How we can help you
Resthaven’s Auckland funeral services in Howick and Manurewa are here to give your loved one a beautiful and memorable farewell that reflects their wishes and personality – as well as your budget.
As your funeral planner, we take care of organising and managing as many aspects of the funeral process as you wish. We understand that making decisions may be difficult when you are grieving, and our team is here to help and support you every step of the way.
Resthaven’s funeral service options
Below are the various aspects of a funeral to consider – please contact us to discuss your wishes and budget, and we can provide ideas and an estimate.
- – Repatriation
- – Transfer into our care
- – Embalming
- – Coffin / Casket
- – Funeral hearse hire
- – Celebrant, minister or priest
- – Chapel & venue hire
- – Reception venue hire
- – Funeral catering
- – Funeral service sheet
- – Casket flowers
- – Flowers for committal
- – Flowers for venue
- – Newspaper notices
- – Online tribute
- – Cremation fees
- – Cremation permit
- – Doctor’s fee
- – Urn for ashes
- – Ashes interment (burial of ashes)
- – Cemetery fees
- – Marker for grave
- – New Zealand death certificate
- – Memorial and funeral books
- – Photo tribute production
- – Funeral recording/streaming
- – Monuments: memorial headstones and plaques
International and national repatriation
Repatriation involves taking home the deceased, or the remains of someone who has died or been buried elsewhere. There may be a personal desire for burial in their native country, or the need to transport the deceased back to New Zealand.
Our Auckland funeral service offers a national and international repatriation service, including:
- Air or land transportation.
- The correct casket and specialist packaging for air transportation.
- Legal documentation for foreign shipment.
- Taking your loved one into our care.
Embalming
Embalming is an important consideration during the difficult period of mourning. While not obligatory, it serves as a valuable choice when circumstances demand it. For instance, if the funeral is scheduled later, if there's a requirement to transport your loved one back home or abroad, we strongly recommend embalming.
However, should your religious beliefs guide you towards not embalming, these preferences are deeply respected.
We encourage you to have an open conversation with your funeral director about this choice. Resthaven Funerals has experienced, qualified staff who carry out the embalming process, with the assurance that your loved one will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity at all times.
Embalming is a skilled process and should only be performed by trained practitioners who are members of the FDANZ and/or the NZ Embalmers’ Association. Please do check that the funeral home you engage meets these criteria.
Resthaven funerals are well-equipped to provide guidance tailored to your unique needs and wishes.
Spending time with loved ones
It is understandable if you are hesitant or uncomfortable about the idea of spending time with your loved one before the funeral.
However, in our experience, most people are helped in the grieving process if they do spend some time with their loved ones, as it’s important to say goodbye.
While the experience varies for everyone, it’s an opportunity to speak what’s in your heart, or to leave small mementoes such as gifts, cards, letters, or other meaningful items.
Monuments: memorial headstones and plaques
Resthaven Funerals can provide a range of high quality granite headstones, gravestones, and commemorative plaques as part of our funeral service. The monument will be inscribed with the words and memorabilia of your choice. Our monument range includes:
- Memorial headstones: headstones for graves, including gravestone cross, double headstones, angel headstones, and more.
- Cremation memorial plaques including cemetery plaques and other outdoor memorial plaques
Why choose granite headstones?
Our memorial craftsmen use natural stone granite because it’s proven to be more weather resistant, and also better able to accept a clearer inscription than any other material at a reasonable cost. Granite has incredible surface resistance to normal corrosive elements, meaning that minimal maintenance is needed to keep it looking good.
Resthaven Funerals can arrange to have the memorial headstone or cremation memorial plaque installed in any cemetery in New Zealand.
Choosing a monument
Resthaven Funerals has a large range of monument designs, and we can also arrange custom orders to suit your requirements.
Here are our most popular monument styles:
Photographs or artwork can be etched into the memorial headstone, or included in a ceramic design set onto the stone. For example, this could depict your loved one’s hobbies, sports, loves, and so on. We have samples available, or alternatively you can use your own design.
Ceramic photos are also available to personalise the memorial headstone and make it unique to your loved one.
Granite colour range
There’s a large selection of granite colours to choose from – please contact us if you’d like to visit to see the granite samples at one of our Auckland locations.
Call on us for help and support
Our Auckland funeral service is here to guide you so you can give your loved one a beautiful and memorable farewell. We understand that coping with grief and making important decisions may be challenging and are here to support you.
Phone Howick 09 533 7493 or Manurewa 09 267 2530.
