Is there a difference between a mortuary and a funeral home?

Many questions arise when researching arrangements for a deceased love one. Choosing just the right facility and provider is important to facilitate an already stressful process.

Should you select a mortuary or funeral home? Is there really a difference? The answer is yes.

A mortuary and funeral home both offer basic services of burial or cremation. A mortuary is usually more focused on the mortuary sciences of attending to and preparing the body for burial or cremation. They may offer smaller scale and more direct services without a full memorial celebrations. A mortuary may not employ a funeral director, as they are more focused on cost savings and simple less formal services. Mortuaries generally offer onsite cremation as well. Because funeral homes do not have a crematory on site, the funeral home will arrange for transportation to and from a secondary facility prior to a memorial service.

A funeral home is centered on the comfort of surviving loved ones as they grieve for the deceased. In depth services may include more elaborate memorial ceremonies able to accommodate larger groups, event coordinators and multimedia capabilities. A funeral home can assist with service booklets or memorial cards and can offer help preparing an obituary. Funeral homes offer an array of caskets or urns to best honor your loved one. Most importantly, funeral directors are specifically trained in grief counseling, offering vital support as plans are being made.

At St Louis Bi-State Cremation & Funeral Service, we understand that each family has different needs when it comes to honoring an important person you’ve lost. If you are faced with making these important decisions, make our St Louis funeral home your first call to answer questions and offer a service tailored to your desires and resources.