When considering burial or cremation with a funeral home for a loved one, it’s important to understand the differences between the two, both obvious and complicated, in order to choose the right path.

There are basic differences between the various processes that funeral homes in Upper Darby, PA offer to clients and there are also things that are more involved. When you are thinking back and forth between cremation services and burial options after traditional funerals, it’s good to understand the differences so you can choose the one that feels best for your situation. Here are some things to consider.

The Obvious Differences

The best place to start is with the obvious differences. Burial includes placing your loved one in a casket and putting them in the ground. There is generally a vault that surrounds their casket in the ground and they are buried under the dirt, in a cemetery. Cremation , on the other hand, is a process that takes your loved one’s solid form and changes it into an ash-like substance. From there, you can do whatever you want for a final resting place and it doesn’t have to include burial or a cemetery.

The Services Involved

There are various services that are almost always included with a burial and they include a visitation and a funeral service before the burial. While not every family goes that direction. Some don’t have the visitation and some don’t have the funeral, either. Burials can be direct in nature and just include a graveside service. With a cremation, there are no necessary services and nothing at all has to happen before the cremation. Families can do whatever they want after the cremation or, they can have a full cremation that includes a funeral and visitation first. There are many options and variations to consider.

The Resting Place Variation

The Place To Visit Later

When you have a burial service for your loved ones, you have a place to visit them later, which is the marked grave in the cemetery. Depending on what you do for your loved one after the cremation, you might not have a place to visit or, at least not one that is marked with a headstone. You can visit the place you scattered their ashes when you want to talk with them, but you also know they are no longer there.

The Cost Difference

Burial services require a lot of products from funeral homes in Upper Darby, PA that cremation doesn’t need, like caskets and plots and so on. Cremation is generally cheaper, but not always the way you will want to go and that’s okay too.