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Every day we help people in their time of need

The death of a family member or close friend can be a stressful time. It is important to know that you can depend on experienced, professional people to make all the arrangements for a fitting remembrance that flows smoothly.

It is important that you choose the funeral ceremony that is right for you and your family. Lychgate Funeral Home can guide you through the choices available and then we'll take care of the details to make sure everything flows smoothly on the day.

Our caring team of professionals will liaise with clergy and celebrants, doctors, hospitals, government departments, coroners and other officials, crematoriums and cemetery authorities so you don't have to worry.

We can also arrange music and musicians, including an organist, place notices in the newspapers, provide vehicles, order family flowers, arrange the placement of ashes and memorials and anything else you require. Cremation services are available at our own cremation facility. Repatriation is also a speciality.

Our Funeral Homes have been designed and decorated to give a homely atmosphere. Creating an environment where you can relax, at what can be a stressful time.

Our Rose Gardens are a part of our identity and give our funeral homes colour and beauty. The beautiful roses have become our symbol of remembrance.

Lychgate has four funeral homes – one in Karori, with offices and a family viewing room, while three of our locations have chapels with adjacent reception areas for getting together after the funeral. Our chapels and lounges are in Wellington City, Miramar and Johnsonville. They range in size, accommodating from 24 to 164 people seated and with additional standing room. In Wellington and Johnsonville, we have installed air conditioning to ensure your comfort, as well as a modern sound systems and a screen for PowerPoint and slides. Services can be recorded if you wish.

Family lounges are available for family to gather and discuss funeral arrangements or as a private area to gather adjacent to the viewing lounge.

The viewing lounge is available for those families who wish to visit their relative at the Funeral Home during the days prior to the funeral service. If you prefer, we can transport your relative to a family home, marae, hall, or venue of your choice, until the funeral service.

Catering is available in our reception lounges or at a venue of your choice. Using professional caterers relieves the need for families to prepare food, hire items such as crockery, teapots and water boilers, serve and clean up afterwards.

Car parking is available at our funeral homes, either on site or on the street.

We print individual orders of service and hymn sheets to an attractive layout and with colour photos to help celebrate a life.

Our professional staff are available to speak to local community groups and schools about funerals, and we are also pleased to host community groups at our premises. Please contact our manager, Keith Newell, on (04) 385 0745 or if you would like to book a talk for your group.

Lychgate runs a series of seminars about bereavement and funeral planning. If you would like to attend one of these, please contact us.

Making the right choices

Lychgate Funeral Home can explain the choices available:

  • The different types of ceremony, religious or not
  • The best location for the service: a church or chapel, at home, at the graveside or crematorium
  • Who should officiate: a priest, minister, celebrant or family members
  • Whether you want to view the deceased, and where the viewing should be
  • Whether you want to have a burial or cremation
  • Whether you want flowers or charitable donations
  • The most appropriate funeral notice
  • Casket selection
  • The order of service, the choice of music and hymns
  • Venue for a post-funeral get together and how to arrange it
  • What other professional help is available

Taking care of the details

Once the choices are made, you can choose how little or how much you want Lychgate’s professional and experienced staff to help with all the necessary arrangements. We can take care of the following details:

  • The registration of death and necessary documentation
  • Contacting appropriate burial or cremation authorities, as well as contacting the doctor, coroner or hospital and collection of certificates
  • Arranging national or international transportation of repatriation in New Zealand or any other country.
  • Liaising with clergy or funeral celebrants, assisting with the service and organising funeral details
  • Provision and preparation of casket, which you can select from our modern show room
  • Embalming, when appropriate, to ensure hygienic preservation and natural presentation
  • Providing viewing facilities in our modern rooms next to the chapel
  • Ordering family flowers for the casket
  • Providing transport to and from the funeral in our modern fleet of hearses and cars
  • Preparing and placing newspaper notices locally or internationally
  • Arranging monumental masonry for the memorial stone
  • Cremation at our own facility surrounded by roses in the central city.
  • Arranging the scattering or burial of ashes in the area or in other centres, as well as providing quality urns.