Planning a Funeral Over the Holidays: Closures, Delays and Travel
The short answer: the funeral home will answer the phone on any day of the year, including Christmas, so the first call is never delayed. What slows down over the holidays is everything around it: government offices that issue death certificates and permits, cemeteries that do not open graves on holidays or charge extra on weekends, clergy with full calendars, and flights that cost far more than usual. Many families handle the burial or cremation now and hold the memorial service a few weeks later, when people can travel. That is a normal choice, not a lesser one.
Losing someone between late November and New Year brings its own weight β the decorations still up, the empty chair at a meal that was already planned. This guide sticks to the practical side: what actually changes when the calendar is full of closures, and how to plan around it. For the grief side of the season, grief at Christmas and the first holiday without them are the places to go.
The Dates to Plan Around
In the United States in 2026β27, the days when offices and many cemeteries are closed are:
| Holiday | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | 26 November 2026 | Thursday (many offices also close Friday) |
| Christmas Day | 25 December 2026 | Friday |
| New Year's Day | 1 January 2027 | Friday |
Because Christmas and New Year both fall on a Friday this year, each one becomes a three-day weekend. A death on a Wednesday evening before Christmas can mean nothing official moves until the following Monday. And the week between Christmas and New Year runs on reduced staff almost everywhere, even on the days that are not holidays.
What Still Works on a Holiday
- The funeral home. Funeral homes take calls and collect the person who died at any hour, every day. You do not need to wait for the holiday to end to make the first call. If the death happened at home, what to do when someone dies covers the first hours.
- Hospitals, hospices and nursing homes. Staff can pronounce the death and release the body to the funeral home as usual. If your family member was in hospice, the hospice nurse is usually the first call β see hospice: the last days.
- Refrigeration. The funeral home can keep the person in its care while offices are closed. Ask whether there is a daily holding fee after a certain number of days, and get it in writing.
What Slows Down
Death certificates. In most states the death certificate has to be completed by a doctor or medical examiner and then filed with the local or state vital records office. Doctors on holiday rotas sign later, and vital records offices close on holidays. Certified copies, which you need for banks, insurers and Social Security, can take an extra week or more around Christmas. Order more copies than you think you need in a single request, so you do not have to go back in January.
Burial and cremation permits. In many places a permit is needed before burial or cremation can go ahead, and it depends on the death certificate being filed. If the office that issues it is closed, the burial or cremation waits.
The medical examiner or coroner. If the death was sudden or unexplained, the medical examiner may need to be involved before the body is released. Their offices work on holidays, but with fewer staff, and backlogs are common. What families should know about autopsies explains the process.
Cemeteries. Many cemeteries do not open graves on major holidays, and many charge an extra fee for Saturday or Sunday burials. In cold northern areas, some cemeteries do not dig graves at all in deep winter; the casket is kept in a receiving vault until the ground thaws in spring, with a graveside committal then. Ask the cemetery directly about all three β holiday closures, weekend fees, and winter burials β before you set a date.
Clergy and places of worship. December is the busiest month of the year for many churches. In the Catholic Church, a funeral Mass is not normally celebrated on Christmas Day, other holy days of obligation, or the Sundays of Advent; a funeral can be held on another day, or a simpler service without Mass may be possible. Other faiths have their own rules. Ask the parish, temple or congregation early which days are possible. Church memorial service planning has more.
Newspaper obituaries. Papers move their print deadlines around holidays, sometimes by several days. If you want the obituary to run before the service, ask the paper for its holiday deadlines the same day you send it. Online obituaries and memorial pages are not affected β you can publish them whenever you are ready. Best online obituary sites compares where to post.
Travel: The Hardest Part
For most families, the real problem is not the funeral home. It is getting everyone there.
- Flights around Thanksgiving and Christmas are the most expensive of the year, and the cheapest seats go first.
- Bereavement fares are less common than they used to be; many US airlines no longer offer them, and those that do may not beat a normal fare. It is worth asking, but compare before you accept.
- Driving in winter weather adds risk, especially for older relatives.
This is often what decides the date. If a sibling needs four days and $900 to get home on Christmas week, but could come easily on a weekend in mid-January, that is worth knowing before you book a church for the 28th.
Two Common Ways to Handle It
1. Hold the service quickly, and help people join from afar
Some families want, or need, the funeral within days β for religious reasons, because the person asked, or because waiting feels unbearable. If that is you, plan for the people who cannot come:
- Livestream or record the service. Most funeral homes can do this now; best virtual funeral platforms compares the options, and virtual memorial service guide covers how to run one.
- Put the service details, the stream link and the eulogy on a memorial page so relatives who missed it can read and watch later. How to share a eulogy online shows how.
2. Handle the burial or cremation now, and hold the memorial later
This is the most common answer over the holidays, and for good reason. A private burial or a direct cremation can take place as soon as permits allow, with just the closest family. The memorial service or celebration of life follows in January or February, when travel is cheaper, the weather may be easier, and people have had time to breathe.
If you choose this:
- Set the date early, even if it is weeks away. People can plan around a known date; they cannot plan around "sometime after the holidays."
- Tell people clearly in the announcement that the service is planned for later, and where the details will be posted.
- Use the gap. Collect photos, ask relatives for stories, and plan a celebration of life that is about the person rather than about getting through the week.
Costs That Change Over the Holidays
- Weekend and holiday fees from cemeteries for opening and closing the grave.
- Holding or refrigeration fees from the funeral home if the service is delayed.
- Embalming, if you want a viewing after a delay. Embalming is not required by law in most cases, but a funeral home may require it for a public viewing after several days. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule, the funeral home must give you an itemised price list and cannot charge you for embalming you did not authorise, except in certain cases where state law requires it.
Funeral costs: what to expect has the typical prices, and if you think a funeral home overcharged you covers your rights.
The Holiday Itself
If the funeral falls in the same week as a family holiday, nobody expects you to choose one. Some families cancel the meal. Some keep it small. Some hold it on purpose because it is what the person would have wanted, and tell stories about them at the table.
There is no wrong answer. If anyone asks what they can do, give them something specific β bring the food, collect cousins from the airport, take the children for an afternoon. People want to help, and over the holidays they are often already in town.
GetMemorial helps families build beautiful, lasting online memorials in minutes β a place to post the service details, the livestream and the photos, so relatives who cannot travel this season are still part of it. Start yours at GetMemorial.com.
