Something I read this evening prompted me to ponder over this..
I've been reading quite a few times recently where people have used sites like GoFundMe or Justgiving to collect money to pay for someones funeral.
Mostly through accidents, people are often "taken" far too soon and made no provision for such an event..leaving next of kin to find the cost of a funeral which by all accounts is pretty hefty these days.
Can only get worse with prices going through the roof. My parents both had Death Insurance Policies that just about covered the cost. In those days the Insurance man would come to the door to collect the premium.
People don't seen to take out these policies these days, to my knowledge that is. I am guessing it may have declined with the loss of doorstep collections.
Cloverjo, you can still have a ceremony, even a church service, without the coffin.
My friend's dad died last year and they had a very private funeral at the crematorium immediately followed by a service for all at the church. It worked very well for them.