, the family members can easily process through their grief without worrying about anything. Also with pre-planning  there are no delays after the death and all the procedures and ceremonies are done on time.  
• Financial relief:- Another leading benefit of pre-planning is the financial relief for the family. As all the funeral expenses are paid in advance. This way the family members do not have to worry about any last minute or abrupt costs. By pre-planning the funeral in advance you can save money as your plan would be saved from any future increase of the prices. 

The pre-planning of the funeral has become more than a trend. It is a great way to work around the budget while helping the family anyway you can. 

Tips For Attending A Catholic Funeral By Michael Scarpaci

The death of loved one is hard and difficult. Planning the funeral and arranging all the details while managing the grief. Death is devastating but a natural process. It is important that planning for the funeral is done right. According to Michael Scarpaci, manager at Scarpaci Funeral Homes in Brooklyn and Staten Island, it is very important that the death of a loved one is processed right.

If you are attending a Catholic funeral for the first time, there are a few things that you should follow in order not to hurt the sentiments of religious family. Here are a few tips you should follow while arranging or attending a Catholic funeral.

• Do not panic:- If you are arranging the funeral, try not to get overwhelmed by the details. Slow the thing and allow yourself to breathe.

• Do not waste money:-  One of the reasons behind family feuds at the funerals is the wrong use and mismanagement of money. Concentrate on the things that actually count. Involve your family in the process.

• Ask or accept help:- Whether they are family members or not, if you need help, ask and accept the help provided.

• Simple works:- For religious as well as non-religious funerals, the simple and natural ceremonies always work. The simple funerals are more about putting the deceased choice on the above.

What does Catholic funerals include?
There are typically three things that make up the Catholic funerals.

• On the day before the burial, there is a vigil or a wake service. The loved ones of the deceased gather around and pay their respects.

• On the day of burial, there is funeral liturgy which is often combined with the Catholic Mass. The close family and friends often meet before the Mass and set up a funeral procession.

• The last event is the Rite of Committal which happens after the burial at the cemetery. The friends and family say their goodbyes by placing flowers on the casket.

To help the family with funeral, many people are opting for pre-planning the funerals. If you want to preplan your funeral, always talk to an expert.

Three Things You Should Do To Make The Funerals More Personalized By Michael Scarpaci

Nowadays funerals are more than traditional ceremonies. Unlike the past, funerals are not just not the ceremony that are “expected” to be held when someone passes away. Funerals are actually the ceremonies to celebrate the deceased’s life. The friends and family come together to remember the deceased and heal through the process of grief. Michael Scarpaci, manager at Scarpaci funeral homes in Staten Island and Brooklyn, advises the mourners to help each other to heal and opt for a personalized funeral.

If you are an individual who wants to preplan a funeral or you want to give your loved one a personalized funeral, there are a few things that you should know about planning one:

• Thoughtful Refreshments:- One way to personalize a funeral is to provide the refreshment that deceased loved. You can opt to serve the departed loved one’s favorite food or the food or drink items that signify their culture and their life. Serving such specific food or drinks makes the people remember the special time they spent with the deceased.

• Remembrance gifts:- As humans, we accumulate a lot of special things. Another thing you can do to personalize the funeral is to share the special things with their loved one. You can opt to share their collections or their favorite Christmas ornaments. Every gift is meaningful especially when you share it with the loved ones.  

• Remembrance book:- One thing that majority of people do in funerals is create a Remembrance books. The book can be online or offline. Creating a book with your loved one’s milestones and memories will result in a beautiful book with shred and loved experiences. Friends and family can also write about memories and how the deceased changed their life. The remembrance book also helps the family to move on from the grief and heal.

Along with the above mentioned three ways, there are also numerous other ways to personalise the funerals. If you are thinking of pre planning your funerals, you can talk to the funeral director and write down any particular things you want at your funeral. Remember, funeral is the time to remember the loved ones and the life they lived.

4 Things You Should Know About Pre-planning The Funeral By Michael Scarpaci

Over the years, people has become comfortable with the trend of pre-planning their funeral. There are numerous advantages of planning a funeral early. It is not only a wise thing to do but helps the family comfort. According to the Michael Scarpaci, the manager at Scarpaci Funeral Home in Staten Island and Brooklyn, pre-planning a funeral makes it easy on your family and helps them understand how you want your funeral to be. Here are a few tips by the expert  about the process of pre-planning the funeral:

• Ease the burden on your family:- Keeping wishes unknown while you die is quite a burden on your family. It can make the decisions extremely difficult to take. From deciding if you want to be cremated or buried, to deciding to agree on the open and closed casket, pre-planning the funeral will make sure there is no confusion for the family. All the disagreement can be left behind by pre-planning your funeral.

• Assume the financial responsibility for the funeral:- One thing that put the unexpected burden on the family is the financial costs of the funerals. The funerals are costly affairs. Thus, pre-planning the funeral and leaving the amount behind for the funeral can help your family cover the costs and stay afloat while they grieve.

• Benefit of a meaningful funeral:- One of the most important affairs for any family is funeral. They give their deceased loved one an adieu. The funeral also gives a family closure and helps them heal. A meaningful funeral can help the family socially and emotionally as they can give the loved one a proper send off.  This becomes quite difficult when the funeral has to be planned immediately.

• Your final wishes would be followed:- Along with the abovementioned benefis, a pre-planned funeral makes sure that your funeral is exactly how you want it. Whether you want a burial or particular epitaph written on your gravestone, everything would be done by the funeral house director and your family wouldn’t have the burden of selecting the funeral things for their loved one.

Funerals can be tough and having a reliable funeral home director by your side can make them easy to go through. Pre-planning the funeral will allow to make your own decisions regarding the funeral along with helping your family to grieve in peace.

The Etiquette Of Funeral With Michael Scarpaci

When someone we know loses a loved one, it often becomes very difficult to talk to them. We often find ourselves at loss for words. The words need to be comforting and should make them feel better. No matter how difficult it is for you to say the right thing, you have to make sure that you don't make them feel bad.

While talking to someone from deceased ‘s family, it is quite easy to resort to the cliches. However, sometimes, cliches can be destructive and do more bad than good. Michael Scarpaci, manager of Scarpaci funeral homes in Brooklyn and Staten Island advises to follow these few points to have a healthy conversation with someone who has lost their loved one.

Start with making suggestions
The first thing you should is make suggestion rather than asking them. Do not ask them what they should do. Rather say, “Let me take care of your lawn” or “Let me pick some groceries for you”. It is difficult for the one who is grieving to ask friends, even family for help. If you see the opportunity to help, then just help.

Listen
While the griever might not be ready to discuss how they are feeling right now, but it is necessary that you keep an open ear for them whenever they want to talk. Just keep the offer of you being ready to listen open. When they want to talk, listen and remember not to interject with “you should”. Don’t give them tips on how they can lessen their grief or move on. Just let them speak what they want to. A griever can get lonely and making sure that the friend is there to listen to them  helps a lot.

A few things that you should not say to the griever no matter what:

1. “It was time” - No matter what happens, never say these words to the griever. This would mean that the loss of your friend is purposeful. It would make them worse than they did before.
2. “This was all God’s plan” - Just like the one mentioned above, this is a no say.  While it can be understood that there are things that we might not understand, saying that death of  loved one is part of a plan is wrong.

Remember, death is a natural process and needs to be taken in stride. Nonetheless, losing loved one is hard and talking to a grieved person should be done with care.