Funeral and Cremation Pricing in Wellington
We offer a few different funeral and cremation options, depending on what your family needs. The main prices are listed below.
A direct cremation with no service is $4,250. A dignified cremation is $6,995. Both are fixed prices covering a set list of things, with anything extra priced on top. A funeral or memorial service is priced on what your family chooses, because that genuinely varies. Whichever way you go, you’ll have the cost in writing before you commit to anything.
If you’d rather talk it through than read it, call (04) 385 0745. Any time, day or night.
How much does a funeral cost in New Zealand?
There’s no single answer. What a funeral costs depends on a few decisions, and most of them are yours to make.
Whether you hold a service. This is the biggest one. A cremation with no service costs a fraction of a full funeral. Both are proper choices.
Burial or cremation. Burial brings cemetery costs that cremation doesn’t. Those are set by the cemetery, not by us.
Where and when. Crematorium and cemetery fees differ from one place to the next. The day can change them too, and so can whether the cremation is witnessed.
How you personalise it. You can choose the casket, catering, flowers, a newspaper notice, service sheets, a hearse, livestreaming and other details that feel right for your family. These are optional, and priced separately.
Some of the cost isn’t ours at all. Crematorium fees and the doctor’s fee are set by other people. Cemetery fees also depend on the cemetery you choose.
Our own prices are below, in full.
Our prices
The two cremation prices are fixed. Each includes the services listed below, and we will clearly explain the cost of any additional choices your family may wish to include.
A funeral or memorial service is priced according to the choices your family makes. A small graveside service will have different requirements from a full chapel service with catering, flowers and livestreaming, so we prepare an individual quote for each family.
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Direct Cremation
$4,250
A private cremation, no service and no attendance. You can say goodbye at home before our team arrives, and the ashes come back to you sooner.
- Time to say goodbye at home before our team arrives
- Casket included
- Care of the person who died
- All certificates, paperwork and registration of the death
- Transport and transfers
- Cremation booked and organised
- Letters for Work and Income, or for school exams
- Ashes returned to you
- Crematorium fees and the doctor's fee included
No funeral or memorial service. Venue hire, celebrant, catering, flowers, notices, service sheets and livestreaming are not included. Optional extras are priced separately.
-
Dignified Cremation
$6,995
No service. Time to say goodbye at our Willis Street chapel, in your own time. Includes a pine casket.
- Time to say goodbye at Willis Street, in your own time
- A pine casket
- Care of the person who died
- All certificates, paperwork and registration of the death
- Transport and transfers
- Cremation booked and organised
- Letters for Work and Income, or for school exams
- Ashes returned to you
- Crematorium fees and the doctor's fee included
No funeral or memorial service. Venue hire, celebrant, catering, flowers, notices, service sheets and livestreaming are not included. Optional extras are priced separately.
-
A funeral or memorial service
Price on application
A full service, at our chapel, a church, a marae, or anywhere else that means something to your family. Cremation or burial follows.
- A funeral or memorial service, wherever you choose
- Time to say goodbye at our chapel or at home
- Your choice of casket
- Care of the person who died
- All certificates, paperwork and registration of the death
- Transport and transfers
- Cremation booked and organised
- Letters for Work and Income, or for school exams
- Ashes returned to you
- Crematorium fees and the doctor's fee included in your written quote
Venue hire, celebrant, catering, flowers, notices, service sheets and livestreaming are priced as you choose them. We prepare an individual written quote for each family.
We will provide the full cost in writing and talk through each item with you before anything is confirmed.
What each option includes
Most of what we do is the same whichever option you choose. The difference is the service, not the standard of care.
| Service, then cremation or burial | Dignified Cremation | Direct Cremation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A funeral or memorial service | Yes, wherever you choose | No | No |
| Time to say goodbye | Yes, at our chapel or at home | Yes, at Willis Street, in your own time | Yes, at home before our team arrives |
| Care of the person who died | Included | Included | Included |
| Casket | Your choice | A pine casket | Included |
| All certificates, paperwork and registration of the death | Included | Included | Included |
| Transport and transfers | Included | Included | Included |
| Crematorium fees and the doctor’s fee | Included in your written quote | Included | Included |
| Cremation booked and organised | Included | Included | Included |
| Letters for Work and Income, or for school exams | Included | Included | Included |
| Ashes returned to you | Included | Included | Included |
| Venue hire, celebrant, catering, flowers, notices, service sheets, livestreaming | Priced as you choose them | Not included | Not included |
This table shows what the two fixed prices cover. If there is anything else your family would like, we will talk it through with you and include the cost in writing before you decide.
What you are paying a funeral director for
This is the part you never see, which is why a funeral price can feel like a number someone made up. Here’s what it covers.
We look after the person in our care, and check on them several times a day. If you’ve asked for it, their music is playing. Flowers get changed. If there’s something else they would have liked, we do that too.
We complete the legal paperwork and register the death with the Department of Internal Affairs. We book the crematorium or the cemetery, confirm the celebrant, brief the caterer, and hold all the timings together. We prepare the service sheets and the audio visual.
And before you arrive, someone has washed the cars, cleaned the catering kitchen, stocked the bathrooms and vacuumed the chapel. That’s in the price too.
Financial assistance
A funeral arrives at the worst possible time financially. There is help, and not everyone knows about it.
Work and Income may be able to contribute towards the cost. ACC can help where the death was accidental. There are also some cultural and community funds.
We will explain what assistance may be available and help with the application forms before any arrangements are confirmed.
Payment plans may also be available. We will discuss your circumstances with care and explain the options that may be manageable for your family.
We will explain the costs clearly
We will listen to what you have in mind, explain the options and prepare a clear written quote. There is no obligation to make any decisions until you feel ready.