Mourners visiting a Funeral Home will soon be able to share a champagne toast and nibble on finger foods as they pay their last respects to loved ones.The addition of liquor and catering packages is at the forefront of a nationwide trend that finds funeral homes reinventing themselves as one-stop venues for visitations and celebrations alike.

Officials at the National Funeral Directors Association say the move to offer special packages to clients that include liquor and catered food is part of a broader trend in which funeral homes are remodeling their buildings to accommodate receptions held in conjunction with a wake, funeral or memorial service.

Jessica Koth, of the funeral directors association said,

It's all about giving families more options, from being able to have hors d'oeuvres and refreshments during funeral and memorial services, to having a luncheon afterward

Still, whether a funeral home is able to serve alcoholic beverages depends on state or local laws

Though the prospect of sipping Chardonnay in the room with a body on display in a casket might seem inappropriate to some mourners, historian Russell Lewis says,

the melding of death with aspects of everyday life was the rule, rather than the exception, in 19th-century

The whole relationship we have with death today is different, and this idea that wakes and memorial services are 'celebrations of life' did not exist in the 19th century

So remember next time you attend a funeral you might be able to have a drink to go with it

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