Does a Body Need to Be Embalmed Before Being Buried?

When your family is preparing to bury a loved one’s body in a cemetery in Tulsa, OK, you’ll have the option to embalm them first. Some families will choose to put their loved one’s body through the embalming process. But you should know that you do not necessarily need to embalm your loved one’s body prior to their burial services. There are only a few select instances in which you’ll want to strongly consider doing it. Learn about when you should think about embalming a loved one’s body below.

When you’re going to hold a viewing for your loved one before their burial

Is your family going to stage a viewing for a loved one as part of their funeral services? If you are, this is definitely one instance in which you’ll want to embalm your loved one’s body first. If you don’t embalm a person’s body before their viewing, they may not look like themselves during it. This is because the human body jumps right into the decomposition process almost immediately after a person’s death. You should pretty much always embalm a person’s body when you’re going to have a viewing for them.

When you’re going to transport a loved one’s body to another city or state for their burial

In some rare cases, a family will hold a funeral for a loved one at a funeral home and then have their body transported to another city or state for their burial. When this is done, you should try to embalm the person’s body first. It’s typically going to take at least a few days for a person’s body to arrive at a Tulsa, OK memorial park cemetery when you take this approach, so you’ll want to have it embalmed to make it last longer than it would otherwise.

When you’re going to wait a few days to bury a loved one’s body for one reason or another

Families won’t always jump right into holding funeral services for their loved ones in the aftermath of their death. They might opt to wait a little while so that their family members can come to town or so that they can take their time while making funeral arrangements. Whatever the case, this is another instance in which you’ll want to embalm your loved one’s body. It’ll give you all the extra time that you and your family need.

When you’re going to entomb a person’s body versus burying it in the ground

Did you know that you can bury a person in a cemetery without actually putting their body into the ground? These days, many cemeteries provide families with the chance to entomb their loved one’s bodies during above-ground burial services. But if you’re going to bury a loved one in this way, you’ll often have to embalm them first for sanitary purposes. It would be worth asking a cemetery if they’ll require you to embalm your loved one prior to their burial in this case.

Most Tulsa, OK cemeteries won’t call for you to carry out the embalming process on your loved one’s body before their burial. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to burials. We would be happy to let you know if your loved one should be embalmed before being buried in our cemetery. Reach out to us today to get answers to all your pressing embalming questions.