Traditional Funeral Service

A formal service, often in a funeral home or house of worship, with the body present. May include a viewing or visitation beforehand. Typically followed by burial.

Typical cost: $7,000–$12,000

Memorial Service

A gathering to celebrate a life, held without the body present. Flexible timing and location — can be held days, weeks, or even months later.

Typical cost: $500–$3,000

Graveside Service

A brief, intimate ceremony held at the burial site. Simple and meaningful for those who prefer a private farewell.

Typical cost: $1,500–$4,000

Home Funeral

Families prepare the body themselves and hold services at home. Legal in most states. A deeply personal and often more affordable option.

Typical cost: $500–$2,500

Celebration of Life

A joyful, personalized event focused on honoring the person's life and passions rather than mourning. Often informal and creative.

Typical cost: $500–$5,000

Virtual / Hybrid Service

Live-streamed or recorded services allow loved ones across the country or world to attend. Growing in popularity and accessibility.

Typical cost: $200–$1,500 additional

Victorian-Style Horse-Drawn Hearse

An elegant, historic alternative to the modern hearse. A glass-sided carriage pulled by black-plumed horses carries the casket through the streets at a stately walking pace. Popular for those who love history, equestrian culture, or simply a more ceremonial, unhurried farewell. Available in many metropolitan areas through specialty funeral providers.

Cost: $1,500 – $5,000

Flower-Adorned Carriage

The carriage and horses can be decorated with flowers matching the service's floral arrangements — creating a breathtaking moving tribute. White horses with white flowers for a peaceful farewell; black horses with deep red roses for grandeur. Arrangements vary widely by provider.

Cost: $2,000 – $6,000

Why families choose it

A horse-drawn procession slows everything down — it gives mourners time to walk alongside, to reflect, to be present. Neighbors come to their doorsteps. Passersby stop and bow their heads. It transforms a private loss into a community moment, and gives the farewell a timeless, unmistakable dignity.

Best for: City routes, historic neighborhoods, country estates

Irish Funeral March

In traditional Irish funerals, the coffin is carried by family members (never on a hearse if possible) from the family home or church to the graveyard — often over long distances. Neighbors and community members join the procession on foot. Traditional Irish funeral music (pipes, fiddle, bodhrán) may accompany the march. The Irish wake — held the night before — is an equally important celebration of life with stories, drink, and laughter.

West African & Ghanaian Tradition

Ghana's "fantasy coffin" funerals are famous worldwide — elaborate custom-shaped coffins (a fish for a fisherman, a car for a driver, a Bible for a pastor) are paraded through the village with music, dance, and vibrant color. Funerals are community celebrations that can last several days. This same spirit of joyful communal farewell deeply influenced the New Orleans jazz funeral tradition.

Mexican Day of the Dead Procession

While not a funeral per se, Dia de los Muertos (November 1–2) processions honor deceased loved ones with marigold-covered altars, face painting, candles, and joyful parades. In many Mexican communities, families visit gravesites together, decorating them with offerings (ofrendas) of food, photos, and meaningful objects to welcome the spirits back for a visit.

Bring It Anywhere: Modern Adaptations

You do not have to be in New Orleans to honor this tradition. Jazz funerals and second line celebrations are now held across the United States and around the world, adapted to local settings. A park, a neighborhood block, a beach, or a quiet street can host a second line. What matters is the band, the music, and the willingness of a community to move together in love.

Biker & Motorcycle Procession

For those who loved motorcycles, a motorcycle procession can be a thrilling and deeply personal tribute. Friends and club members ride in formation behind the hearse. The rumble of engines, the flags flying, and the scale of a large motorcycle escort create an unforgettable spectacle. Organizations like the Patriot Guard Riders provide this service free for veterans.

Unique Vehicle Processions

Some families honor a loved one with a procession featuring vehicles that meant something to them: classic cars, vintage trucks, fire engines for a retired firefighter, tractors for a farmer, boats for a sailor. The vehicles themselves become rolling tributes — telling a life story in the language that person understood best.

⚓ Full Body Burial

The body is buried at sea in international waters (3+ nautical miles from shore, 600+ feet deep). Requires an EPA permit and meets specific casket/preparation requirements. Primarily available through the U.S. Navy for veterans and active military, or through licensed maritime funeral providers.

Cost: Varies — military honors are free for eligible veterans

🌸 Cremated Remains Scattering

Ashes can be scattered at sea by a licensed charter boat captain or a family member from a private or chartered vessel. Must be 3+ nautical miles offshore in ocean waters. The EPA requires notification within 30 days using EPA Form 7500-3. A peaceful, beautiful farewell witnessed by loved ones.

Charter boat: $400 – $1,500 | Unattended scattering service: $100 – $400

✈️ Aerial Ash Scattering

Ashes are scattered from a small aircraft over the ocean, coastline, or any meaningful landscape. A pilot and/or family members can be aboard. EPA rules still apply for ocean scattering. A dramatic and moving tribute — watching ashes drift on the wind over the water is unforgettable.

Cost: $500 – $1,500

Eternal Reefs — Memorial Reef Ball

The most established reef memorial service in the U.S. Cremated ashes are incorporated into a concrete reef ball — a hollow, dome-shaped structure that is placed on the ocean floor. Over time it becomes colonized by coral, fish, and marine life, creating a thriving underwater habitat. Families can attend the casting ceremony and place their handprints in the concrete. GPS coordinates are provided so loved ones can visit by boat or dive.

• Sizes range from a small 3-lb Aquarius to a 4,000-lb Great Bali
• Multiple ashes can be combined in one reef (families or couples)
• Deployed at permanent permitted reef sites along U.S. coasts
• GPS coordinates provided for future visits
• Plaques can be attached to the reef ball

Cost: $3,995 – $8,995

Neptune Memorial Reef (Neptune Society)

Located 3.25 miles off the coast of Miami, Florida, the Neptune Memorial Reef is the world's largest planned underwater mausoleum — designed to resemble a lost city of Atlantis. Cremated remains are incorporated into cast concrete structures (lions, gates, plaques, columns) that form part of this growing underwater city. Scuba diving families can visit the reef directly and observe the growing marine ecosystem around their loved one's memorial.

• Located at 40 feet depth — accessible to recreational divers
• Boat snorkel visits also available for non-divers
• Individual niches, plaques, sculptures, and structures available
• Families receive GPS coordinates and memorial certificates

Cost: $1,995 – $6,500

Coral Casting & Reef Restoration

Some marine conservation organizations partner with families to incorporate ashes into coral restoration structures — substrate frames on which real coral fragments are grown. Your loved one literally becomes part of a living coral reef restoration project. A profound gift to the ocean and future generations.

• Ash is incorporated into reef substrate or coral-growing frames
• Contributes to real coral reef restoration efforts
• Available through select marine conservation nonprofits
• Certificates of participation and GPS coordinates provided

Cost: $1,500 – $5,000

Ocean Ashes Memorial

Ocean Ashes specializes in beautifully crafted, 100% biodegradable ocean urns that dissolve after a short time on the water's surface. Families can attend or request an unattended scattering with professional GPS coordinates, photos, and a certificate of service. A dignified, affordable, and meaningful ocean farewell.

• Attended ceremonies with family aboard a vessel
• Unattended scattering with photo documentation
• Salt, sand, and paper biodegradable urns available
• EPA-compliant, 3+ nautical miles offshore

Cost: $149 – $495

Sea Glass & Ash Memorial Art

Skilled glass artists fuse a small amount of cremated ashes into hand-crafted sea glass keepsakes — pendants, paperweights, orbs, or sculptures that capture the colors of the ocean. A portion of ashes can be used for keepsakes while the rest are scattered at sea, combining both forms of tribute.

• Ashes infused into genuine hand-blown glass
• Ocean blues, greens, and coastal colors available
• Pendants, orbs, paperweights, and sculptures
• Made by independent artists — Etsy and specialty studios

Cost: $80 – $600

Underwater Memorial Plaque

A customized bronze, stainless steel, or composite plaque bearing the person's name, dates, and a tribute message is placed on an existing underwater reef, pier piling, or permitted ocean structure. No ashes are required — a purely memorial option for those who want a permanent underwater marker at a meaningful dive or fishing site.

• Bronze, stainless steel, or composite materials
• Custom engraving with name, dates, and tribute
• Requires permission from site owner or permit authority
• Popular at dive sites, fishing reefs, and marinas

Cost: $200 – $800 (plaque only)

🌱 Natural Ground Burial

Body wrapped in a shroud or placed in a biodegradable casket. No concrete vault. Typically in a dedicated "green" cemetery section or natural burial ground.

Cost: $1,000–$4,000

🍄 Mushroom Suit / Shroud

Biodegradable garments infused with mushroom spores that help break down the body and neutralize toxins. Popularized by Caitlin Doughty and others in the death-positive movement.

Cost: $1,500–$3,000

🌳 Human Composting

Also called "natural organic reduction," this method converts remains into rich soil over about 45 days. Legal in several states including Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and others.

Cost: $5,000–$7,000