Types of funeral
There are two separate questions here, and it helps to keep them apart. The first is what happens on the day: burial, cremation, or something in between. The second is what sort of service it needs to be, which depends entirely on who the person was.
What happens on the day
Four choices, and the price difference between them is considerable. Every one of these is set out in our Standardised Price List.
Attended cremation
The most common funeral we arrange. A service at the crematorium chapel, with family and friends present, followed by the cremation. You choose the day, the time, the coffin, the music and who conducts it.
We use Marbury Vale and Alderton Road. Marbury Vale gives you 45 minutes in the chapel; Alderton Road gives you 30 as standard and you can book a double slot if you need longer. Both have hearing loops and both can stream the service to family who cannot travel.
Ashes come back to us usually within three or four working days. There is no charge for keeping them here while you decide what to do, and no time limit on that.
Unattended cremation
The cremation takes place with nobody present, early in the day, at a time the crematorium sets. There is no service, no cars and no procession.
Some families choose this because it is what the person asked for. Others choose it because a full funeral is not affordable, and we would rather you had this than a funeral you cannot pay for. It is not a lesser send-off and we will not treat it as one.
A good many families then hold their own gathering afterwards, at home or at the pub, once the ashes are back. We will help you arrange that if you want us to, and there is no charge for it.
Burial
A service at the church, the chapel or the graveside, then burial. Where that burial can take place depends on the ground.
- Parish churchyards. St Cuthbert's Marbury, St Mary's Ketton and Alderton St Peter all still have space, though St Cuthbert's is now limited to existing family graves. Rights differ from parish to parish and we will find out for you.
- Marbury Cemetery. New plots and reopened graves. The council sets the fees and they change each April.
- Existing family graves. We will check the deeds and the depth before anything is promised. It is not always possible and it is better to know early.
Burial fees are set by the church or the council, not by us. They pass through our invoice at cost and we show them separately.
Natural burial
Burial in a meadow or woodland site, in a coffin that will break down naturally. No headstone; the grave is marked with a tree or left to the meadow.
The nearest site to us is Barrow Fen Meadow, about twenty minutes from Marbury. We carry willow, wicker, bamboo and cardboard coffins, and we do not embalm for a natural burial because the site will not accept it.
Worth knowing: the ground at Barrow Fen can be wet between November and February, and they will sometimes ask to move a date by a few days. We will tell you at the time rather than on the morning.
The sort of service it needs to be
Below are the funerals we are asked for most often. We have written about the ones we actually arrange, and we have said plainly what we can and cannot do. If what you need is not here, ring and ask. The answer is very often yes.
Church of England and other Christian services
We work regularly with the clergy at St Cuthbert's, St Mary's Ketton and Alderton St Peter, and with the Methodist circuit and the Catholic parish at Colefield. In practice this means we know their diaries, we know which of them will come to the crematorium and which prefer the church, and we can usually get a date agreed in one phone call rather than three.
If your relative had no minister of their own, we will find one. If they had a minister they were fond of who has since moved away, tell us and we will try.
Non-religious and part-religious services
There is no legal requirement for a religious service, and a good half of the funerals we arrange now are led by a celebrant rather than a minister.
A celebrant will meet you, usually at home, and build the service around what you tell them about the person. You can have hymns and a prayer in an otherwise non-religious service if that is what the family wants. Nobody will object, and we arrange it that way often.
We work with four celebrants locally and we will suggest the one we think suits your family rather than whoever is next on a list. If you would rather a member of the family led it, we will help them through it.
Children's and babies' funerals
We make no charge for our own services for a child under 18. That has been the case here since long before it was common, and it includes babies lost before birth.
Practically: cremation and burial fees for children are also waived at both local crematoria and at Marbury Cemetery under the Children's Funeral Fund, so in most cases there is nothing at all for you to pay.
We keep small coffins in stock rather than ordering them in, which means we are not adding a wait. If you want to carry your child yourself, you can. If you want us to, we will. Helen looks after these arrangements at all three branches, and she will give you her own mobile number.
Veterans' and serving personnel's funerals
Robert has arranged veterans' funerals here for over twenty years and we hold the contacts you would otherwise have to find yourself.
What we can arrange: a Union flag or regimental flag over the coffin, a standard bearer from the Marbury branch of the Royal British Legion, a bugler for the Last Post, and contact with the relevant regimental association about any honours your relative was entitled to.
We will also check whether the Ministry of Defence or a service charity will contribute towards the cost, which is often the case for a serving death and sometimes for a veteran in hardship. We do that check as a matter of course, without being asked.
Bringing someone home, or sending them abroad
If your relative died overseas, we can arrange to bring them back and take over from the point they arrive in this country. If someone died here and is to be buried abroad, we can arrange that too.
Being straight with you: this takes longer than a funeral here, usually between two and five weeks depending on the country, and there is embassy paperwork involved that we cannot hurry. There are also costs outside our control: the airline, the consulate, the receiving funeral director. We will get you written figures before you commit to anything.
If your relative's travel insurance covers repatriation, deal with the insurer before you instruct anybody. It can make several thousand pounds of difference and once you have paid privately it is hard to reclaim.
Faiths we are less often asked for
We are a small firm in a part of the country with a small number of families of other faiths, and we would rather tell you the truth than put up a page pretending otherwise.
What we can offer: we can collect and hold without embalming, we can turn a funeral round within 24 hours if the burial ground can take it, we have a room at Marbury that families can use for washing and preparation, and we can arrange a same-day burial at Marbury Cemetery where the ground allows.
What we cannot offer: we do not have a member of staff of your faith, and we will not pretend to know your customs better than you do. If you tell us what is needed, we will do it. If there is a firm nearby better placed to help you, we will say so and give you their number.
Not sure which of these fits?
Most families are not, at this stage. Ring us and talk it through. There is no charge and no obligation to use us afterwards.
Ring 01632 960 100