Funeral arrangements: 5 critical elements

You might be wondering… how do I make funeral arrangements? At Kane & Fetterly, we do everything we can to make the arrangement process as easy as possible.
At Kane & Fetterly our mission is to help families to say farewell to their loved one by creating a Loving Farewell, a unique memorial event that celebrates the life of their loved one, honours their wishes, and provides a healing event for family and friends.
After doing this for many years we have identified 5 critical elements when making funeral arrangements. The good news is that these 5 factors have absolutely nothing to do with how much money you spend.

Participation

The first critical element is the participation of as many family members as possible. In general, you should try to have at least three or four participants involved so that the family can reach a consensus on the best way to celebrate the life of their loved one. Different family members always have different points of view and it's best to work out any issues as a group.

Bring their stories

The second critical element is to bring with you some of your favorite stories about your loved one. You won't have to prepare anything, these will be stories that quickly come to mind when you think of your loved one. The stories you have can form the basis for a truly amazing funeral service.

Be creative

The third critical element of a successful arrangement meeting is to be creative. A good funeral home will never limit how you wish to celebrate the life of your loved one. It can be as simple or elaborate as you would like. Some of the most common things that families bring to our funeral home are items that help them tell the story of their loved one. Was your loved one a craftsman? Bring some of their tools. An avid golfer? Bring their golf clubs. A quilt maker? Bring their quilts. The possibilities are endless. When you bring items like these it shifts the focus off of their death onto their life.

Involve every generation

The fourth element of a successful arrangement meeting is that it must encompass the needs of every generation of your family.
From elders to infants and everyone in between it is possible to design a loving farewell service that provides healing to every generation. At Kane & Fetterly we have specifically designed our funeral home and our style of service to meet the needs of your entire family.
For example, we recognize that children may become somewhat bored listening to adults tell stories about the deceased. This is why we have created a children's play area. While you are sharing the memories of your loved one with other adults your children can be entertaining themselves with toys, movies, and kid-friendly snacks.
You will probably have family members who for a variety of reason will not be able to be in Montreal for the service. For these family members we offer the ability to watch the entire service via the Internet on a private, secure website. Our goal is to involve every family member in the farewell service regardless of age or location.

Lean on us

The fifth element of a successful arrangement meeting is that the family becomes comfortable leaning on us. We will design the service together but after that, you can be at ease knowing that we will handle all of the details for you. Remember… we walk this path with families every day. You can lean on us….we are here to support you.
Some people ask us how we can do this every day. The answer is that it's a calling. Every person who works at our funeral home doesn't do it just for a paycheck. We do it to serve families when they need it the most… at the time of the loss of a loved one.
At Kane & Fetterly, we work hand-in-hand with families who want to plan loving farewells that celebrate the life of their loved one, honour their wishes, and provide a healing event for family and friends.

To summarize, the five critical elements of a successful arrangement meeting again are… Number one, participation; we would like as many family members as you can bring. Two, bring their stories because their stories are their life. Three, be creative. We will help you with ideas but the possibilities are endless. Four, involve every generation because that's what family is all about. And five, lean on us because when you are walking this path… we are here to support you.