I quite fancy a sort of picnic hamper affair for my funeral for the coffin. What would be cool would be to hand out mini picnic hampers containing canapés and some wine for attendees. I have already decided that everyone is going to have to sit through Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I’m not too bothered what happens after that.
You can get coffins made of wickerwork instead of solid wood. That is what we did for my brother and my mother. Not sure about handing out mini-coffins to guests though.
I included in my will to cremate me in a cardboard coffin (assuming that is ok - maybe I should add ' soak me in the remains of the ST4's petrol tank contents' to be sure, half a gallon of Tesco's best should be ok) my wife raised an eyebrow but let it go I like the 'shine on you crazy diamond' touch offered by Glid - I may prefer 'Rock and Roll' by Led Zeppelin or would 'Stairway' be more apt?
I used to work for the Co-op and had 70 funeral homes in the region I covered. At that time, (1990-1999) I remember a plain basic varnished wooden coffin cost the Co-op £19, and they would trim it with gilt plastic handles, a faux satin lining (blue or pink), a name plate screwed on top, and a "satin" pillow stuffed with shredded newspaper. They could then charge mega-pounds, justifying it with "you are paying for the service"
It's all a bit "body of Christ, blood of Christ". Not that I'm comparing myself to Christ (deliberately). But hey, canapés and wine, what fun!. It would be good to have some half bottles of red, and some of white, then people could swap. They could swap canapés too. A funeral should be an event. I've been to some really crap ones, but then I suppose no one planned them much in advance.
Just had my dads yesterday, quick and simple as he wished, no vicar as he wanted £195 and didn't even know him, no prayers or singing, just a poem and a recollection of his achievements wrote and presented by a family member, two reordered songs of his choice and then family and friends went for a drink and carvery at a local hotel. The service was done and dusted in 15 minutes. What I didn't know was that as a Captain in the army he rode his motorbike up the steps of the Taj Mahal while stationed in India. Steve
My dads was also yesterday. Co-op were brilliant to be honest. Basic coffin, the vicar was a relative and did a grand job, myself and one of dads friends did a eulogy. Not the easiest thing I've done in my life but glad I held my shit together (until last night) Dad would never talk about what he wanted when he passed so it was up to us to make the decisions for him. I only found out yesterday that dad used to race scooters in the 60's and that my cousin had a ride out with Henry Cole recently.... Plus....If anyone knows of a Vespa Messerschmitt chassis anywhere please let me know. Would love to rebuild my dads old one that my cousin has