To hate that funerals take place weeks after the death?

Possibly a hangover from the days before refrigeration !

Well I would also prefer that my mum didn't have to wait 5 weeks to be buried but unfortunately she wasn't Jewish or Muslim.
So wait we did.

I accept, OP, that there has to be the type of funeral that your parent wanted. However, why do you have to go? That's your choice.

@Bloodybrambles , massive empathy, my mum passed away on January the 30th and it looks like the funeral won’t be until march . I feel in a horrible limbo

Warmer countries historically buried their dead quickly, and this tradition has continued.

However the delay in the UK is primarily due to a lack of crematorium and the difficulty of aligning a church service and crematorium slot.

Domeone up thread mentioned that there were only two funerals listed on an afternoon; the rest of the slots will be direct cremations, so all the slots will be used.

Burials can be quicker.

@Klovos Jog on.

Of all the threads, you choose this one.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP. Yes it is the crematorium that's the hold up. It's a lot quicker when it's a burial. My dad died over 45 years ago, on a Wednesday, and was buried on the Saturday.

It does have a high carbon footprint but I think it's just a lack of money in the LA that's stopping the expansion. At least round here all crematoria are publicly owned.

We used to be able to have a funeral 3/4 days after the death.
Now our council has stipulated there can only be 4 burials in the whole county on any one day - 2 at 10.40 and 2 at 1 40 I think. So you're going to have church services at 9am.
Now it's at least a 2 week wait.

I think it's a very recent thing. Not Covid. When my DM died on 9th Dec 2023 I got the funeral on 20th December.

That doesn't answer the question though. You're saying it can be done quickly for some faiths. Why can't it be done quickly for everyone? Why is the process different?

The OP already said it was all planned

Yanbu. Dm funeral was a full month later.

No it doesn’t. Funerals still happen within 24-48 hours of the death. Much better IMO. It’s a well oiled machine. You literally tell the funeral team about the death and they do everything else. You just turn up at the allotted time

2nd sentence in the OP states that the decease had organised every part of their funeral. The problem OP has is coordinating availability of the three main parties I.e church, crem and FD. There's only so much that can be organised before hand. Nobody can actually book a date until the person passes.

We waited for 5 weeks for my dads in 2021.

Currently in the 6 week wait for a close friend.

It's horrendous

Isn’t it also the case that cremation is environmentally damaging? I’m not posting with an agenda about this, I just know I’ve heard that is the case — so I wonder if that is part of the reason there aren’t many new crematoria being built.

Perhaps there’s a feeling the regulatory environment in that business is likely to tighten in the coming years and therefore there’s less of an appetite for investment in the actual buildings.

@Bloodybrambles My dear grandma passed just after Christmas, she did not “believe” in funerals and did not attend any herself whilst she was alive. We all
decided to go with a non attended cremation as that what she would have wanted and like my uncle said “why have an attended cremation and service and put ourselves through the pain” and we all agreed. What we had instead was a celebration of life or get together and there were no tears just swapping stories and memories, it was held in a village club and we had all the food my grandma loved, lots of photos, a memory table and a bouncy castle for the kids even! She’d have loved it and approved. everyone came away feeling we’d done her proud. Made me think that that’s what I would want for my family when the time came. Like you say, you start to heal then a funeral just opens up the wound and much worse there’s such a wait. Plus I just think all that money is kinda wasted! The money we saved we donated to the palliative care ward where she passed away as they were fabulous and they are self funded so in my mind a much better idea.

Are burials quicker if it's to do with crems?

In Spain funerals generally happen within 48 hours of death. It's not a religious requirement there (they're largely Catholic) but I wonder if it's a cultural hangover from the days of Islamic rule?

You can plan it to an extend but you can’t book a slot at the crematorium until the person is actually dead

Wow of all the crass replies! Have some empathy

Yes, it's awful.

I heard a comedian joke, by the time your funeral date arrives in the UK, the neighbours have forgotten that you existed.

I really appreciate that a funeral happens within 3 days of the person passing in Ireland.

I found it difficult knowing DM was the hospital morge for 2 nights.

I understand Ireland is tiny in comparison to the UK.

It was quick but the emotions were raw and we were ready.

Jewish people also bury very quickly.

In my culture they take place quickly. I prefer it this way. My dad died on a Tuesday and the funeral was on Thursday. My auntie died on Thursday and the funeral was on Saturday.

My friend died and the funeral was a month later. I found this so much harder emotionally.