If you want the funeral that you have to arrange to be very simple, you should give the suggestions here a try.

Use a funeral home that has a small funeral chapel instead of booking a church

If the deceased was religious and wanted their funeral to occur in a place of worship, you should not book a local church, but should instead use a funeral home that has its own modestly sized funeral chapel.

There are a couple of reasons why this could simplify the funeral. Firstly, it will mean that you won't have to arrange for your loved one's remains to be transported from the funeral home to the church or need to make the journey itself to this separate building. If the chapel in which you have the service is inside the funeral home, you will only need to travel to the burial grounds after the funeral.

Secondly, booking the funeral home's small chapel will reduce the number of invitations you need to purchase, fill in and send out, as there will only be room for a few people in this compact space, and so your guest list will have to be quite small. If you have been left exhausted by your own grief, having the funeral in a small chapel that limits the size of the guest list could be helpful, as it will mean that there will be fewer people from whom you have to accept condolences and with whom you need to make small talk on this very tiring and sad occasion.

Ask the guests for help instead of gifts

When they find out that their friend or relative's loved one has died, many kind-hearted people will offer this person gifts in the form of sympathy cards, funeral flowers and baked goods. However, if all you want is a simple funeral, then the prospect of receiving a pile of funeral-related gifts that you will have to unwrap, sort through and decide where to display in your home might not be very appealing. If you know that your well-meaning loved ones are probably going to offer gifts that you do not necessarily want, you should head them off at the pass and ask them if they would be willing to help with the funeral instead of giving you gifts.

For example, if you have a friend who is an amazing cook and expresses their love for others through food, you could ask them to make some cakes and sandwiches for the post-funeral get-together. Likewise, if you have a family member who has a beautiful garden and is a whiz at flower arranging, you could ask them to pick a few flowers from their garden and make a funeral wreath. If you follow this advice, make sure that you let the funeral home know so that the staff do not waste time contacting professional florists and caterers on your behalf.