Wedding and burial fees to rise in Blackpool

Burials and cremations, plus registrars fees at the council’s Festival House wedding chapel on Central Promenade, are among the costs which will go up from the beginning of April.

A town hall report says the “fees for ceremonies in the wedding chapel are increased to continue to reflect the actual charge of holding a ceremony

at Festival House and bring them in line with other similar venues.”

It means ceremony fees for the main Tower View Room at the venue for a Saturday ceremony will increase from £425 to £445, with other increases dependent on the time and the room used.

Bereavement services will have a four per cent increase to take into account “the increased costs of running the service, including staffing costs

and utility costs.”

The cost of a new earthen grave will increase from £1,655 to £1,720 , while a new brick grave will cost £3,050 compared to £2,935 previously.

Cremation fees will also go up and be further reviewed in September to reflect possible further cost rises.

A 45 minute weekday cremation service will cost £795, up from £765, with Saturday services costing a fifth more at £950.

This is to reflect the higher cost of holding a service on a Saturday, which previously had been subsidised by the council in order to promote Saturdays “as a normal working day for cremations”.

The report adds: “Unfortunately this has not been successful. Part of the reason being that not all funeral directors work on a Saturday and weekdays tend to be offered to families by them.

“It is therefore proposed to not subsidise Saturdays anymore and to reflect the additional costs of opening on a Saturday.”

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