How we work
Each culture, country and even district has its own practices and regulations on what can be done before, during and after a funeral. The information below is based on our experiences in our native New Zealand and is offered to provide you with an impression of the way we might operate in The Netherlands. We cannot guarantee that all of these services will be available in The Netherlands, and it is likely that we would offer additional services.
Developing a funeral plan
Intake meeting
In order to develop a personalized funeral, it is essential that we meet with our clients to discuss their ideas and wishes. This takes place at our offices or at a place that is convenient for them.
At this meeting, we do not use a standardized questionnaire, but we encourage discussion and story telling, allowing us to follow ideas and interests, and make suggestions based on our experience. We understand that for many people this process can be confronting and we train our interviewers to ensure that they handle this meeting sympathetically so that we can both get the most from it. Our aim is to make the intake meeting a positive experience for our client and their loved ones.
Offer
On the basis of the intake interview, we make an offer that covers all aspects of the funeral, including what happens to our clients' body immediately after they have passed away, at the funeral service itself and what happens after the funeral service. We also include the costs and provide advice on the legal issues of integrating their wishes into their last will and testament.
If necessary, the offer can be used as the basis for a second meeting, where the details can be adjusted and developed.
The funeral plan
Once the offer has been agreed, it is developed into the funeral plan. This document contains the details of what will happen from the moment that our client has passed away, until after the funeral service. It is a summary of their wishes and describes carefully how each will be achieved. It also contains the name of their chosen executor. The executor is an important person in this process as they contact us once our client has passed away.
The funeral
Before the funeral
When we are contacted by the executor, we begin work to manage the whole funeral process based on what has been agreed in the funeral plan.
We will ensure that the client's body is kept according to their wishes before the funeral service. We will arrange for a book of condolences to be set-up, if requested and we have even set-up websites for friends and family to share memories of the deceased via images, text, music and video. On one occasion, such a website formed the basis of the funeral service itself.
Other options include organization of a wake where family and friends can celebrate the life of the deceased before the funeral and the provision of a place where family members can stage a vigil prior to the funeral. We will of course arrange the venue for the funeral service itself and ensure it is dressed precisely as specified in the funeral plan.
The funeral
On the morning of the funeral service, our staff arranges transport to the funeral venue for the deceased's body. Transport options are many and have included horse and carriage, a traditional hearse and even one client's yacht.
We are always on hand at the funeral venue and sympathetically manage every detail of the service according to the funeral plan. In the past in addition to eulogies from friends and family, we have arranged video screens showing films made by friends of the deceased, a rock band and DJ, poetry readings and a performance by members of a client's amateur theatre group. Provided it can be accommodated by local regulations, we ensure that our client's funeral plan is carried out exactly according to their wishes.
After the funeral service
One of the main issues after the service, is the question of how our client's remains will be handled. Again, this is included in the funeral plan. In addition to traditional burial and cremation, we have arranged other options such as leaving the body to medical science, burial at sea and cryomation. These options are discussed during the intake process and we always make sure that local regulations allow them to be carried out before they are included in the plan.
Many of our clients specify that after the service, their friends and family are invited to attend a less formal celebration of their life and we will arrange this according to their wishes. Events like these are often the most important part of the mourning and remembrance process. In the past we have arranged concerts, screenings at a much-loved cinema, a box at an All Black's Rugby match and a golf tournament. As always our staff is available to sympathetically manage the events and ensure they run according to our client's wishes.
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