“I’m getting the impression that calling the whole thing a funeral is a kind of BYOB event. I’ve got nothing against that and can see the upside to it.”
They are a package deal. When you tell someone you are going to a “funeral” there is no need to be detailed and technical correct and say “Funeral services and Funeral Reception.” Why? Unless they are extremely dense, logic dictates that traditionally they always come as a package deal. It would be like needing to explain to someone that a “car” includes a backseat and a front seat. Why have to explain this obvious fact?
Where you have it or how you have it has absolutely no bearing on how you label it. There are no rules that dictate how a reception should be practiced or labelled. Renting a VFW hall, the Elks club, a restaurant, at a park, or at someone’s home. They are all the same in a “Funeral” package that includes a reception and party.
In the case of this article what was easier and quicker for both parties? When asked where he was coming from should he have gotten detailed and told the officer he was coming from “funeral services then a funeral reception, there were a hundred people there, my wife and I had steak, hers was medium and mine was rare, and the kids had hotdogs, and we all had soda to drink”?
Or just “From a funeral officer”? Why would a cop or anyone actually need more than that to understand that it is a whole day event package with all the trimmings? And yes, it is not uncommon at all for them to last until the bar closes at 2:00 AM. Even at the VFW or Elk’s club.
“They are a package deal.”
Not necesarily. Some of these events can be closed or very limited.