Premium funeral in Tbilisi - a solemn ceremony with every detail thought through

Inside the premium package

• Solid wood coffin: oak, walnut or beech, varnished or oiled, carved or in clean lines, lined with satin or velvet. Chosen from a catalogue with photographs and dimensions.
• Funeral hall: one of our seven halls, selected according to the number of guests and the district, with climate control, chairs and attending staff.
• Floral design: an arrangement around the coffin, vases in the hall, a portrait framed in flowers and, when the funeral day comes, blooms around the grave too.
• Premium hearse: a polished black vehicle with an immaculate interior and a driver in uniform.
• Bus for guests: carries mourners from the hall to church, on to the cemetery and then to the wake venue.
• Embalming: for a farewell of two days or longer with an open coffin.
• Organising the wake: we pick the venue, hold the booking, settle what will be served and invite a tamada - in Georgia, the master of ceremonies who guides the toasts at the memorial meal, called kelekhi. The meal itself is paid separately, billed on the real headcount.
• Personal coordinator: one person who is with the family from the first meeting until the end of the wake.

Price and optional extras

The cemetery plot fee and the donation to the church are not included: the first is set by the municipality, the second by the family. Every extra is written into the estimate on its own line and appears on the final invoice with exactly the same figure.

Your personal coordinator's role

At a large ceremony, the heaviest burden on a family is not money but hundreds of small questions: where to seat the elders, who will read the obituary, when the priest will arrive, how to get the coffin through a narrow doorway, who will settle up with the restaurant. The personal coordinator asks and answers those questions on the family's behalf. The evening before, he goes through the whole plan for the day with the relatives; in the morning he is the first to arrive at the hall and the last to leave the wake. Every family member has his phone number, and any issue is resolved with a single call.

One day of a premium ceremony

1. Morning: the hall is open, the flowers and portrait are in place, and staff greet the guests and offer water.
2. Panikhida: the priest and singers arrive at the agreed time for this Orthodox memorial service, and the coordinator keeps places near the coffin for the closest relatives.
3. Carrying out: the pallbearers bear the coffin out to the hearse while guests take their seats on the bus, and the cortege sets off along the agreed route.
4. Cemetery: the grave is prepared, dressed and covered with boards, and the hydraulic lowering device, if ordered, is already in place.
5. Wake: the bus brings the guests to the restaurant, where the table is already laid and the tamada begins in the way agreed with the family.

A premium-class coffin

A premium coffin is made from solid timber, not boards under fabric. The walls are thick, the corners are finished by hand and the handles have a copper or bronze look. The lining is velvet or heavy satin with embroidered edges. The lid often carries an engraved cross or ornament. At an open-coffin farewell it becomes the centrepiece of the room, which is why many families give its choice the most attention of all. We show every model in photographs and, if you wish, invite a family representative to see them at our warehouse.

Church rites and singers

In an Orthodox funeral the panikhida and the funeral service hold the central place, and how they sound depends a great deal on the singers. With the premium package we invite three to five singers along with the priest, who perform ancient Georgian chant, and we arrange their arrival at the hall or the church in advance. If the family has its own spiritual father, we contact him and ask him to lead the service. The family decides on the size of the donation, and the coordinator shows the singers' fee in the estimate beforehand. For families of another faith we prepare a ceremony according to their own rite with the same care.

Flowers, colours and the portrait

The decoration is what guests notice in the very first minute. The florist asks which flowers your loved one liked and builds the arrangement around that answer: white roses and chrysanthemums for a classic look, lilies or soft pink tones for a woman, a more restrained mix of green and white for a man. A large portrait with a black ribbon stands at the entrance to the hall, and next to it a little table holding a condolence book where guests write down their memories. That book stays with the family afterwards and often becomes one of the most treasured things in the home.

Logistics of a large ceremony

When there are several hundred guests, moving people around is the hardest part. Parking near the hall is limited, so the coordinator decides in advance where the hearse, the buses and the family's cars will stand. At the cemetery the narrow paths often mean the end of the procession walks, and in that case we provide a small vehicle to take elderly guests right up to the grave. In rain or heat we put up a tent by the grave, and in winter we clear the paths. All of this is part of the package, and none of it becomes the family's worry.

A ceremony for a scholar, teacher or public figure

The premium package is often chosen by families whose loved one was known to a wide circle: a professor, a doctor, an artist, an athlete, the founder of a company. Colleagues, former students and delegations from institutions come to the hall, and there is often a need for a list of speakers, a microphone and sound. We prepare all of this in advance, and our staff take care of receiving and placing wreaths from organisations, so relatives are spared the search for space.

Discretion and privacy

At the funeral of a well-known person, families are often wary of journalists and outside photographers. Our staff watch the entrance to the hall and do not allow filming without the family's consent. Official photographs are taken only by our own photographer, and the family decides which of them may be published.

Tailoring the package to the family

Premium is not a rigid set. Some families prefer a farewell at home, in which case the cost of the hall is deducted and a tent and chairs are added in the courtyard. Others choose a simpler coffin but lavish flowers. Some ask for religious rites throughout the day, others for a secular ceremony with music. The coordinator reflects every change in the estimate straight away, so the family can see how the total moves.

Relatives who live far away

In large families there is always someone living abroad who cannot get home in time. For a premium ceremony we often add a live stream through a private link and professional video filming, edited within a few days. That recording is later watched at the 40th-day memorial (ormotsi) or at the first anniversary, when the family gathers once more.

Payment terms

The premium package price is fixed in writing during the first call or meeting and does not change afterwards. No advance is required; payment is made after the funeral. If you wish, the cost of a premium ceremony can be spread over six months in equal instalments with no extra charge, and the memorial meal is settled with the restaurant itself, per guest actually seated, with no mark-up from us.

Frequently asked questions