Nancy2 wrote:

> This is very common around here - not everyone's home is appropriate
> for a large gathering which will be eating. There aren't any
> criticisms that I know of, for doing the "funeral spread" either way.
> It's just a matter of choice and convenience and part of what the
> church ladies do.

I always wonder who you are expected to plan for something like that. We
were surprised at how many people came to my father's memorial service
and back to the house later on. We were even more surprised at the
number of people who showed up for the interment service in Denmark. We
thought that it would just be the minister, someone from the war graves
commission and the 5 of us. Then there was my wife's best friend, who
dropped dead at the age of 52. Their house was jam packed with friends
and relatives.

Our neighbour was a little miffed at the funeral director who handled her
son's funeral. He had made the arrangements for the food and they ran
out quickly. How was he to know that it would be an overflow crowd? I
didn't want to go to the church as early as my wife who was in the choir.
I planned to arrive about 10 minutes before the service and ended up
standing on the steps outside, not even close enough to see and hear
through the open doors.