A memorial service generally describes a gathering of family and friends that takes place without the body or cremains of the deceased present. There may have already been a direct burial or cremation with a private, intimate service for only the closest of family and friends. A memorial service would be open to a much larger circle of acquaintances. It might be held at a church or temple, or at a location of significance to the deceased or the surviving family and friends. A memorial service may closely resemble a funeral service, or it may be a more informal affair celebrating the life of the deceased. The combination of direct disposition of the body followed by a memorial service tends to be far less expensive than a full-service traditional funeral.
Home funerals
Although not widely practiced, home funerals are legal in most states. Challenging the traditional notions of death and its ritualization, those who advocate a more personal kind of after death care believe in incorporating death into the ecological web and promoting a greater sense of acceptance of death as a part of life -- as a passage rather than an end.
Family and friends can prepare a body for disposition, build a casket and perform most of the tasks normally associated with a funeral director. Home funeral ceremonies can be intensely personal and uplifting, unencumbered by the expectation of social conformity.
Playing an active, intimate role in the disposition of a loved one's body can be a moving, therapeutic experience, and may have a profound healing effect on those left behind to grieve.
Your state's Office of the Attorney General will be able to supply you with information on regulations addressing natural death care and home funerals, as well as associated issues such as transporting a body.
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