Traditional funeral
Also called: Full-service funeral
A funeral with embalming, viewing, a formal service at a funeral home or place of worship, and burial in a cemetery. The most expensive of the common options.
A traditional funeral typically includes: embalming and cosmetic preparation, use of the funeral home's viewing room for one or more visitation periods, a casket, a hearse, a graveside service, and burial in a cemetery plot with an outer burial container (vault). A typical all-in cost in 2026 runs $9,000–$15,000 before cemetery charges (for reference, the NFDA's 2023 member survey put the median funeral with viewing and burial at $8,300 before cemetery costs). Cemetery charges (plot, opening and closing, marker) add another $2,000–$8,000.
Nothing in this list is legally required. Embalming is not required by law in any US state except in specific edge cases (long delays, certain communicable diseases, transport across some state lines). Vaults are not required by state law but most cemeteries require them. Viewing is optional. The casket can be bought from a third party.
Funeral homes often present 'traditional' as the default and quote it as a single 'package' price. Federal law requires them to itemize. Ask for the General Price List and pick services individually if you want to.
- Embalming— A chemical process that temporarily preserves the body, used mainly to allow a viewing several days after death. Not required by law in most situations.
- Viewing— Time at the funeral home when family and friends gather around the body before the funeral. Can be open-casket (body visible) or closed-casket.
- GPL (General Price List)— The itemized price list every funeral home in the US must hand you when you ask in person. They must also answer price questions over the phone. (Federal law does not yet require them to email it or post it online — though good homes do.)
- FTC Funeral Rule— The federal regulation governing what funeral homes can and cannot do. In effect since 1984. Enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
- Vault— A concrete or metal box placed in the grave around the casket. Required by most cemeteries (not by state law) to keep the ground from settling as the casket decomposes.
This definition is general consumer information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. Industry practices and regulations change occasionally; verify before relying on anything here for a specific decision.
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