Traditional Burial Explained: What It Is, How It Works, and Key Terms

A traditional burial means the body is placed in a casket and buried in a grave in a cemetery, usually after a viewing or funeral service and usually inside a vault or grave liner. The cost is usually two separate bills, one from the funeral home and one from the cemetery, and the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) puts the casket alone at about $2,000 to $5,000. Few parts of a traditional burial are required by law, so you can choose what to keep.

What does a traditional burial include?

The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), a nonprofit consumer group, says that for most Americans it is now "traditional" to use a funeral home, embalm the body and bury it in a casket and vault in a public cemetery, but that few of these elements are required by law. A full traditional burial usually has these parts:

• Body care. Washing, dressing and sometimes embalming, especially if there will be a viewing.
• A casket or other container. Most cemeteries require some kind of container, except green burial sites.
• A viewing or visitation and a funeral service, at the funeral home, a place of worship or another venue.
• Transport to the cemetery, often in a hearse.
• A committal or graveside service at the grave.
• A grave in a cemetery, plus the cemetery's opening and closing of it.
• An outer burial container, meaning a vault or grave liner.
• A marker or headstone, often placed some time after the burial.

Burial is not always paired with a funeral. Some families choose direct burial (more on that below), and some hold a service without the body present.

How does a traditional burial work, step by step?

1. Contact a funeral home. Ask for its General Price List. The funeral home usually handles the state's required paperwork, which varies by state. The FCA's 2020 brochure lists nine states that require a funeral director (see below), and in the rest a family may do more of it themselves.
2. Choose or confirm the grave. Many families buy a plot or use one already owned. The cemetery sets its own price, rules and scheduling. See choosing a cemetery.
3. Choose a casket or container. You can buy it from the funeral home or elsewhere.
4. Decide on body care. Embalming is optional in general, though the funeral home may require it for an open-casket viewing.
5. Hold the viewing and service. This may be one event or several, at the funeral home, a place of worship or the graveside.
6. Travel to the cemetery. A committal service is a short ceremony at the grave.
7. Lowering and closing. The casket goes into the vault or liner and the cemetery fills the grave. Ask the cemetery whether family may stay for this.
8. Marker. The headstone or flat marker is ordered and installed later, following the cemetery's rules.

The pace depends on the family, the funeral home's schedule, the cemetery's availability and any religious requirements. Ask the funeral home and cemetery for dates before you set a service time.

How much does a traditional burial cost?

A burial is usually two separate bills: one from the funeral home and one from the cemetery. The funeral home's charges (its basic services fee, body care, viewing, service, transport and casket) are listed on its General Price List, and the cemetery's plot, opening and closing, vault or liner and marker are billed separately. Funeral home totals vary widely by region, so compare lists rather than relying on a national average.

The FCA's brochure (last revised December 2020) gives these typical ranges, which are older and will often be lower than current prices:

Current municipal price lists show what a modest local cemetery charges. Ames, Iowa's schedule effective July 1, 2026 lists an adult grave at $1,123 including $224.60 for perpetual care, and a weekday adult opening and closing at $1,123 ($1,563 on weekends and holidays, plus a $250 winter surcharge). Prices in large cities can be far higher. Our cemetery plot costs and average funeral cost breakdown guides go into more detail.

Which parts of a traditional burial does the law require?

Fewer than most people expect, and this is where families can save money. Cemeteries and funeral homes may still have their own requirements, so ask what is law and what is policy.

Embalming. The FTC says embalming is not required by law, except in certain special cases, though a funeral home may require it for some arrangements such as a viewing. The FCA says no state requires it when burial or cremation will take place within two days and that refrigeration is an alternative in most states. See is embalming required by law.

A vault or liner. The FCA says no state or federal law requires a burial vault, but most cemeteries do, because it keeps the ground from sinking after the casket and body decompose, which makes mowing with heavy equipment easier. Some religious traditions require burial directly in the earth, and some cemeteries have areas for this. The FTC's rule bars a funeral provider from telling you that a law or a particular cemetery requires an outer burial container when that is not true. See burial vaults explained.

A casket. Most cemeteries except green burial sites require a casket or other container. You can use an alternative container, build a casket or buy one elsewhere. The Funeral Rule says a funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket you bought elsewhere or charge a fee for it. See buying a casket online and types of caskets.

Claims about preservation. The Funeral Rule prohibits a funeral provider from representing that funeral goods or services will delay natural decomposition of the remains for a long term or indefinitely. A "sealed" casket or vault will not preserve a body, so do not pay extra for that reason.

What is the difference between traditional burial, direct burial and green burial?

• Direct (immediate) burial. The FTC defines immediate burial as burial without a formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, except for a graveside service. It usually costs less than a full-service burial because it skips several charges. Cemetery costs still apply. See what is direct burial.
• Green burial. The Green Burial Council describes green burial as returning the body directly to the earth without toxic embalming, in biodegradable materials and without a burial vault. It is offered in natural, conservation and hybrid cemeteries. See green burial vs traditional burial.
• Cremation with burial of ashes. Some cemeteries allow more than one container in a regular grave or sell smaller urn plots. See interring ashes in a cemetery.

The NFDA projected that cremation would make up 63.4% of U.S. dispositions in 2025 and burial 31.6%, and that cremation will reach 82.3% by 2045. Burial is still the choice of roughly a third of families, for reasons that include faith, family tradition and a wish for a place to visit.

Key terms you will hear

How to keep a traditional burial affordable

• Compare General Price Lists from at least three funeral homes. Ask for them by email so you can study them away from the office.
• Compare cemeteries separately, including plot, opening and closing, vault rules and marker installation.
• Decide which parts of the funeral you want. You can buy goods and services separately, and you do not have to accept a package.
• If the person was a veteran, a national cemetery provides a gravesite, opening and closing, perpetual care and a headstone or marker at no cost to eligible veterans and family members. See veterans burial benefits.
• Read how to negotiate funeral prices before you meet the funeral director.

What to do next

1. Ask the funeral home for its General Price List and the cemetery for its written price list and rules.
2. Write down which elements matter to your family, such as a viewing, a graveside service or a particular cemetery.
3. If you are planning ahead, record your wishes and tell the family. See pre-planning your funeral.