Is Embalming Done Before a Cremation?

If you and your family are going to be burying a loved one following their funeral services, you’re typically going to want to have them embalmed. Embalming your loved one will help you preserve their body for a few extra days. It’ll make holding a viewing for your loved one a possibility. But if you and your family are going to be holding a cremation service in Lowell, MA for a loved one, you might be wondering whether or not embalming them will make sense. Find out if you should have embalming done before a cremation below.

You usually won’t need to embalm a loved one who is being cremated.

More often than not, it isn’t going to make much sense for you to embalm a loved one prior to their Lowell, MA cremation. Most cremations take place within just a few days of a person’s death, so embalming their body won’t be necessary. If you’re unsure of how long it’s going to be before you get around to cremating a loved one, embalming their body might not be the worst idea. But it isn’t something that most families do when cremating their loved ones.

You can embalm a loved one who is being cremated if you want.

Are you going to arrange to hold a viewing for a loved one before their cremation takes place? This might be one of the instances in which it’ll make sense to embalm someone who is being cremated. If you don’t embalm a person prior to holding a viewing for them, they might not look the way you want them to during their cremation. You can get around this by asking a crematory to embalm your loved one.

Embalming a loved one’s body won’t prevent it from being cremated.

Regardless of whether you choose to embalm a loved one or not, you won’t have to worry about it affecting your loved one’s actual cremation. If you do end up embalming your loved one, you’ll still be able to go through with cremating them without encountering any complications. A crematory will be able to move forward with cremating your loved one just like they would otherwise.

You will increase your cremation costs by having a loved one embalmed.

If you and your family ultimately decide that you do want to embalm a loved one, something you should keep in mind is that it’s going to increase your cremation costs. Embalming a loved one isn’t going to break the bank or anything, but it will be an added expense that you’ll need to factor into the equation. You should remember this when you’re deciding if you want to embalm a loved one in the first place. You might not want to do it if you’re already going to be on a tight budget when planning a loved one’s cremation.

We can provide families with a wide range of services when they choose us for their loved one’s Lowell, MA cremations. We welcome you to touch base with us so that we can break down the different services we have available. Reach out to us for more information on how we can assist you.