SDF Blogs

A short SDF series on What do you do when…. 1.  What do you do when you feel you just can’t cope.   Understanding the emotions surrounding death and dying. So it feels like you can’t cope dealing with the death

How Involved Should You Get Helping With Your Loved One Who Just Died? That title ↑ seemed to go on forever.  Hopefully what follows explains it all. How involved should you be with a funeral?  Not the funeral service as

The other day, a person came to discuss funeral options. After an unpleasant experience last year when her brother passed away, she didn’t want to go through that again and was investigating other options. So, what happened with her? In

Do you have to do everything a person requests for their funeral?   Sometimes when a person dies, they have a list of everything they want to happen for the funeral. It could be as comprehensive as the type of

20 things Funeral Homesdon’t want you to know 15 things was a very popular post.  So it is well worth taking another look and even adding a few more to the list…  Don’t pay in advance for a funeral –

What exactly is a Direct Cremations? The Direct Cremation has become a more popular option over the years.  For some it is simply a financial reason to avoid the expense of the usual funeral service.  Other people just don’t want

Overcoming the Fear of Funerals The other day, I was arranging a funeral with a family for their husband, father, and grandfather. Like many families, a funeral was not something they knew much about organizing. So, I could have easily

I reserve the right to do more – without increasing costs  One of the best things about being your own boss is being able to make decisions without needing to ask or justify it to others.  Because the buck stops

Caring for the Decease It is important that families feel confident leaving their loved one in my care.  On my website there is a page dedicated to explaining how we care for the deceased.  Even though the person has died,

Choosing the right Funeral Home – for you Organising a funeral isn’t something people do on a regular basis.  So it’s little wonder that you may feel a little nervous and uncertain.  Even a simple funeral is a significant event.

What kind of funeral would you like? I know some people love imagining what their funeral might be.  It isn’t so much about the dying as it is about the event.  They write down in detail what they want and

The Good Life Only the more mature reader will remember the British TV show, The Good Life.  This was a show about a couple, surname Good, who decided to live off the grid in their suburban house, much to the

Is big business taking over the funeral industry? Most of the major funeral homes in New Zealand are now owned by two major players – InvoCare and Propel. These huge Australian companies are buying all the funeral homes they can

SDF – How Less is More In a past life, I have conducted more funeral services than I can remember. I wasn’t involved with a funeral home; I was a church minister who had many families come to me to