Funeral Services

Most people arrange or attend a funeral with only a vague sense of what actually happens on the day. This hub brings together the site's guidance on the service itself and everything immediately around it (the viewing beforehand, the people who carry the coffin, and the wake afterwards), distinct from the faith-specific structures covered under Religious & Cultural Practices and the broader planning steps covered under Funeral Planning.

What Are Funeral Services?

In the sense used across this hub, "funeral services" covers the mechanics of the funeral day itself: the order of service and how it's structured, the optional viewing or visitation that can happen beforehand, the pallbearers who carry the coffin, and the wake that follows. It sits alongside Funeral Planning (the lead-up decisions: director, costs, notifications) and Memorials (events and tributes that happen separately from, or instead of, a funeral) without duplicating either.

Why Funeral Services Matter

Not knowing what to expect is one of the most common sources of anxiety for both the family arranging a funeral and the guests attending one. Getting the practical side right (a clear running order, pallbearers briefed in advance, a wake that matches the family's budget and style) lets everyone focus on the person being farewelled rather than logistics. Getting it wrong tends to surface at the worst possible moment: a scramble for a sixth pallbearer minutes before the service, or a family member stuck refilling sandwich platters instead of receiving support.

Key Concepts

• Order of service: the structure of the funeral itself: entrance, welcome, eulogy, readings, a photo tribute, and the committal. See what happens at a funeral service.
• Viewing or visitation: a separate, smaller, and quieter event before the funeral where family and close friends can see the person one last time. See what happens at a funeral viewing or visitation.
• Committal: the formal moment of farewell, spoken at the graveside as the coffin is lowered or as the curtain closes at a cremation service.
• Pallbearer: someone who carries or walks alongside the coffin at the entrance and committal. See how do you choose pallbearers.
• Wake: the informal gathering with refreshments that follows the service, distinct from the structured funeral itself. See what do you serve at a funeral wake.

Common Mistakes

• Deciding pallbearers, catering, or the running order at the last minute. Each of these needs a headcount or a plan settled days in advance, not worked out in the venue car park.
• Treating the viewing, service, and wake as one undifferentiated event. Each has a different tone, audience, and level of structure. Confusing them (bringing viewing etiquette into the wake, for instance) can create awkwardness that a little forward planning avoids.
• Overloading the service itself. Six lengthy tributes, an overlong slideshow, and no breathing room exhausts the room; save the informal stories for the wake.
• Skipping the wake, or the viewing, to save money. Both can be scaled to almost any budget. A simple version still gives people somewhere to gather and something to do with their grief.

Where to Get Help

• The funeral director: the first point of contact for structuring the day, arranging a viewing, briefing pallbearers, and recommending a celebrant.
• A civil celebrant or clergy member: shapes and leads the service itself, and can advise on any fixed religious or cultural elements.
• Australian Funeral Directors Association (afda.org.au): industry body with consumer-facing guidance on funeral service standards.

Related Topics

• Funeral Planning: the lead-up decisions (choosing a director, notifying people, costs) that happen before the day itself.
• Religious & Cultural Practices: faith-specific service structures that differ from the generic order of service covered here.
• Memorials: memorial services and celebrations of life held separately from, or instead of, a funeral.

Common Questions

Do you need both a viewing and a wake? No. Both are optional and independent of each other. Some families hold a viewing beforehand and skip the wake, others do the reverse, and many do both or neither. See what happens at a funeral viewing or visitation and what do you serve at a funeral wake for what each actually involves.

Who decides how the service is structured? The family, usually working with a celebrant or clergy member and the funeral director. There's no legally required format in Australia: the structure described across this hub is a common starting shape, not a fixed template.

Can children take part in the service itself? Yes. Many services give a child a small, genuinely optional role (placing a flower, reading a short line) rather than either excluding them or expecting a full speech. See the family discussion on including young children in a service for how real families have approached this.

Is it rude to attend only part of the day? No. Attending the service but not the wake, or the wake but not an earlier viewing, is entirely normal: none of these events require attending the others.

Knowledge Base

The Service Itself

• What Happens at a Funeral Service?
• How Do You Live-Stream a Funeral for Family Who Can't Attend?
• How Do You Create a Funeral Order of Service Booklet?

Viewing and Visitation

• What Happens at a Funeral Viewing or Visitation?

Practical Roles

• How Do You Choose Pallbearers, and What Do They Actually Do?
• How Do You Choose a Funeral Celebrant?

The Wake

• What Do You Serve at a Funeral Wake? Ideas, Budgets, and Etiquette

Getting There

• How Does a Funeral Procession Work? Etiquette for Drivers and Mourners

Ceremonial Honours

• What Happens at a Military or Veteran's Funeral in Australia?

Forum Discussions

• Should My Kids (5 and 8) Come to Their Great-Grandma's Funeral, and Can They Be Part of It?
• One of Our Pallbearers Just Pulled Out Two Days Before the Funeral: What Do We Do Now?
• Dad Only Did Two Years of National Service in the 60s: Does That Even Count for Military Honours?