Better Send -Off – The Ultimate Funeral Guide

Uber let’s us share our cars, Airbnb lets us share our houses but did you know you can also share a coffin? This is only one of the many things that may surprise you in a much overdue book that tells you everything you need to know to arrange a funeral in New Zealand.

Despite the fact that humans have 100% mortality rate we don’t expect to die so we are completely out on a limb when death strikes and we have to organise a funeral. But just like talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, talking about death won’t make you dead.

Medical science has done a remarkable job of keeping us alive longer and life expectancy has ballooned from 47yrs to 78yrs in the last century. It is unusual to die suddenly, and often death is the post-script at the end of a long, drawn out dying process where the family will have had plenty of time to think about planning the funeral.

Before the internet consumers got their information about funerals from funeral directors now they can google everything from purchasing a coffin online to how to care for a body prior to contacting a funeral home and they are thirsty for knowledge.

Baby boomers are shunning the traditional, mourning cookie-cutter funeral in favour of a ‘celebration of life’ ceremony resembling a wedding event. Families often spend a year or more planning a wedding yet a funeral is usually done and dusted within a week. There is so little time and so much to do. A funeral director is now a wedding planner on a compressed timeline.

The BSO Ultimate Funeral Guide is a first for NZ and will be an invaluable guide with information on how to save money, personalisation ideas and ways to leave a ‘green’ footprint. By the end of the book you will know as much as any funeral director. Funeral Directors tell me there is a growing trend for families to actively participate in the funeral rather than being a bystander and the book is targeted to those families who want a ‘hybrid’ funeral; a combination of funeral home and doing parts themselves.

A traditional funeral will cost between $8,000 and $15,000 but by doing just these 3 things you can save 1000’s of dollars; Ask a family friend to run the funeral, most people would feel privileged to do this task; and if someone has a ute or wagon that can fit the coffin it is perfectly legal for them to transfer Mum or Dad you don’t need an expensive hearse; ask people to bring flowers from their garden and a plate of food......people love to do practical things to help a bereaved family.

With death numbers rising from 30,000 a year to over 50,000 a year by 2030 BetterSend-Off the book is sure to be a best-seller!

‘A funeral is not a day in a life – it is a lifetime in a day”

Better Send-Off – The Ultimate Guide

is the companion book to www.bettersendoff.co.nz

ENDS