DIY Funeral Care

We are proud to offer direct support to assist you with DIY deathcare.

We can provide you with as much or as little assistance as you need.

Options for DIY funerals…

  • Natural mortuary care at home or in our facility

  • Embalm at our facility and transfer back to home

  • Encoffining and transfers

  • Cooling plate hire and home vigil support

  • Other services - Repatriation / Coroner’s cases

  • DIY funeral support (paperwork, legals, logistics)

What is embalming?

WHY DO WE EMBALM?

Embalming helps delay the inevitable processes that act on the human body and break down its physical form after someone has died. This process, known as decomposition, is a natural part of death.

Although embalming does not permanently halt this process, it does allow more time for a person’s body to be comfortably kept before burial or cremation.

Embalming may assist grieving folks to have time to sit vigil and come to recognise body, mind, and spirit that a person has died. Embalming can be particularly useful if a death was sudden or unexpected, or if there are elderly or very young people that want to sit in vigil with the deceased person.

THE TECHNICALITIES OF EMBALMING

Embalming involves the removal of some biological elements within the body that would otherwise hasten the decomposition process. These can include blood, gases, and buildup of other biological fluids. Many people fear these methods are highly invasive, but on the whole, only small incisions are made to facilitate the process.

A mix of formaldehyde and dyes replace the blood in the circulatory system and act as a temporary preserving agent for the skin and tissues of the deceased person.

What is Natural Mortuary Care?

Unlike embalming, natural mortuary care does not involve chemical treatment of the deceased person.

This means that nature will take its course, and depending on a number of different variables, the body will break down in its own time.

There are alternative methods to embalming that can be employed to delay this process, such keeping the body cool on a purpose built cooling mat. This is often all that is required to safely care for the deceased person. We can also assist with closing the person’s mouth and eyes to restore their appearance somewhat, and to preserve their dignity in death.

  • Natural mortuary care is minimally invasive, doesn’t involve any chemicals, and can be done in the home without needing to transport your person anywhere.

  • This type of care does very little to halt the natural processes of decomposition, beyond the very solid option of keeping the body cool at a low stable temperature.

  • These natural methods will not restore appearance in the way embalming can -if there are sunken features, or discolouration under the nails and on the skin, natural mortuary care cannot remove these natural processes.