Now this is an interesting question! I apologise for having taken so long to respond, but I sincerely wanted to do a bit of canvassing to find out. I typically work closely with about a dozen different Funeral Directors in my local community and on an international basis, I’d say another ten. My response includes virtually all of the Funeral Directors I had the chance to speak with, and as I’ve only dealt with four Funeral Directors outside of the UK since you posted the question, the demographics will be negligible. One was in the States (Orlando area), one in Chişinău, in The Republic of Moldova, and two in Bucharest, in Romania.
For the most part, the FD’s in the UK were all either Anglican (Church of England), or Catholic. There was one Free Church/Methodist.
Seven of the FD’s preferred cremation and their cremains to simply be disposed of in the most expedient manner, such as ‘strewing’ (dumping?) them in the local crematorium’s gardens. In the ‘industry,’ the local crematory is often referred to as our local ‘Bake ‘N Shake.’
Two of the FD’s said they preferred cremation, however, they had rather nice sentimental preferences for their cremains; One wanted his to be saved until his wife passed, then together, they’d like to have their cremains interred at a church cemetery, so their children and grandchildren could visit them as a marker of memory.
One FD stated that he’d indicated in his living will that upon his demise, he requests burial and that his wife’s cremains be placed within his coffin with him. I asked why he preferred burial over cremation. His response was relatively practical; he had purchased a grave plot thirty years earlier when they first married and he hated the idea of it “going to waste.” (his exact words!).
And one FD, who has always been rather acerbic in his responses to questions he finds (in his opinion) to be absurd, stated that he definitely preferred to be cremated and his ashes ‘dumped’ in the sea. He then added that this was only because his mother-in-law repeatedly tells him that she’s looking forward to the day she can dance on his grave!
In Bucharest, both FD’s were adamant that a burial was ‘de rigueur’ in Orthodox culture. I accept this despite the fact that there’s (finally) a number of crematories in Bucharest.
And the american FD, almost with a breath of indignation, insisted that he wanted ‘The Full Monty,’ resplendent with the most magnificent of coffins (caskets, as they call them in the u.s.), (preferably hand rubbed Mahogany), ‘deep-embalming,’ including hairdresser, and cosmetic artist, the perfect arrangement of soft pink lighting to highlight how beautifully natural he will look in his thousand-weave Egyptian cotton lined casket, The Last Supper inlay inside the Casket’s lid, and ‘a memorial pocket, or tray’ filled with personal supplications of love and adoration by survivors. And a gold memorialised ‘casket key.’ And he wanted a full funerary cortège, which includes multiple flower cars, late model Cadillac Hearse, (I prefer our Rolls Royce ones here in old Blighty!), and police motorcycle escorts. And he added, with a flair, that the chapel would include a moving slide pictorial, live music quartet, velour covered chairs at the graveside, a marbled grave liner, or vault, with bronze plating, and the casting of earth, during the service (ashes to ashes), to be done with a sterling silver repository and spade. And finally, the FD pulled out a ring binder and flipped to a page showing the catering options available for wakes. He says he insists on the ‘Eternal Rest Epicurean Platinum’ catering package which provides, during viewing hours, a medley of hors-d’oeuvre options, including jumbo prawns, crudités, Kosher canapés, and a Ferrero Rocher tier.
Hope this helps!
Fr B+