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when it's time to organise a funeral

Most people have honoured the ones they love with special rituals and in special places for centuries now. These rites of passage have created both an opportunity and a responsibility for us to give value and honour to the lives of those we love. Social and personal factors are important when family and friends come together to decide on funeral arrangements, as are religious and spiritual rituals.

To us death is an organic and transitional process, we believe that natural and sustainable practises are the way to go. Our alternative to embalming is the age old practise of bathing with essential oils, restorative creams and cooling with ice. We can do this at your home or at our premises.

There are many decisions to make in arranging a funeral and honouring our connections to the people we know and love. You can rely on us to guide you through the many choices and decisions to be made, from choosing a casket to what kind of service you would like.

Once death occurs, a doctor must come and certify the cause of death, and then you can call us to come and help you and your family with making the funeral arrangements and organising everything that needs to be done. You can call us way before that if you wish to.

  • Personal attendance for funeral arrangements and on funeral day
  • Securing medical and death certificates and other required documentation
  • Arranging transfer from mortuary, home, hospice or hospital
  • Natural body care, or full mortuary services if required
  • Viewings
  • Caskets, including biodegradable cardboard, woven baskets, plywood, solid timber, woollen and traditional caskets
  • Cremation or burial arrangements
  • Hearse
  • Organising a celebrant for either religious or non-religious ceremonies
  • Design and production of service cards
  • Flowers as required
  • Newspaper notices
  • Catering
  • Slideshow presentations
  • Video recording and/or live streaming of funeral service
  • Financial assistance applications (ACC/ Work & Income)
  • Prearranged funeral planning in the home, hospital or hospice
  • Prepaid funeral planning with Perpetual Guardian

Things you need to do when organising a funeral

There is no legal necessity to have a funeral service, but it has been our experience that to mark someone’s passing by an acknowledgement of their essence, their life, and their gifts to us, is an important rite of passage for all involved. The service we arrange for you and your family can be appropriate to any particular belief system (Buddhist, Christian, and so forth), or it can be based around a simple expression and celebration of the life we are honouring.

You will need to make this decision promptly because it affects most of the following decisions. If you choose burial you will need to visit a cemetery of your choice to purchase a plot. Cremation is significantly cheaper than burial.
One choice is to have us take care of the person who has died at our place with family and friends visiting. Another is for them to remain at home or return home, so we can come daily to take care of their body. We use ice and a cool room when we don’t embalm. Our own first choice for body care is not to embalm, although there are times when it is necessary, though it is not a legal requirement. One of the first things we like to do is wash and dress the person. This can be done together with us directing you or we can wash and dress ourselves. We also need you to choose clothing for us and to decide about jewellery and other personal items.
It is essential and a requirement to have a coffin. There is a wide variety of caskets available, many are available to view here on our website. Our range includes eco-friendly cardboard, basket weave, solid timbers and plywood. We have traditional caskets available as well.

At the time of death we need to take family details for Births, Deaths and Marriages that become the Death Certificate. It makes the process easier if you have this information. The next of kin will also need to sign cremation/ burial papers. 

There are endless choices, including obvious ones such as at a crematorium, church, home, at The Natural Funeral Company or more personalised locations such as a garden, a beach or anywhere else that feels appropriate for the person who has died and their family and friends. It is possible to have a funeral service in any venue that can be hired. One thing to consider when organising a gathering is the movement of your guests and whether you will provide refreshments at some stage. If so, then it is easier, though not essential, to have everything at the same place so guests don’t have to leave to transfer to another location. At The Natural Funeral Company we have our Arohanui Room that comfortably seats 70, it also feels intimate for just a few people too. Remember when hiring a venue, we may need to hire equipment such as microphones, speakers, chairs, catering items, projector and screens etc.

This could be a celebrant, a minister, a friend of the family, or anyone appropriate of your choosing. There is no legal requirement to have a registered officiate for a funeral service, so essentially it can be anybody. You may also wish to consider others who may contribute to the service… whether you are a family who can speak easily or would prefer someone to take on that role for you, whether you will choose particular people to speak or would be happy to allow for open contributions, whether you would like a eulogy (an overview of a person’s life) and if so who would write and deliver that.

There is no legal requirement to notify anyone’s death in a newspaper. You may want to let as many people as possible know when the funeral might be held. It is usual to name family relationships, the date the person died and where the funeral will be held, as well as a personal message. You can specify in a newspaper notice and/ or on social media for a donation to a cause in lieu of flowers. A notice once printed is online for one month. You may choose to use social media to notify everyone.

Would you like flowers to be on the casket on the day of the funeral? If so, you should think about your preferences for colour or type of flower, appropriate to the season. We usually say $400 to have a good coverage of the casket; of course you can spend less.

Usually six people are required. Caskets are always carried feet first, so you might think not only of who would be pallbearers, men or women, but also where they can be positioned. The head of the casket is normally heaviest. It is usual for the casket to be placed when people arrive for a service, and to pallbear out to a significant piece of music. You can choose to pallbear both ways if you have a lot of people you’d like to be pallbearers
Service cards are a lovely gift to your guests. We like to print on card so family and friends can keep them. You will need photos, poems, order of service or any other content you require. We have a talented designer who can do bookmarks, postcards, A6 cards or a larger A5 card. Or you can have a family member or friend do it for you.
Most families like to have images from their loved one’s life at a service, whether as a photo display or a memorial card forming part of the service documents, or even as a slideshow presentation. We can assist with the professional creation of these materials and their presentation. It is also possible to have the service itself recorded or live streamed for sending to others who could not attend.
Will you be providing refreshments to guests? You will need to think about numbers that may attend. We can help you organise catering in your home or at your chosen venue, or you can organise caterers yourself. Crematoriums usually have caterers who provide food for your guests, normally such items as club sandwiches, savouries and cake.

TESTIMONIALS

Many thanks for helping our farewell be so very beautiful- it felt like the feminine face of God smiling warmly on us. The washing of her with such beautiful oils and creams in such soft and beautiful surroundings has put balm on my heart. It has helped so much for that to be my last physical care. With love and gratitude.
Thank you so much for making our mother’s farewell everything plus some! A wonderful, thoughtful and loving time from the moment you picked her up to the end. Always grateful
Thank you very much for your incredible and sensitive support once again. Your support felt effortless and very meaningful to the entire family. For all of us it was a great relief to be able to call on you and trust in your service based on past experiences with your Funeral Company. I can’t emphasize enough how grateful we are.
Thank you so much for helping us put on a beautiful service. We’ve had so many comments about how beautiful it was. It was really nice meeting you in your lovely and calm space to plan it all. It was a big relief knowing dad was there in that beautiful environment in the days leading up. I appreciated your quiet work behind the scenes, without fuss. You did a wonderful job.
Very professional with the utmost respect for everything and everybody. I loved your reverence- but we could also have a bit of a laugh too.”
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The Natural Funeral Company

To be in touch with The Natural Funeral Company
Please use the enquiry form to the right or call us on 021 234 5650

Or visit us at 120 New North Road, Eden Terrace, Auckland 1021

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