#WordyWednesday: Half Couch vs Full Couch Casket

Most American caskets are half couch. What does that mean?

A half couch casket has a two-piece lid. The top half opens to reveal the deceased’s face and torso while the lower half remains closed to conceal the legs.

These caskets open on the left (it’s just the industry standard, likely because we tend to approach the casket and touch the person with our right hand while turned slightly toward their face; it just works better this way). The inside of the foot end of the casket is often “unfinished,” meaning that it’s spartan rather than upholstered in pleated fabric. We can’t spontaneously decide to reverse a body in a casket, but we can custom order a casket built to open in the opposite direction (like if the right side of a person is too disfigured for viewing).

Note: even though YOU only see the top lid open, rest assured that WE can open both lids to get the body inside. Once the body is nicely tucked in, we close the lower lid.

A full couch casket has a one-piece lid to showcase the entire body, head to toe. They’re uncommon, typically only seen in certain parts of the country. Some include an inner leg covering and/or a foot pillow. Funeral directors must accommodate a few details differently: standard casket flower sprays can only be placed on top when it’s fully closed (or a long simple garland is draped along the hinge panel inside), and similarly, the flag cannot be draped unless the lid is fully closed. Half couch caskets allow flower sprays or a pleated flag to be draped over the closed foot panel during viewing.

Either way, please bring pants for your loved one. Whether we can see their legs or not, they ought to be properly dressed. Full couch caskets expose the feet too, which is rough for us when the feet are swollen. Putting shoes on is really hard! It’s also tricky to keep the feet together rather than splaying out (this is a better reason to tie shoelaces together rather than making the zombie apocalypse funnier).

Which would you prefer? Full or half couch?

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