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allow our family to care for yours

allow our family to care for yours

Funeral Services Bridgwater

Our family-run funeral directors have been providing dignified and bespoke funeral services in Bridgwater since 1920. Long-established and highly experienced in delivering exceptional service, we understand that every person is unique, and believe that every funeral should be equally individual. We will always go above and beyond to deliver a truly personalised and authentic final farewell for your loved one. Each decision is personal to you and the deceased, and our staff are here to help you throughout the process.

Planning Funerals

In this world, everyone is different and unique. No one person is exactly the same as the next so no funeral should be the same. Your first decision is whether their wish was burial or cremation. Burial or cremation is a very personal choice.  Even though you may want one choice and your partner wants the other, you can still be together in years to come.

Cremation

Some people choose to have a service in a Church then have the cremation afterwards or before. Others wish to have a service just at the crematorium chapel. A service at the crematorium can be 20 minutes to an hour. When choosing your final resting place, you may want to be scattered into the wind, at a favourite place or in the garden of rest.

Burial

Burials have been taking place for hundreds of years and are a very traditional way of having a funeral. In this area, some churchyards are closed due to having run out of space. We have 2 cemeteries in Bridgwater – Bristol Road Cemetery and Quantock Road Cemetery.

Then you would need to think about the sort of funeral they want from where you want the service, to music, hymns, tributes or poems and anything else you could think of that would mean something to them and you.

Useful Links

Traditional Funerals

A religious service in a Church with burial or cremation after, with hymns, organ music or CD music.

Modern Funerals

Everyone has different beliefs, whether you believe in a higher God or not, you can have a service to reflect that and this is called a civil service (a service where you can have as much religion or no region but just the Lord’s prayer if that’s all you wanted). Most people who aren’t religious understand that “Aunt Jo” might be and just want a little bit in there, or have a humanist service which is completely non-religious. You can’t mention any God in any way but there is a moment of silence for private prayer. Also the venue you are looking at having the service in doesn’t have to be a church or a crematorium, we have in the past used back gardens and even public house grounds.

Simple Funerals

Sometimes people just want a simple service at the Crematorium or a Graveside service with only a few words said or just music played. From £1802*

Unattended (Direct) Funerals

This is where we would take your loved one to the Crematorium or Cemetery and no one attends. As someone said to me “If it’s good enough for David Bowie and Doris Day, it’s good enough for me”. From £1150*

Green or Woodland Funerals

Not everyone wants to be in a Cemetery, so this is an area of green land where your loved one can be buried. There are no headstones or markings, just natural land.   

DIY Funerals

Some people want to do as much for their loved one as they can. We are here to help and guide you with this in any aspect you wish to do yourself, for example; families may wish to make the coffin themselves, other families wish to do everything and just want us to do the practical side of caring for their loved one and we are here to help and support you in this.

Please remember this is just a guide to help you. You may want to use one of these and then personalise it to what you want.

Even though you have decided the path you wish to take for the funeral, you can then add little touches to make the funeral more personal.

Bespoke Funeral Ideas

The Coffin

The world is your oyster when it comes to the coffin. You can go from as simple to as elaborate and personal as you wish. From the brick layer having a brick coffin, to the plumber having taps on their coffin, to the natural willow or cardboard or the traditional solid oaks and caskets, the choice is yours. You could even go in the Tardis!

The Music

The music you play can be very personal to you and them. You can have their favourite piece of music that says the words you wish you had said or wish you could say now. Music can be a very powerful feature at a funeral, the memories they hold and will hold for a lifetime.

The Flowers

Some people like flowers, some don’t. This is a personal thing to everyone. Whether your favourite flower is a rose, a daisy, a cauliflower or even arranged to represent a life sized rugby ball, flowers can be as personal as you want them to be. 

Poems

Like music, poems can have the same effect using someone else’s words to say what we sometimes can’t or even writing your own to express the words you want to say.

Tributes

Most funerals are between 20 and 45 minutes, and the tributes to your loved one are the most important part of the service. It’s the opportunity to say to the congregation about their life, loves and what made them the person they are. A tribute isn’t just about where they were born, school or jobs, it’s about them as a person. What makes them laugh at the joys that you have celebrated and sometimes sorrows shared. Funny stories of their life and memories are sometimes a good way to share this. Don’t be afraid to include stories that make people laugh and smile at a funeral.

Order of Service

An Order of service is the little booklet you have at the service that can have pictures of your loved one that capture them at their best. You can put hymn words, poems or anything inside, even a poem that isn’t part of the service as the hymn sheet is often something people will keep as a keepsake.

Visual Tributes & Web Casting

We are of a digital age and some Crematoriums and Churches now have the ability to show a slide show of photographs set to music. This can often show the person and memories in a way that words cannot. Also, people are not always able to attend the funeral of their loved ones. Now, most crematoriums have the ability to web cast the service and in churches we can bring in outside companies to do this.

Refreshments After Service

This is often called a ‘wake’, having a cup of tea and a sandwich and the opportunity to talk to friends and family. This is something we can arrange and help you with.

Transport

How you wish to get to the service is as much a personal choice as any other. Just some of the countless options can be seen below:

Useful Links

Chapel of Rest

This is where you would visit your loved one. Our Chapel is of non-denomination as we understand everyone is different. Our Chapel has a reception room next to it so you can take your time and also catch your breath before leaving.

We will organise every wish you have, the only thing we cannot do is register the death. We want to take as much pressure off you as a family. We are here to help you. We work to the motto “Allow our family to care for yours”.

Flowers and Keepsakes

You may also wish to arrange floral tributes to accompany the coffin or, following a cremation, have ashes made into jewellery or glassware to be kept and cherished. We have a number of reliable providers we work with for memorials and tributes, for which some links have been provided below.

Flowers
Jewellery

Contact h. biffen & Sons

For more information or to arrange funeral services in Bridgwater please get in touch.

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