Supporting Alabama Families with Compassion
Planning a service for a loved one is challenging. But it’s essential to provide a supportive environment where everyone can begin to say goodbye. Burial and cremation are the most popular service options for many families because they can spend time with their loved ones. Understanding what each process means is essential to making an informed decision.
As a locally owned and operated funeral home, we are close to our community and feel part of every loss. Our Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens allow us to provide meaningful and respectful services. We are honored to have helped numerous families and will gladly assist you anytime.
Funeral Services
Sometimes the thought of planning a funeral seems too difficult for those who’ve suffered a loss. We’re here to help lighten your burden and remind you of the true value a ceremony can hold for you and your family.
The Healing Power of Memorial Services
Coping with a loss is never easy, and services are an essential part of the recovery process. A funeral service provides those who are grieving with a supportive environment in which they can begin to find closure, say goodbye, and come to terms with the loss.
Gathering with friends and family gives everyone the opportunity to connect, share memories, offer words of sympathy, and create a lasting network of comfort and support as they start the journey toward healing and peace. No matter the setting, style, or direction you choose, our professional staff are honored to assist you in creating a service that reflects your loved one’s unique life journey.
Learn More About Funerals Here
Burial Services
There are different elements you can choose from when arranging a burial, depending upon your individual needs and preferences:
- Immediate Burial means that your loved one’s physical remains will be buried or entombed without a public service or gathering
- Visitation (also called a “viewing,” “wake” or “calling hours”) allows family and friends to gather in a room with the departed loved one (in an open or closed casket) and gives everyone the opportunity to say goodbye and offer their support and sympathy to the bereaved.
- Funeral or Memorial Services can take place at a funeral home, in a church, or even at your home. The service is a ceremony which serves to celebrate, honor, and remember the life of the deceased. Whether traditional or unique, both the visitation and the funeral service can be personalized to reflect the individuality of your loved one. For more information on personalization, visit our page on Celebrating Life.
- Graveside, Chapel, or Committal Services are held at the cemetery, and allow family and friends to be present as their loved one is transferred to his or her final disposition through ground burial.
When a family chooses burial, the funeral service is traditionally designed to involve three distinct phases: visitation, the funeral, and the burial service.
These generally follow the casket from the funeral home through the final burial at a cemetery. While this arrangement works for some families, it’s not the only option available and it might not be the ideal solution for others. We’ll work with you understand your needs and create the perfect plan for you and your loved one.
Green Burials
A growing number of people are conserving, sustaining, and protecting the earth by returning to it naturally with simple rites in an old, traditional way. A modern natural burial is an environmentally sustainable alternative to existing funeral practices where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally and be recycled into new life. Natural burial signifies our final statement as a reflection of our ecological values.
Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens offer natural burial services to include public or non-visitation services. Our natural burial procedure involves preparation of the body without embalming or embalming with formaldehyde-free products and placing the body in a simple, wooden casket containing no man-made materials.
A natural burial gravesite is prepared without the use of a burial vault and interment takes place in the Garden of Oaks located within Spring Hill Memorial Gardens, a perpetual care cemetery. Cremated remains may also be interred as long as the urn is bio-degradable.
The gravesite is memorialized with an engraved granite headstone. Depending upon the services and merchandise selected, the expense of a natural burial can cost substantially less than the expense of a conventional funeral service.
A natural burial in the Garden of Oaks at Spring Hill Memorial Gardens is an earth-friendly option that allows nature to take its course. If you choose to have a natural burial, you may still keep your personal values and have the service of your choice.
Learn More About Green Burials Here
Cremation
For the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), cremation is a method of final disposition made through a mechanical and/or thermal process that reduces a body into fragments. Usually, the body is incinerated inside a furnace in temperatures between 1400 and 1600 degrees until it turns into ashes.
Although cremation is an ancient method, the practice has evolved and become highly technical, being monitored throughout the whole process to make sure everything is working right, from the high temperatures to the time of the procedure.
After it is complete, the family receives their loved one’s ashes in an urn or container of choice and can decide whether they would like to bury, scatter, or keep them. We know that understanding cremation can be a little bit confusing, that's why we created a whole section to talk about it. Please find more resources by clicking below.
Learn More About Cremation Here
We Offer Multiple Payment Options
We consider several online payment options to help lessen the financial burden on your family during this difficult time:
- eChecks, or ACH payments, let you transfer funds directly from your bank account to pay for services. It’s fast, secure, and saves you money on credit card fees.
- We accept all major credit cards — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
- We offer crowdfunding for funeral services, memorial funds, and more. With all the features of other major crowdfunding sites and less fees, crowdfunding on our website is a great option for your family. Talk to a member of our staff to start a crowdfunding campaign today.
- We work with multiple lenders across the U.S. to get you the most competitive lending rates. Viewing the offers available to you doesn’t affect your credit, so you can see all the options you have for loan amounts and repayment terms.
- If your loved one has a life insurance policy you want to use for funeral expenses, talk to us. We can get a portion of your claim funded immediately instead of waiting 30-90 days for the insurance companies to pay out. We’ll also handle all the paperwork!
