| Comment | The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines a funeral as a ceremony in which a dead person is buried or cremated.
Looked at in detail, the funeral often has two elements, the funeral service in church, and the committal - the burial or cremation of the body. It is possible to have the whole funeral at the graveside or at the crematorium, in which case the committal takes place as part of the one ceremony.
If the burial takes place in the churchyard, then everybody usually goes straight from church to the burial. If there's a church funeral followed by cremation, often only close family travels to the crematorium. In that case, people might well say that they went to the funeral but not to the cremation.
In some parts of the UK, the body is sometimes taken into church the night before the funeral, in which case prayers may be said then. However, I'm not aware of a general custom of holding a farewell ceremony the evening before the burial or cremation.
There is sometimes - particularly for well-known people - a memorial service some weeks after the funeral. This provides another opportunity to remember and celebrate the dead person, and is often attended by many more people than went to the funeral.
You might well say, "I'm glad I could bid farewell to XY", whether you've been to the funeral or the memorial service.
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