Our team at Welham Jones are here to help make the process of planning and arranging a funeral easier, providing you with expert support at an emotional time.
Welham Jones provide comprehensive funeral services, from taking the deceased into our care, through helping you plan a fitting tribute for your loved one to arrangements after the funeral, including memorials and tributes
We are honoured to care for your loved one with the dignity and respect they deserve, from moving them to our state-of-the-art mortuary facilities to preparing them for the funeral.
We are experienced at both inward and outbound repatriation and can also repatriate cremated remains. We can guide you through the logistics if your loved one dies overseas.
From pre-paid funeral plans to carefully curated packages to cater for all tastes and budgets through to fully customised commemorations, we can help you plan a funeral that is right for you or your loved one.
Whether you want something traditional, environmentally friendly or personalised, whether it needs to be suitable for burial or cremation, we have a wide range of coffins and caskets to meet all requirements.
There are many ways to commemorate the life of your loved one, whether you want personal images wrapped on the coffin, pertinent flags and medals or videography or photography to capture the day
Your personal funeral arranger will guide you through arrangements after the funeral, including choosing a fitting memorial following a burial or what to do with the cremated remains, if you opt for cremation.
Depending upon whether you are pre-planning your own funeral or planning a funeral for your loved one, there are several things that you will need to think about.
Whether you are pre-planning your own funeral or arranging the funeral of a loved one, there are common things you will need to consider.
You can craft a completely bespoke funeral, or you can choose from our funeral packages; built on our decades of experience, these are structured to make the decision-making as easy as possible for you.
A simple burial or cremation without mourners, or a service where people can pay their last respects?
Your choice will impact the available venues and suitable coffins or caskets
Religious or non-religious? Traditional, modern or eco?
Religious or secular
Minister of religion or celebrant
Church, cemetery, crematorium or woodland burial site?
Traditional, eco or personalised?
Music, stationery, floral tributes and personal items
Venue and catering arrangements
If you opt for cremation, you will need to consider what to do with the ashes
Choose from a wide range or memorials, urns, headstone and plaques
We are sorry for your loss and are here to help.
If you are planning a funeral for a loved one, you will additionally need to think about the following:
You will need to register the death within five days, ensure the necessary paperwork is in order and the appropriate authorities are informed
If the death occurred overseas, or if the deceased needs to be repatriated from the UK back their homeland
To ensure that those who knew the deceased are aware of their passing and to communicate details of the funeral
If you are pre-planning your own funeral, you will additionally need to think about the following:
To ensure your wishes are followed after your passing
You may consider discussing your plans with your loved ones, so they are aware of your wishes or where to find your letter of wishes
You can opt to make provision in your Will, put away savings, make investments, or take out a life insurance policy. Alternatively, you can opt for a pre-paid funeral plan.
Your Welham Jones funeral arranger is your expert guide through the necessary legalities and decisions. From your first meeting with them, they will steer you through the funeral planning process to make it as smooth as possible for you – from the key decisions through to finishing touches, such as flowers and your choice of music – right through to arrangements after the funeral.
To help you craft a fitting tribute and to provide the best service for you, we will need to meet with you in person so we can get to know as much as we can about you and your lost loved one.
We will make suggestions for the funeral based on our experience; however, we encourage your ideas and input.
During our first meeting, we will look to:
If you are arranging a funeral for a loved one, we will need the ‘green form’ (Authority for Cremation or Burial issued by the Registrar). The Registrar will email this directly to us once you have registered the death.
At Welham Jones, we believe a funeral should be an uplifting and fulfilling experience in honour of the deceased – a day friends and family can look back on with a smile.
It’s our job to talk to you about the person who has died to enable us to offer you a personalised service and a funeral that truly reflects them.
Once we confirm the details of the funeral arrangements, we will provide an estimated cost, along with terms and conditions of business, requiring a signature from both parties.
We want to make sure your loved one has a service that truly reflects them, so we aim to make sure all the details meet your requirements. If that means changes along the way, that’s fine and all part of our commitment to you and your family.
You can use our Prices and Charges Guide to give an indication of costs or view our package prices. Information, advice, brochures and price lists are available to download here.
The funeral of a loved one is a deeply personal affair, so we encourage our clients to go with their own ideas; the service has to be right for you and your family.
Choosing the right officiant or celebrant
We can introduce someone suitable to the type of service you want to create. Theoretically, anyone can take a funeral service, but that can limit the venues available.
Once you appoint an officiant, they will contact you regarding the specifics of the service, as well as to discuss the deceased and their life.
Family involvement
You may wish to ask some family members or close friends to do a reading, poem or eulogy.
It is sometimes possible for members of the family or close friends to carry the deceased. Please let us know if this is something you would like to do, although you should bear in mind that you will be asked to accept responsibility for any injury or accident that might arise.
For the service, we will reserve the seats at the front for close family.
The funeral cortege
The choice of funeral cortege vehicles and route is up to you. A few options we can offer include: a fleet of modern hearses and limousines; a horse-drawn carriage; a motorcycle hearse; a dray cart. For alternative modes of transport please contact us to discuss how we can help you.
The funeral cortege will most likely start from the deceased’s home, led by the hearse, followed by our limousines (if required) and the cars of other mourners. We can take a direct route to the service or go past places of special significance.
We can also take the coffin home or to the church the day before the funeral or in advance of the service, if desired.
Flowers and floral tributes
Flowers and floral tributes are a striking way to remember the deceased. You can choose arrangements of their favourite flowers or in their favourite colours, or bespoke arrangements, such as animal tributes or the logo of their favourite sports team.
Options include posies, wreaths, sprays, swagging and word tributes (such as Mum or Dad), as well as floral decorations for the venue.
Items of remembrance
There are many ways to reflect the life of your loved one at the funeral service, from personalised coffins, national or regimental flags, symbolisms and mementos for the coffin.
We can arrange tribute gifts for guests attending and photography or videography of the event, and provide a wide range of memorials and memorabilia to choose from to remember and treasure your loved one after the funeral.
Readings, hymns and music
Music plays an important role in many funeral services. Whether you choose from favourite hymns, tunes, songs or pieces of music, you should discuss these with the officiant first.
Alternatively, music can be provided in digital format. Many crematoria will source specific tracks for you. Other venues still function with CDs, or you may be able to provide your own via a memory stick or smart phone.
If you would prefer live music, we can arrange an organist or source musicians for the service, including: soloists, ‘pipes and drums’, a choir, a bugler for the Last Post or a jazz band.
Obituary notices
Many people use obituary notices as a way of notifying a death to extended family, friends, colleagues and associates. We can help you:
After the funeral
Cremations: We can arrange the interment of cremated remains into a cemetery or churchyard, either loose or in a cremation urn, and supply memorial tablets or plaques as appropriate. We offer a full range of keepsakes in a variety of materials, from mantle urns to small pieces of jewellery. We can also advise on the export of scattering or cremated remains.
Burials: We have a wide range of headstones, kerb surrounds and memorials to suit your tastes and budget. A grave should be allowed to settle for six to nine months before placing any type of memorial.
If you would like to request donations for a charity that was important to you or the deceased, we can accept these on your behalf.
Friends, family and guests can donate to charity in the following ways:
We suggest collections remain open for six weeks, after which time we will send the charity all the donations and your contact details and provide you with a list of donors.
Gift aid: To enable charities to benefit from gift aid, tax-paying donors can complete a Gift Aid Declaration form and send this to us with their donation. Gift aid is not available when placing on-line donations as we are not a charity and cannot collect it.
Looking after yourself after bereavement or supporting someone going through grief is important, but can be challenging. We’ve pulled together our tips for simple self-care measures as well as links to organisations that can help.
Bereavement supportWe're here to help
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