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What to Expect During a Traditional Burial Funeral?

Falk Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc. • Sep 27, 2021

If you’ve never attended a funeral, it can be hard to know what to expect. Knowing a few things in advance may help you feel more comfortable. Click here for more.

It can be a strange experience to attend a funeral service at funeral homes Allentown, PA no matter how many times you have attended a funeral service. Seeing your loved ones crying can present us with a unique set of challenges, both emotionally and logistically, especially if we didn’t know what to expect.

To help you prepare and feel a little more at ease, this guide explains what to expect during and after a traditional funeral.

What Happens on the Day of Funeral

Even though funeral services differ from person depending on family traditions and cultural values, but they generally entail the below stages:

Seating Arrangements

On the day of the funeral, the bereaved family invites friends and family members to the funeral home where they have to sit and listen to the funeral proceedings. The close friends and immediate family members sit at the front rows while the remaining guests can fill up the rest of the seats.

When you arrive, the funeral director can guide you towards your assigned seat. Sit quietly at the back without disrupting the service if you somehow come late to the event.

Viewing the Deceased

As the name indicates, viewing involves seeing the body of the deceased and paying them your last respect and tribute – if it’s an open casket funeral.

Note that funerals can be both open casket and closed casket. In a closed casket, nobody is allowed to view the departed soul; usually, it happens when the individual had died violently like in the case of an accident or for religious reasons.

Mostly, the Viewing service happens at the funeral home but many families choose to hold a separate, more formal Viewing service at the deceased’s family home. You can attend such a service only if invited.

Taking the Body to a Burial Site

After the funeral service takes place in the funeral home, the body is transported to the burial site. Many guests don’t participate in the procession and arrive directly at the site.

When the procession arrives, the coffin is carefully removed from the hearse and the mourners gather around the body. Here again, a small service is held and the celebrant prays for the deceased followed by lowering the coffin into the grave by the pallbearers. Mostly, this stage lasts for just a few minutes.

Many Catholic or Eastern Orthodox funerals also hold Committal services before burying the deceased. This service is religious, more formal and longer, and includes prayers for the departed soul.

Reception or Wake

A funeral reception is a small informal event that happens after the funeral service. The close friends and family gather at the deceased’s home, beach, in a hotel, or any other private place to mourn the lost loved one.

Here, the bereaved family also serves drinks and refreshments to the guests to get relaxed and spend some time together. Go to a Reception only if you’re invited and offer your condolences to the bereaved family again. If you’re the host, you can diss your options with funeral homes Allentown, PA.

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