From different coloured coffins to being buried with an ECHO newspaper and betting slips, there are "rarely limits" to how you can say goodbye to a loved one.
Family-run funeral directors, Barringtons, say they go above and and beyond to make that journey mean something to grieving families. Putting their all into support, we spoke to David and Claire Barrington about what it means to be a funeral director.
Taking over from his dad back in 1995 at the age of 25, David said he had "no plans" to take over the business, but he can no longer see himself doing anything else. He told the ECHO when it comes to funerals, there are "no limits" in how you can say goodbye.
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In the past, people have chosen bright and colourful coffins, a Volkswagen hearse, chosen to bury or cremate their loved ones with letters, pictures and flowers. People have even left betting slips, the ECHO newspaper and bottles of alcohol.
He said: "People are creative. In a lot of ways, covid wasn't great for restrictions on funerals but it allowed people to think about them a bit more which was good. Our job is not to say no.
"You can have anything you want. Flowers, a beach, a garden, we’ve had someone in a Tardis coffin. During covid people made little gifts for those outside so they could go home and have a cup of tea and think about the person.
“With coffins, we’ve had people put letters and cards in, photos, sometimes glasses have been left on people. Every now and then people leave sweets. We’ve had phones left in, bottles of whiskey, beer, all sorts, even betting slips.
"Last year we did a funeral where we had a burial outside, behind their home around a giant oak tree and people brought blankets and gazebos and it was a lovely way of saying goodbye. If people want to do something a bit different, we will always support that."
But the support does not end there, allowing families the chance to pay tribute to their loved ones, staff will also plant a tree in their memory and write to them at Christmas time. For David, what means the most is being there for a family, giving them someone to talk to and hear about their lives which he says is a "privilege".
However, despite loving his job, David says there is a common misconception that funeral directors are "miserable all the time". He said: "It's not true. It's funny how you can suddenly become emotional and it always surprises you when it happens.
"People ask do you see dead bodies and yes obviously, but there's nothing frightening about someone who has passed away. That person is someone's mother, father, brother or sister and they will be looked after like one of our own, treated with respect."
Back in 1949, David's dad was a mechanic and hired out a limousine for funerals until his retirement in 1995. But looking for employment, David decided to take a leap at the young age of 25 and take on the business, turning it into a funeral directors. Despite the original plan being he would run it for six months, he is still there and doing all he can to help families, alongside his wife Claire.
David added: "If someone has passed away, we will get them ready for the next stage of their journey. There's no routine to that, some deaths are expected but some come without warning but we will always talk through with a family about what they want or need.
"One of the worst parts of the job, the most difficult cases, is dealing with suicides.
"It's the sort of job people will say thank you and it's a lovely thing knowing you've made a difference. I was also the president for the national association of funeral directors for two years and it was great a small business in Liverpool was able to do that. It's a really nice job to be in and people are surprised at that."
For wife Claire, she was "from a different world", until she joined the family business after the birth of her second child. But for her, the benefits are the same - being a support network for families.
She told the ECHO: "It's so rewarding, being able to make a difference and listen to people. We've done so many different services, a lady once designed her own coffin, we had a burial outside with fire, water, air and earth elements, a two hour funeral designed completely to reflect that person.
"It's so subjective. A lot of the time people want to play You'll Never Walk Alone. We are with families for a short time but during the worst time of their lives and during that time we become part of the family.
"We don't want to be that funeral director that does what they do and then that's it, that's not what we are about."
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