This is a difficult time for everyone. While we are all trying to learn how to navigate this new world, major life events, like the death of a loved one, are still taking place. It can be difficult to maneuver through guidelines and learn this new way to grieve. You may be left thinking that you have no options when it comes to planning arrangements during this time but that is not true. Below you will find a guide on how navigate mourning during Covid and learn what we are doing as a business to ensure the safety of our workers, families, and surrounding community.
While indoor gatherings are limited to 150 people or 25% of a rooms maximum capacity, we are still able to host an outdoor memorial service where the deceased is displayed through a doorway or window and loved ones will be able to come pay their final respects while remaining outside and maintaining social distancing guidelines. An outdoor memorial service will can be conducted in a number of ways and still be personalized to the deceased life through decorations or activities that respect the state's guidelines. We are more than happy to work with you on making an outdoor or accommodated memorial service as personalized as we can.
If you would prefer to wait until loved ones can gather in a more traditional manner, we offer immediate cremation services with a postponed memorial service or celebration of life. Choosing an option like this provides you the time to plan something that is exactly what you would want and gather the funds for it, if that is an important consideration.
It is not uncommon to think that a cremation must be done immediately upon the body of your loved one coming into our care, however, it is very possible to have a traditional visitation with the body present prior to their final disposition. Similarly to an accommodated or outdoor memorial service, we can provide a viewing through a door or window of our funeral home while loved ones pay their respects and remain outside. We then continue with the cremation and, if decided, a memorial service or celebration of life can be held, or the loved one's cremated remains will be placed back into your care to do what you please with them.
If burial is the preferred disposition method and you would like to have a traditional funeral or graveside service, we offer live streaming services so the arrangements can be tuned in by loved ones remotely. We also offer recording services, depending on the connectivity capabilities of the preferred cemetery, to be given to the family and distributed how they see fit.
There is nothing more important to us than the safety and the well-being of our families, staff, and community. While we are trying to maintain some kind of normalcy we must be considerate and respect the state's recommended guidelines. As of September 2, 2020 these are the recommended safety guidelines as written on the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub website (here).
If you are planning a memorial service or celebration of life service off of funeral home property, you will find some safety tips and best practices for gatherings:
For more information, please go to this website: https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/nj-information/reopening-guidance-and-restrictions/are-people-allowed-to-gather-in-person
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