However as technological interaction continues to trump real-life interaction, Mr Baggs predicts a gradual extinction of the traditional coffin-centred funeral gathering and ceremony in favour of the "some kind of memorial service at a later date".
He said funeral directing was now less about organising flowers and obituary notices than being a media tech — coordinating audio and visual productions with catering, memorial photo booklets, slide shows and live music. "Technologies and rituals emerging from COVID-19 point to new directions in Australian death culture and commercial activity that are particularly deserving of further attention," chief executive Dale Gilson said.
"Now, 50 per cent of the time the main members of the family, even the husband or wife of the person who died, feels moved to get up and talk at the service and tell us all what the person they loved meant to them.AFDA executive director Lucinda Cate agreed, saying funerals were becoming less religious and more spiritual rather than formal and structured.
"We've had services at beaches, on blocks of land in the bush — fortunately no-one's asked us to don a wetsuit or jump out of an aeroplane to conduct a funeral yet," Mr Baggs said.There are also endless options for cane caskets, eco caskets and the opportunity for coffins to be painted and decorated with everything from roses and fluffy white clouds to football colours and hotted-up vintage cars.
The funeral industry is one of my pet peeves. The amount of money that Americans are forced to shell out for burial & funeral expenses is absurd. I don't want a funeral & as I tell my husband 'you can mourn me from a beach in Jamaica'.
Yet another example of the latent collateral damage of the pseudoscientific approach of lockdowns.
Just buried my father. He didn't want a funeral, so just immediate family having a wake. My aunty didn't want a funeral either. They are becoming unpopular where we live.
its not just lockdowns. My late husband and mum both decided no funeral. It was their decision and we respected that. It made dealing with their passing a little easier.
Burn me then break out the beers I reckon
Having just buried family where the pickup from hospital 1km away was $900 and 'service fees' were $3200 and putting a favourite dress on was $500 and a box, likely recycled, was $4000 - - digging a hole in the backyard is going to get popular. And I won't f*cking care one bit
Because funerals are so expensive.
Capitalism
That's good. I've long been of the opinion that death shouldn't be a profit making 'industry' Cut to the 'wake', I reckon
Funerals are overrated. Just having the wake is good enough.
Australian governments really destroyed society as we know it by ignoring science and data with their tyrannical lockdowns and rules. They way they, media and health officials lied to us all was a national disgrace. You are all a disgrace to society for the damage you have done
Won’t someone think of the funeral industry