Immediate family only by the graveside .....

[Laiste]

... of an elderly person.
So just : their spouse, their children and any son or daughter inlaws, any grandchildren and any siblings of the deceased?

Is that what you would think?

Yes, that’s what I’d think. Are there other interpretations?

Friends as well ?

I think children/partners of the deceased's siblings too, it's not usual to separate family units.

I think what you have said is immediate family in the strictest sense but there may be others like close friends or close cousins etc who might be included by invitation.

It can be just spouse and children. As long as it's agreed by the person's spouse and children, it can be extended.

That describes immediate family I think, yes.

If people care enough to want to be there at the final goodbye , why would you object ? Unless there is some good reason no need to refuse this request .

I think OP is just asking what we think the term ‘immediate family’ covers in this context. Not whether it should only be immediate family in attendance.

Could be spouse and the couple’s DC (no sons or daughters in law), at the narrowest interpretation.

could include sons / daughters in law, grandchildren and / or siblings of the deceased.

It varies enormously. My FIL requested just his wife and sons. No grandchildren, no daughters in law, just absolute intimately loved ones. They said it was rather lovely. I would have liked to be there, but respected his wishes.

I've been to others where daughters in laws, grandchildren and siblings were included as intimate family. However burials rather than cremations are so rare now, it's been a while back.

For my parents we invited anyone who wanted to come. But then they loved people and would have been happy to have friends, neighbours and passing strangers there.

Parents/children, grandparents/children and siblings

Friends aren't immediate family.

Depends, my friends mean more than my family and I’d consider them immediate family, and I’d rather they were there.

Well, yes. Otherwise it would be immediate family and friends.

I'll never understand why anyone feels the need to question the wishes of the chief mourners.

It’s completely up to the nearest person to the deceased.

my H’s Aunt died recently and her DD wanted only my H, her H, her DM brother with her at the burial.

the memorial was attended by everyone else, somewhere between 400-500 people

it was important to her that the burial was intimate. I waited in the car at the church while H went to the burial.

If immediate family I might not include in laws. But that would be context specific

Siblings’ spouses as well perhaps?
But it depends on what the family wants.

My DF wanted just him, DC and partners and grandchildren at the cremation for my mum.
we had a full church funeral service before for everyone else

That's your interpretation; most people would think blood relatives, though.

Immediate family and any personally invited by the widow(er).

No, I'd include their brother's, sisters, nieces and nephews.

Working in the funeral industry in north Somerset (things do vary from area to area) that is often the case.

However, I have done them where everyone comes from the church, one with just one mourner and my friends uncle excluded women from her grandmothers graveside....she went anyway and told him to f himself in front of the priest.

Many years ago I attended the funeral of a family friend with my grandmother. It was a Catholic mass and we are C of E so we sat at the back of the church. At the graveside we remained at the back and allowed the family to stand at the front. When the crowd had dispersed (we were not going not he wake although we had been invted) we spent a few moments at the graveside to say goodbye. This is probably the correct procedure for those who are not immediate family.

Immediate family, to me, would be just spouse and children in that situation.

Immediate family to me is husband/wife and children, immediate is next to

partners, grandchildren siblings and siblings children are extended family