Funeral options
Our North Auckland funeral services in Browns Bay and Orewa provide a wide range of funeral options to give your loved one a fitting farewell that suits your financial circumstances.
We can arrange everything from simple farewells to comprehensive funerals. Contact our team to discuss the right funeral options for your situation.
Our Auckland funeral services can arrange as many of the elements below as you wish. Call us to discuss your ideas and budget, and we can provide you with a detailed quote to cover your chosen funeral options:
North Shore Auckland
Ph 09 479 5956
Hibiscus Coast
Ph 09 426 7950
Forrest funeral options
Personalising the funeral ceremony
The funeral ceremony is an important time for family and friends to share their sorrow, and to celebrate the life of the person who has passed. It’s a time to reflect on the good times, the humorous moments, their unique contributions, and to hear tributes and stories from people of all ages. We believe that a funeral should be personalised so it’s a special and meaningful celebration of your loved one’s life.
Here are some of the funeral options you may wish to consider to personalise the service to reflect the wishes and beliefs of your loved one:
Pre-funeral location
Where would you like your loved one to be located leading up to the funeral? They can be in our care – but many people choose to have them at home or on a marae. This is popular with Maori and Pacific Island families, as well as New Zealanders of all ethnicities.
If family and friends are travelling from overseas, it is a good idea to consider embalming your loved one: this preserves them during the funeral period, and can also help ensure a more natural appearance.
Burial or cremation
If your loved one hasn’t made their wishes known, it’s up to the family to choose – and Forrest Funeral Services can make all the arrangements for you. The options are:
Burial
Involves buying a burial plot, paying an interment fee, and buying a memorial or headstone.
Cremation
This provides greater flexibility in choosing a final resting place, as it’s up to you if the ashes are scattered in a favourite place, or buried – or split between different places. Forrests have a range of attractive urns for ashes for you to choose from.
Burial at sea
There are specially designated areas off the New Zealand coast for burial at sea – we can show you these, and then help with the arrangements, including providing a special casket.
Movement
Consider how the casket will be brought in and taken out of the funeral service – and who will carry it? Will you provide 6 strong pallbearers – or would you prefer for Forrests to arrange this? Also consider whether you want special music, movement, dancing, or a guard of honour.
Symbols
Do you wish to include any elements that were meaningful to your loved one? For example, flowers from their garden, photographs, videos, toys or ornaments, books or poems, candles, shells, religious symbols, or anything else.
Music
What kind of music did your loved one enjoy that you’d like to play at the funeral service? This could be classical music, rock, country, opera, hymns or pop music. You could consider incorporating music into an audio-visual show with photos and videos.
Eulogy
The eulogy is when we talk about the life of our loved one, and remember who they were. It’s a summary that covers important or interesting aspects of their life. This can be as long or as short as you’d like it to be – aiming for 10 minutes (a couple of typed A4 pages) is a good starting point.
Here are some topics to consider including:
Children and other family members may not be able to speak publicly themselves, so it’s a good idea to ask them if there’s anything they’d like to include.
After the funeral ceremony
Monumental Services
At Forrest Funeral Services we are able to help with all aspects of choosing a memorial for your loved one. A memorial is as personal as you desire it to be.
With modern technology the choice of photographs and artwork designs can depict the special interests in a person’s life, and whether it be a traditional or contemporary design our team will create something unique and personal. Maybe there is an image that you have designed and want for the memorial, but if required we are able to design something specific for you.
Whether you’re planning a funeral now, or are thinking ahead into the future, you’ll find our free information pack a useful resource to help you consider the various funeral options.
Contact us at any time
Our team is here to support you through the process of what to do when someone dies.
North Shore Auckland
Ph 09 479 5956
Hibiscus Coast
Ph 09 426 7950
