Nine Inch Nails, Alice Cooper and the Skyhooks. Out with a bang, Victorian grandad Vaughan Pudney wants the soundtrack of his final farewell to give people something to talk about. Whether they like it or not!
“One thing to annoy everybody is to play the music that I like… Whenever it comes on, most people screw up their noses!" he said.
There will be no sombre service or fancy catering. Beer, pizza and sausage rolls are more Vaughn’s style.
“That whole, sitting there listening to people, is not for me. I want that part over and done with, they can sit and talk about it at the pub somewhere afterwards. At that time, people are sad enough as it is.”
His wife Nicole agreed: “No 'down'. Just a 'party'.”
If he could give his final farewell speech, Vaughn would say to his family and friends: “Goodbye, drink up and have a good time.”
Nicole’s parting words would be: “Be happy, live life to the fullest.”
Prepaid funerals provide control and simplicity
Aged in their 50s and 60s, the Mickleham couple have already prepaid their funeral with Bare to be sure they get what they want from their final farewells.
A prepaid funeral means their blended family of six children and 11 grandchildren don’t have to try and agree on how they think the couple would have wanted to be farewelled. This way, they already know their wishes and everything has already been paid for. Planning ahead helps to take the pressure off the family when the time comes.
“We wanted to have it prepaid so that it wasn’t left to all of our children to deal with at the time. And also, so they didn’t have to find the money at the time. It’s done, it’s paid for, therefore there’s not more strain,” Nicole said.
“When my grandmother passed, her funeral divided our family. And I didn’t want that happening with us, with all of our kids.”
Her grandmother had told her family of her wishes but didn’t have it written down in her will. Consequently, she never got the send-off that she wanted, Nicole said.
Having dealt with traditional funeral directors to make previous arrangements, Nicole and Vaughan found the experience to be complicated, difficult and with no flexibility for celebrating.
Vaughan added: “Everyone thinks that they want to make it easy, but the easiest way to do it is to have a prepaid funeral,” Vaughan said. “I was more than happy to deal with it right there and then and now I don’t have to worry about it again.”
“Nothing was too hard, everything was easy,” Nicole said of Bare’s customer service.
We need more honest conversations about death
Nicole and Vaughn are realistic about mortality. They encourage others to be less emotional about end-of-life planning too.
“We’re all going to die eventually. Just be open and honest about it. It’s something that’s gonna happen to everyone,” Nicole said.
“We organise our home, our insurance. The funeral’s no different.”
Be like Nicole and Vaughan and make your end-of-life plans now. That way, your family don't need to worry later on.
Head to bare.com.au to get a quote or set up a prepaid funeral plan in less than five minutes, or give our prepaid concierge team a call on 1800 202 901.
