Funeral Service Types

Funeral Services – The changing times of Funerals

Kittle Bros has seen many changes in the way loved ones are farewelled. From the majority of funerals being held in churches, with the introduction of civil celebrants in the seventies we have seen a gradual change from religious services to more a celebration of life.

As churches have had to change with the times, now funeral Directors also give families a wide range of options to celebrate the life of the deceased. With our premises being able to cater with a small chapel seating for 50 to 70 people, families are now looking for a chapel large enough for large gathering of mourners.

Kittle Bros chapel seats 200 and includes 60 off-street car parks at our new premises at 7986 Melbourne Road South Shepparton. Photo presentations of a loved one’s life are now the norm. Our chapel set-up has three large televisions plus screens in the foyer, which makes an external area to cater for overflow.

Some families like to provide catering following the service. Kittle Bros cater for small gathering at their Melbourne Road premises, even with the option of Barista made coffee. The year 2020 saw live streaming of funerals due to the Covid 19 pandemic, where numbers able to attend funerals were restricted to as low as 10 people. This became the normal way of allowing relatives and friends that are unable to attend still being able to celebrate a life.

Kittle Bros believe this will continue post-pandemic and now have their own TV studio equipment to allow services to be live streamed from their chapel. External services from other venues can also be live streamed with an external production company engaged for this purpose.

Cremation Vs Burial – The Process

Most people are familiar with the burial process, where the body is washed, dressed, and sealed in a coffin or casket before being interred usually below ground in a cemetery or above ground in a vault.

However, not everyone is familiar with the cremation process. How does cremation work?

During a cremation, the body is delivered to a crematorium either in a coffin or casket. Staff remove the nameplate and any metal parts from the coffin and place the coffin into the cremator.

The full cremation process can take anywhere between 1-2 hours. After the cremation, any remaining metallic objects (such as coffin nails and prostheses) are removed from the cremated remains which are then transferred to a processor to reduce the bone fragments into a fine, granular consistency.

The “ashes” are then placed in a sealed urn and dealt with accordingly to the family’s instructions. They are usually ready for collection within 48 hours from cremation.

Cost

The cost of burials has been steadily increasing over the past decade as the available space in cemeteries continues to fill up. Currently in Australia, the average cost of a burial service including the grave plot and headstone can vary between $10,000 – $20,000 depending on selections and options.

In contrast, the average cost of a cremation service is $7,000 – $10,000.

The Environment

There have been numerous studies into whether burial or cremation is better for the environment. Most studies show that cremation is more sustainable and eco-friendly, but not always by as much as you might think.