IT CAN be hard to know where to begin when planning a funeral. It's an emotional time and there are plenty of questions for the person organising the funeral. Who should I contact first? Who contacts the clergy? Who contacts the cemetery? What are my options for funeral services? How much does a funeral cost?

Carnarvon Funerals owners and directors Raymond and Chrissy Mattiazzi want you to know you're not alone.

Mr Mattiazzi said he aimed to help people get all the answers to their questions, work out the best process and gain ideas for a personalised service.

"All of this information is designed to help you begin visualising a meaningful funeral that honours a life lived,” he said.

He said staff at Carnarvon Funeral Services would outline the entire funeral arrangement process, explain the options, contact all the parties involved in the arrangements on a person's behalf and ensure everything was co-ordinated to a family's specifications.

"We want you to focus on spending as much time as possible with your family and friends at this difficult time. Holding a funeral or memorial ceremony for the deceased can be an important step in the grief process. Recognition of the deceased is important because it reinforces the reality of a loved one's death.”

The following is a partial list of the items Carnarvon Funeral Services can help with: Creating a personalised and meaningful funeral honouring your loved one's life - a memorial service can be personalised to reflect and be held at locations reflecting the loved one's personality; explaining the full range of service and merchandise options; co-ordinating a newspaper and online notice; preparing and filing the death certificate; co-ordinating with the clergy and/or church; arranging for a funeral celebrant or clergy if you do not have one; co-ordinating cemetery arrangements; co-ordinating crematory arrangements; ordering flowers; co-ordinating donations to your favourite charity; notifying Centrelink of your loved one's death; providing information on veterans' benefits and military honours; and arranging wakes.

There are three basic types of funeral service: traditional, memorial, and direct cremation/burial.

Mr Mattiazzi said traditional services could include viewing if the family wished, body and casket present at the funeral service, stationery, vehicles, funeral staff, and AV & PA equipment.

For a burial, he said, the deceased was placed in a coffin which was lowered into a grave at the cemetery. Cemeteries provide a selection of different graves including single or family.

Memorial services assume the body and casket are not present although an urn may be. The funeral service is conducted similarly to that of the traditional service and could be held at any location or place of importance to the deceased.

An immediate disposition usually has no funeral service and the deceased is either buried or cremated without a service with the funeral director in attendance.

For a cremation, once the cremation has taken place, the ashes are placed in an urn which is given to the family who may bury the urn in a grave or place it in a niche for funeral urns at the cemetery, or keep it at home.

"Although these are the three basic types of services, individual needs and requests can usually be incorporated into the service to make it a truly personal experience,” Mr Mattiazzi said.

He said expenses included funeral director fees/coffin selection; transport; death certificate; cremation documentation; burial/cremation fees; cemetery plots; and optional expenses such as funeral booklets, catering, flowers, alternate venue for services, music and Powerpoint presentation, or civil service/liturgy preparation.