Funeral Dinner

Most people choose to have a funeral dinner. One of the most customary locations to have your dinner is at the church your loved one attended.

If you have the memorial / funeral service at the church, it is traditional to have the dinner there as well. There is often a committee at the church that handles the details of a bereavement dinner. This takes the burden off the family.

Most people will chose to have a full dinner. Another option can be dessert and coffee if it is more fitting for the time of day. Since my mother had a private funeral followed by a public celebratory memorial service, she chose to just have the latter.

If you have the funeral service at the funeral home, you may choose to go to a restaurant or a rented hall for a meal. There
are pros and cons to look into with either of these choices.

With a restaurant people can order whatever they choose. Then the question comes up are they going to pay for their own meal or is the family providing it? Sometimes a restaurant will let you offer one or two items and have one set price per person. That can provide the family with some pricing controls. Also consider if you have a large group in attendance, the restaurant may have a challenge seating you. This needs to be planned out ahead of time. The local funeral director should be able to provide you with some suggestions of the best choices for your family.

A rented hall offers more room. Some will provide catering with a pricing guide per plate. At others you will need to select an outside service. They can bring the food in to the rented hall. Often for a fee they will provide servers who will also do the set up and take down.

For my father’s funeral, my mother actually did a little of both. We had a small, catered luncheon at my uncles for just family. Then following the memorial service she had coffee and dessert. The catered luncheon provided a nice low-key time to visit with the close family sharing our memories together. It was very healing. Somehow breaking bread together does that. While the coffee hour offered a time for friends and acquaintances to offer their condolences to Mom.

If you live too far away to attend the funeral dinner, you may wish to send food either for the funeral dinner or send a food basket for the family at a later date. I have found a service online that is run by a former funeral director, who has stepped in to fill this need! Click on this link or the banner add below to see all of the wonderful choices they have to offer.

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