Tips Of Being A Pallbearer By Michael Scarpaci

Nowadays, people are aware of all funeral etiquettes. They are also much familiar with the role of a pallbearer in the funeral services. If anyone of your close relative or friend has passed away, you may be asked to serve as a pallbearer in the funeral service. Have no idea about a pallbearer? - A pallbearer is usually responsible for carrying the casket from the funeral home to the hearse. Michael Scarpaci, the manager of Scarpaci funeral home in Staten Island, says that if someone is asked to become a pallbearer, one should consider it an honor. It is like the deceased’s family is putting their trust on you to carry the casket carefully to its destination. 

If you’ve already accepted to become a pallbearer, Michael Scarpaci explains below the tips to become a pallbearer in the funeral service.

• If you got doubt about anything approaches the funeral director - Well, the funeral director has been doing this since a while.  So, they may know almost everything. If you still have any doubt, feel free to approach the funeral director for help and advice. They will tell you all from how to transport the casket safely to when you will be taking your pallbearer duties, where to stand/sit, brief you about your role at the cemetery, and anything else you’re not familiar with.

• Be the one who arrives early and leaves late - If you’re asked to become a pallbearer, make sure you arrive at the service at least 15 minutes early. You don’t want to become a reason for stress on the family thinking whether you reach before the service or not. Also, try to leave the place a bit late. As you’re representative of the funeral ceremony, if you stay back and attend the guests will a great thing for the family.

• Dress formally - Dressing formally is one of the etiquettes people have to follow while attending a funeral ceremony. Being a pallbearer, it becomes more important to wear a dark suit, tie, and shoes. Make sure you have a decent hairstyle and avoid too much jewelry on the funeral service.

• Take your assigned place - Usually, a special section in the front is reserved for the pallbearer to sit during the funeral ceremony. Unless there is an urgency for you to go behind otherwise, try to be with the other pallbearers for the funeral.

• Consider it as a responsibility and honor - As a pallbearer, you got one of the most significant duties of the funeral ceremony. Accept it with respect and dignity.

• Relax, don’t fret! - Don’t panic with the thought of dropping the casket! All you need is to relax. The funeral director and staff will take care that you prepared enough for the task.

If you ever get the chance to become a pallbearer, accept it with dignity and honor. It is the most crucial role in the funeral ceremony.

4 Tips To Navigate Go Through A Funeral Reception By Michael Scarpaci

Death of a close friend or a family member is traumatic. The pain to lose a loved one takes time to heal. However, when someone has to host a funeral, the pain and the grief needs to be kept aside to ensure the proper planning and hosting of the funeral. Michael Scarpaci, manager of Scarpaci funeral home in Staten Island and Brooklyn provides the following tips to easily navigate through the funeral and reception with ease and poise.

• Plan the reception thoroughly in advance:- The first thing that needs to be properly done is the planning of the reception. Managing the grief is tough but do not let it get in the way of giving the loved one a proper send off. Make sure the catering is organized and all the work is done so that you can mourn with others. Even a small disarrangement or problem could lead to state of heightened grief. 
•  Keep your outfit simple:- Attire plays a huge role in the funeral reception. Right outfit keeps you from feeling uncomfortable. Wear the dress and shoes that are comfortable and somber for the occasion. Try to think your outfit ahead of the time. Many people keep an extra outfit to ensure that they can change when they want to.
• Surround yourself with support:- Generally a funeral is only for the friends and family of the deceased which means that there are going to be a variety of people that you may like and a few you do not. If you feel out of the place, surround yourself with the people you love and who are able to understand you grieving and mourning.
• Maintain distance from conflict:- Having a conflict in a funeral is rough. It will not only affect your mental well being but that of the  loved ones attending the funeral. People respond differently to the stress of losing someone. It is not only the loss of the loved one but the pressure of the funeral expenses, finances and the unresolved conflicts that often lay dormant until the funeral. Thus, before you feel yourself lashing out. Avoid the conflict and be polite to everyone you see.

The above mentioned four tips help the loved ones to navigate through the grief and pain. Planning a funeral requires a lot of grit. A funeral director helps the family to make the right decisions and work towards planning a proper funeral and its reception.

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.