Every year I do a series of articles about how to save money on Funeral Costs, and this time my focus is on DIY Funerals being all of, or parts of, the funeral process. Many of the corporately owned Funeral Homes have set fees, which can make good business sense, but when client families do parts of the funeral themselves they often expect to pay less, but this is not always so. Kapiti Coast Funeral Home is the only locally owned and non-corporate Funeral Home on the Kapiti Coast, and so along with our competitive ‘set fees’ we also have a ‘Professional Fee calculation” system reflecting only the work we do for DIY funerals. This ‘Professional Fee calculation’ works well, as some families want to do almost all of the funeral themselves, and some just want to do a little themselves knowing there needs to be a mental health balance to what families can cope with.
Many families start thinking about DIY but when the time comes they run out of time and emotional energy, and that’s where we at Kapiti Coast Funeral Home are happy to do a lot or a little even if it is often last minute. We often call ourselves the 11th-hour specialists. A family in my care planned Saturday morning’s Funeral, but were DIY-ing not just the service leading, flowers etc, but also all the photo Tribute, graphic design, Service program and music themselves. We were happy for them to do this, but at 5pm Friday, as I was about to head home, they rang in a panic having finished sorting photos but not scanned them or done any of the other work they planned to do. They were flustered, exhausted and had ‘hit a wall’ with nothing left in ‘the tank’ to complete these tasks for the next day. I called in an assistant, (we always have 2 staff on after-hours call), and together we worked till 10pm that night to ensure all was ready for the service the following morning. That’s what we do, a lot or a little or just pitch in when the need is there.
So if wanting a DIY Funeral, talk to us 1st about how we can help, a lot or a little, as a backstop or dove-tailing in with what the family can handle, while all the time as a local independent Funeral Home only charging for what we do. For more information on costs please drop into the funeral home and pick up a ‘costs’ brochure’, ring to make a time to sit and have a free chat or look at some of our set budget options online through our website at: https://kapiticoastfuneralhome.co.nz/budget-funerals/ DIY Funerals, 11th Hour specialists, “there in times of Need”
