Our home funeral support for those who want a helping hand in Minehead, Taunton & across Somerset & Devon with Lady Funeral Director Amanda-Louise
Helping You Have Your Loved One at Home Until the Funeral
We understand you may wish to look after the person who has died at home and planning the funeral yourself, we can support you to do this.
Offering a more compassionate and alternative home funeral service
Many people do not realise that you can keep a loved one at home after they have died, caring for them right up to their funeral, and there are many positive reasons for those caring for their loved one in this way. Should the decision be right for you not to entrust your loved one into our care as our guest, we can still support you at home with any practical help or advice that you may want or need from us including equipment needed, how to arrange a funeral, as well as providing a coffin and transport options to the burial or cremation, if thats helpful to you. See below what's included in this choice of service:
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Funerals at Home
PERSONAL MESSAGE TO YOU FROM AMANDA-LOUISE
“I built my independent family run funeral business on kindness and experience with our desire to provide you with every aspect for you to arrange a funeral that reflects how you wish to say goodbye. So, I offer choice,support and value and am not rigid in our approach, so you only pay for what you want and need.Not all funerals are the same and no two funeral directors are the same either. Some funeral directors charge additionally for many aspects of the funeral elements. We care about the living and the departed and know how daunting it can be to arrange a funeral. So, with my heartfelt offering, below is my 10 point gift to support you in your important life decisions, warmly Amanda-Louise”
1. Our Pledge – your loved one remains in our local facilities
2. Our Compliments No Charge (if desired) - Collecting clothing in the local area, our flower placed on coffin if desired as sentimental touch, and delivery of ashes in the local area
3. 'Our Compliments No Charge - A Funeral Notice' online service
4. The ability - for Amanda-Louise Funeral Director to personally come out to your home locally to discuss arrangements in detail
5. Our Compliments No Charge - Choice is very important to us, so you have the option for your gentle funeral ceremony to be conducted by Amanda-Louise (celebrant capacity - subject to availability)
6. Our Pledge Our Heart is Local – we prefer to use only local crematoriums or cemeteries (and not take you out of our region)
7. Our Compliments No Charge - We believe that arranging a meaningful funeral can be a healing experience to support your grief journey. Amanda-Louise will personally support you and guide you through the practical aspects and offer to help you create a fitting ceremony and celebration of life. Our in-house trained bereavement support for adults and children, and open invitations to join us for our bereavement coffee sessions after the funeral enabling a comfortable space and shared experiences
8. Our Partnerships - Access to specialist bereavement counselling for those needing therapeutic structured support
9. Our Pledge for the Planet – we dedicate towards planting a tree in memory of your loved one and our unique way to benefit our environment for future generations by offering a variety of eco-friendly funeral procedures, arrangements, and products too
10. Our Pledge to Ease the Burden – we offer to provide everything you may want or need for a funeral, memorial or celebration of life under our one roof helping to remove some of the stress from your shoulders. From floristry, vehicles, orders of service and ceremony accessories, catering to venue provision and memorabilia and keepsakes
Funeral Total Costings Example
Our Professional charges (professional guidance and support, supplying hearse or transport with staff) typically £750 Includes:
- Our advice and practical support for you to arrange a funeral yourself, including advice on how to care for the person who has died in your own home until the funeral
- Our help with conveying the coffin you have purchased to the local funeral (using our hearse or suitable vehicle with our driver) or us collecting the person from where they have died locally and return them to your local home
- Consultation on creative elements you can contribute yourself, or you want our support with
- Support and guidance to carry the coffin yourself (if permitted by the cemetery or crematorium)
- Regular contact by Email, Phone, Teams or Zoom
You will need to add on cost of cremation or burial, coffin, doctor's certificate
The Breakdown Costs
Transparency is ever so important to us at Amanda-Louise Funeral Services, especially when it comes to pricing. To find out how much you could expect to spend to achieve the funeral that’s right for you see below. We will provide you with a personalised quotation once we have spoken for your consideration.
Our Professional Services for support - £750
Includes:
- Our advice and practical support for you to arrange a funeral yourself, including advice on how to care for the person who has died in your own home until the funeral
- Our help with conveying the coffin you have purchased to the local funeral (using our hearse or suitable vehicle with our driver) or us collecting the person from where they have died locally and return them to your local home
- Consultation on creative elements you can contribute yourself, or you want our support with
- Support and guidance to carry the coffin yourself (if permitted by the cemetery or crematorium)
- Regular contact by Email, Phone, Teams or Zoom
Cremations
Third Party Costs/Disbursements – Cremation Charges (correct at time of publishing) - These are for reference only
Priced Individual - There May Not Be a Charge for Children Under 18
Cremation with funeral ceremony time in their chapel available Mon-Fri 10-4pm
- Taunton Crematorium £871
- Sedgemoor(Bridgewater) £989
- East Devon (Exeter) £925
- Exeter & Devon£850
- North Devon (Barnstaple) £750
- Mendip (Wells) £936
- Yeovil£825
Cremation without time for service in Chapel (but chance to spend 10 minutes in chapel with your own goodbye) available Mon-Fri 9-930am
- Taunton Crematorium £743
- Sedgemoor(Bridgewater) £819
- East Devon (Exeter) £725
- Exeter & Devon £675
Cremation Only (direct no mournersor ceremony/chapel time)
- Taunton Crematorium £531
- Sedgemoor(Bridgewater) £524
- East Devon (Exeter) £550
- Exeter & Devon £499
Available Mon-Fri before 9am (or we can arrange to use out of area crematorium for a package lower cost price)
If Cremation :Third Party Costs/Disbursements – Drs Fees
£82 Doctor’s fee for 1 x cremation certificate - n/a if coroner involved in cremation
Burials
Priced Individually - There May Not Be a Charge for Children Under 18
- Typical Church Burial – to include cost of gravediggers, graveside service, burial fee, vergers, organist, church costs - example £1525
Natural Woodland Burial Sites
- Fevin Nature Reserve, Somerton– from£1090 or Burial of Ashes from £50
- Crossways, Exeter – from £1400 or Burial of Ashes from £550
- Hackpen, Cullompton – £1125 or Burial Of Ashes from £200
- Bath Meadow – from £1505 or Burial of Ashes from £660
Burial at Sea – Licence fee + boat fee – price on request
We have a range of products and services that may be options you would like to add to your package
- Your choice of our urns and scatter tubes for cremated ashes from £30
- Delivery of ashes back to you - price dependent upon address
- Your choice of memorabilia and keepsakes - prices vary
- Additional events such as celebration of life event , where mourners can hold their own goodbye, can include catered hospitality and venue, or ceremonies (such as burial or scattering of ashes)
- Bespoke assistance - supplementary charge for arranging a funeral of particularly complexity or unusual details £350.00 -this should not apply to direct services
We can supply everything that you may want or need for a funeral or event. For further ideas please see out catalogue categories
Professional Services
Third Party Costs/Disbursements – Professional Embalmer
Priced on Request
We do not routinely embalm, but if you request this, we can obtain a price
Third Party Costs/Disbursements – Professional Ceremony Leader (Minister, Celebrant or Humanist)
Priced on Request (typically from £200-£350) -some may not charge for children under 18
If you do not want to conduct the funeral ceremony yourself, you could use a professional. We know many talented professionals so just ask, or alternatively Amanda-Louise is a trained celebrant so can deliver a ceremony subject to availability.
Third Party Costs/Disbursements –Other Professionals
Prices on Request
Professional Funeral Photographer, Videographer, Interpreter/Translator, Sign Language Professional, Dove Release, Musicians/Singer, Bagpiper, Bulger etc
More services we offer
What to expect from us
The enduring strength of women
We care for you and your family
As your Lady Funeral Directors, Amanda-Louise can meet you in the comfort of your own home, or in our peaceful office, or via video call if you'd prefer. We will never tell you how 'things should be done', or rush you, but support you to understand and consider your choices, so that you can decide what is right for you and your family and friends.
We will listen to you, and can help you plan a funeral ceremony. We'll respect your personal beliefs, values and culture and ensure your requirements, and those of the person that has died, are reflected in the funeral. You may prefer a religious funeral, a more secular service or might want to include a number of different religious and spiritual perspectives within the same service.
We can help you to reflect on the life of the person who has died and enable you to create some positive memories to support you at a time when people can often feel sad and alone. We can support you to have a farewell that you desire - so we will support you to understand the wide range of options such as visual, musical, floral, donations, readings/poems for example, as well as organising venue and/or hospitality for your after funeral wake or reception, if you wish.
Importantly, we will be flexible to your needs and wishes and give you our time to help put your ideas into action. You can take as much control as you like. We are able to support families from across Somerset or Devon, are not regionally restricted, we can help you create an event at a time and place that is best for you.
Amanda-Louise Funeral Director, can also personally deliver a heartfelt celebrant led service on your behalf should you wish, or we can recommend other talented professional ceremony leaders including religious ministers, celebrants and humanists.
We work hard to support the wellbeing of every family we support (adults and children).We can also provide a wealth of practical bereavement information for adults and children, and we'll ensure the funeral is meaningful for you, which helps in coming to terms with loss too.
We care for the person who has died
In our care you have trusted us to look after your loved one and we take enormous pride in treating people with respect and dignity. From the very moment the person who has died comes into our care, to the moment they leave, we will treat them with compassion, kindness and consideration. We see this as part of the cycle of life
We reach out and support people from 15 to 50+ miles away from us, as we safely transfer the deceased into our facilities. We'll care for the person entrusted into our funeral home with compassion and dignity, and treat everyone as guests in our home. Or we can assist if you prefer the deceased to remain at home or liaise with a repatriation company for deaths abroad.
We provide a comprehensive range of coffins in different materials, including coffin accessories to suit all tastes. This is a very personal choice, so we happily talk about them or can show you the differences.
We can provide the ability for family to spend time with their loved one, and to change clothing if this is important to you. Plus you can be involved in as little or as much of their care as you desire. We will gently prepare them for their funeral following your wishes including hairstyles or makeup, and whilst we do not routinely embalm we can provide this if you desire. We’ll take great care of any person effects, and give them to you ,or they will remain with the person Plus we can arrange for your items to be placed in the coffin if you wish.
We can even support you to keep your loved one at home right up until their funeral if you wish.
On the day of the funeral
We understand that attention to detail is really important, from considering the way people enter the service to carefully calculating the journey time.
We can provide our professional pallbearers to convey the coffin. We can help you bear the coffin if that's important to you. We can arrange special routes to the funeral if you wish, or alternative hearses and limousines.
We can arrange to collect family from railway station or airport if helpful.
Some families prefer not to hold the funeral ceremony at a crematorium chapel or in church, so we can support you to have a service in a chosen hotel, hall or alternative venue that is meaningful to you.
Amanda-Louise will be by your side giving you that reassuring presence ensuring everything is going to plan smoothly, and we leave when you are ready for us to go. We can also provide attendance cards so you know who has attended the funeral ceremony service.
After the funeral
We remain connected should you need us. If we collected donations, we will provide you with audit trail so you know they have been forwarded to the relevant people, organisation or charity. We'll collect ashes if that's helpful & deliver them to you. We can arrange for you to scatter them or preserve them if you wish.
We will have spoken to you about the arrangements of the funeral flowers and carried out those wishes. And if required, we can organise graves and headstones to be put in place at a suitable time after a burial or ashes placed.
And we welcome you to stay in touch. Often our clients pop in to talk about how life is treating them, or to attend one of our coffee afternoons as life can be isolating at times following the loss of a loved one. Our kettle is always on, likely biscuits too. Rest assured, we will never stop caring - here for you whenever you need us, wherever you are.
Do you need more help?
"We all felt totally safe opening our hearts to Amanda-Louise and were so impressed in the skills and empathy she has to understand how we all felt."
Funerals at Home
Our frequently asked questions to guide you
What To Do When Someone Dies At Home
A doctor will need to certify the death. This can be the person’s registered GP or the Doctor on duty. You may need to collect the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) from the GP’s surgery.
After someone has died at home, you can spend time with them, if you want to. You may want to play music and light a candle. There is no rush. Whenever you are ready, you can call us on 07879-220046 and we will bring the person who has died into our care, once the death has been certified. Our staff are fully trained in order to handle this difficult event with care and respect. You are always welcome to visit our Chapel of Rest at a later date.
If the death was expected, the GP will provide a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) which you will need to register the death.
"Dedicated to giving you the funeral you deserve & want"
"With my vision on providing wrap-around-care from start to finish. Our team are here to help you with every aspect of planning and organising your funeral needs from the preparation of the body to events and memorial services, I will be with you every step of the way"