Any funeral home will help you with a completely non-religious "memorial service" and/or funeral. They merely provide the space.....they also will just do a quiet cremation with nothing else if you wish. If you do decide to have some form of service you will need to look hard for is someone who can "DJ" the event, unless you want to do it yourself, that will leave religion out of it.

I've put aside some for final arrangements , but hadn't planned beyond that .Good to read everyone's thoughts here .

When you are dead you will not know what happens so no big deal your freinds will know how you were

Most areas have a "cremation society" or something similarly titled. I used a local cremation society when I had to make arrangements for a friend who died unexpectedly. They made arrangements to pick up the body, do the cremation, and give us the cremains. However, I don't know if they would have handled the sending out of death certificates. You might need a lawyer for that.

And if you have some extra money to spend, there are lots of different things you can have done with your ashes:

[mnn.com]

[connectingdirectors.com]

[cremationinstitute.com]

Why would you care about the ashes?

Make a will and write down exactly what you want done with your remains and what sort of service you want if any. and choose an executor you can trust to follow your wishes.

Forget the funeral home, Give your body to Science.

Mine is going to the Medical School that my son graduated from. Who knows, the person cutting up my cadiver might be the one who finds the cure for all Cancers or Alhimers or maybe they will jsut make some peoples lives less painful.

However it goes, it is a heck of a lot better than having some pompus jackass pray over my souless carcus.

Also there is a paid in full insurance policy that will pay for a parties for whatever friends I have left. Parties to be held at Old Absinthe House on Bourbon St. and Bar Jamon in El Puerto, There gonna be great parties, no idea what the policy's value is today, It was $15K in 1990.

After typing this, I scaned down the replies. Lots of people with my same desires. Good on you all!

Contact the Neptune Society. The collect the body, cremate, return ashes to wherever they are directed, for a prepaid fee. National, maybe international organization.

Here in Florida there are funeral homes that do cremation. My end of life plan is bought and paid for from the National Cremation Society. No religious gibberish involved. They pick up the body and burn it. My ashes will be dumped in the gulf. I’m sure there are many places that would be able to accommodate you.

I'd research before choosing. [finalrights.org] some are for profit.

from google: Body donation. Contact local medical schools and teaching hospitals. ...
Direct cremation. This involves simple cremation, without costly memorial services. ...
Direct burial (also known as “immediate burial&rdquo. ...
Mausoleum. ...
Backyard burial. ...
Burial at sea. ...
“Green” cemetery burial. ...
Cryonic freezing.

g

How one disposes of one's self is a personal choice but for what it's worth I'm having myself and my beloved dog cremated then our ashes placed in a coffee can -- like in he Big Lebowski -- then my sister will rent a kayak or canoe at a nearby natural springs park, paddle out at least a couple of miles then scatter the ashes across the water. I've kayaked there many times. It's incredibly beautiful and serene there. There'll be no service, memorial, or gathering of any kind. People can remember me as they see fit. My sister has already agreed to it so it's just a question of when.

At the moment, both my dog and I are still alive but when the time comes, I got it covered.

If I don't donate my body, I will do as natural a burial as possible. Put me in the most basic possible container-pressed cardboard, paper, the cheapest wood, all with no chemicals, and don't embalm me. Let me go back to where I came from, and return my nutrients. Requires only the energy to dig a hole. I'd also be fine if they just left me out for the bugs and animals to eat.