Funerals are deeply personal events; they allow family and friends to pay tribute to the life of a loved one and come together to comfort one another.
One essential aspect of the service is the funeral car, which can play a significant practical and symbolic role in the service.
In this article, we’ll talk more about funeral cars, including their history, ways to personalise them and where they fit in with making a fitting tribute to a person who has passed away.
Funeral Services – What Are The Options?
Many parts of a funeral ceremony can be personalised in order to make the send off of your loved one truly unique. Even with a traditional service, you can choose many individual options for aspects of the funeral that will make the ceremony feel more personalised to the deceased and family.
This includes aspects such as:
- Hymns
- Poems and readings
- Stories/speeches
- Music (both modern and traditional)
- Flowers
- Decorations
- Themes or colours
- Dress code (traditional, casual, cultural, black, colourful, themed, etc.)
- And finally, the choice of funeral car can also sometimes be personalised
Funeral Cars – The Options
Some funeral directors will have multiple options for cars, ranging from different make and models of cars (from vintage to modern limos) to different colours for those who want to stray away from the traditional black, such as white or vibrant pink.
This is the case for both the hearse itself and the funeral cars that follow, usually referred to as limousines. There may also be the choice of patterns like leopard print, or even motorcycle hearses – a possible choice that would fit a motorbike enthusiast.
Some funeral directors are still able to supply horse drawn carriages, for those who want a truly vintage, dignified, and traditional send off.
Certain aspects, such as price and capacity (amount of people the vehicle can carry) will depend on your choice of funeral hearse and the funeral car or cars that follow it. A standard limousine generally fits up to 6 people, but this may vary.
You can choose to have only one funeral car that follows or multiple, depending on your budget and the amount of people going in funeral cars. You can of course choose to go in your own vehicle and have other attendees and family members do the same.
As mentioned, price varies but you can expect the hiring of a funeral car to cost around £200 – £300 or more.
How Funeral Directors Can Help
The majority of funeral directors are multifaith and therefore are equipped to provide services and recommendations for various different cultures and religious beliefs. Different local funeral directors can offer different options.
However, if they don’t have an option that you are looking for, funeral directors generally have lots of connections and contacts. They may at the very least be able to point you in the right direction or recommend an independent company that provides the personalised services or cars that you are looking for.
Why Funeral Cars? A Brief History
The hearse can be seen as representing the final journey of a loved one, with the following car or cars known as a “funeral procession”. The funeral procession symbolises family and friends accompanying their loved one on this final journey.
Beyond this symbolism, funeral cars of course have a practical reason to exist, as they transport everyone between venues such as the funeral directors, church, cemetery or crematorium, and finally the venue for the wake.
This tradition has evolved over the years, as before vehicles became widely available in the 20th century, horse drawn carriages were used. Along with tradition evolving, so has technology, and so that has had an impact on the process of a funeral in many ways. This has meant more options for personalised tributes.
Final Thoughts – Choosing the Right Funeral Car
The choice of funeral car could be a certain colour favoured by your loved one, or a certain make, model, or vehicle type. It could also represent them and their values, such as choosing an eco-friendly car for a nature lover.
Choosing the right funeral car is all down to personal preference and budget, there are no wrong choices as long as it fits with the deceased’s wishes. If unsure, never hesitate to talk to a funeral director for their knowledge and recommendations.
