How long is an average funeral service?

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How long is an average funeral service?

Every funeral is different. This makes it difficult to say how long an average funeral is. A funeral’s length depends on the religion, culture and personal choices of the person who has died.

To give you a general idea of how long funerals are, the shortest ceremonies can be over in 15 minutes, while some religious funerals last 90 minutes or more.

The most common type of funeral in the UK is a Church of England funeral. These last around 45 minutes on average.

How long does a Catholic funeral last?

Catholic funerals tend to be a little longer than most other Christian funerals. This is because they often include a Requiem Mass (or Funeral Mass), which is a special religious service for the person who has died.

If there’s a Requiem Mass, the funeral might last an hour or more. If not, the service could be over within 40 minutes.

How long does a Muslim funeral last?

Muslim funerals usually take between 30 and 60 minutes. You can expect the service to include prayer recitals, as well as readings from the Quran.

How long does a Hindu funeral last?

Hindu funerals tend to be quite short, compared to other religious funerals. They’ll usually be over within 30 minutes, though this can vary depending on the wishes of the person who has died.

How long does a Jewish funeral last?

The length of Jewish funerals can vary a lot. Orthodox Jews tend to prefer simple services, which can take as little as 15 to 20 minutes. Other Jewish communities might allow for more readings and remembrances, which can increase the length to an hour or more.

How long does a cremation service last compared to a burial?

In terms of the main funeral service, there’s no significant difference between the length of a burial and cremation funeral.

However, a burial funeral might include a separate graveside ceremony. This can increase the overall length of the funeral, especially if people have to travel to reach the burial site.

What affects how long a funeral service is?

The main things that affect the length of a funeral are:

  • Its location
  • The type of service
  • What’s included in the service (e.g. readings, hymns, eulogies)
  • The budget you have for the funeral

When you’re planning a funeral, it’s a good idea to discuss timings with your funeral director. They should be able to tell you roughly how long the funeral service will last.

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Funeral Director fees

The price quoted contains the Funeral Director fees for a simple funeral. This includes:

  • Funeral Director fees for meetings, paperwork and running the funeral
  • Collection of the deceased and care prior to funeral
  • Hearse or appropriate vehicle for transport to the funeral
  • Basic coffin

The Funeral Director fees quoted do not include third party costs (often called disbursements). The Funeral Director will guide you through your options. These costs are:

  • Cremation or burial fees
  • Medical certificate for cremation
  • Clergy or officiant fee for conducting the ceremony

In addition to the disbursements you may want to discuss optional costs with your Funeral Director - these could include:

  • Funeral flowers
  • Memorial (venue hire, catering etc)
  • Memorial headstone
  • Orders of service
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What is a Direct Cremation?

A Direct Cremation is an alternative to the traditional funeral. This involves the cremation of the deceased without a funeral service. A Direct Cremation is generally the most economic option because costs of the coffin, preparation of the body, funeral service and expensive transportation are not included. However, many people choose Direct Cremations for reasons other than expense, for example:

  • - Wanting to have a memorial at a different time to the cremation
  • - Expressed desire from the deceased to not have a ceremony
  • - Individuals with relatives who face big physical or geographical challenges in coming together for a ceremony

The prices quoted for Direct Cremations include:

  • All charges, meetings and paperwork for the cremation
  • Collection of deceased and care prior to cremation
  • A simple coffin and urn for the ashes
  • Cremation fees and delivery of ashes to the family
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Attended funeral

This is Funeral Choice’s best estimate of this Funeral Director’s fees for an Attended Funeral, which is where family and friends have a ceremony or service for the deceased person at the same time as they attend their burial or cremation.

This price includes the following:

  • Taking care of all necessary legal and administrative arrangements
  • Collecting and transporting the deceased person from the place of death (normally within 15 miles of the funeral director’s premises) into the funeral director’s care
  • Care of the deceased person before the funeral in appropriate facilities.
  • Providing a suitable coffin
  • Optional viewing of the deceased person for family and friends, by appointment with the funeral director
  • At a date and time you agree with the funeral director, taking the deceased person direct to the agreed cemetery or crematorium (normally within 20 miles of the funeral director’s premises) in a hearse or other appropriate vehicle

In addition to the Funeral Director’s fee, there will be third party costs to consider (sometimes called disbursements) to cover the other aspects of a funeral (such as the crematorium or burial fees). Your chosen Funeral Director will be able to provide these for you.

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Unattended funeral

This is Funeral Choice’s best estimate of this Funeral Director’s fees and the crematorium fee for an Unattended Funeral, which is where family and friends may choose to have a ceremony, event or service for the deceased person, but they do not attend the burial or cremation itself. This is also known as a Direct Cremation.

This price includes the following:

  • Funeral Director's fees
  • Crematorium fee (for an unattended funeral) as selected by the Funeral Director

In addition to this fee, there might be additional third party costs to consider (sometimes called disbursements). Your chosen Funeral Director will be able to explain these for you.

If you wish to attend the funeral, you should view the “Attended Funeral” price instead.

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Why is this price Estimated?

We work hard to ensure the Funeral Director Fees we display are accurate and up to date. However, unlike with our partners, we cannot guarantee this price is correct today.

Funeral Director fees

The price quoted contains the Funeral Director fees for a simple funeral. This includes:

  • Funeral Director fees for meetings, paperwork and running the funeral
  • Collection of the deceased and care prior to funeral
  • Hearse or appropriate vehicle for transport to the funeral
  • Basic coffin

The Funeral Director fees quoted do not include third party costs (often called disbursements). The Funeral Director will guide you through your options. These costs are:

  • Cremation or burial fees
  • Medical certificate for cremation
  • Clergy or officiant fee for conducting the ceremony

In addition to the disbursements you may want to discuss optional costs with your Funeral Director - these could include:

  • Funeral flowers
  • Memorial (venue hire, catering etc)
  • Memorial headstone
  • Orders of service
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Funeral Choice charity donation

To redeem the £20 charity donation all you have to do is select the charity from the dropdown list in the Make Contact form. Once you have confirmed arrangements with that funeral director send us an email to info@yourfuneralchoice.com confirming the service has been arranged. After we receive this email we will make the donation to the chosen charity and confirm back to you.

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