[Beltalowda]

Every funeral I've attended to in the Netherlands there is a wake or viewing the evening before the service, where the deceased is in an open casket and you can come and "say farewell", so to speak. Usually only family and close friends attend this. The next during during the actual service it's a closed casket, and has far more people attending.

My only information from North American funerals is from the Six Feet Under series, which I've been told is a fairly accurate portrayal. It's not really all that different, except that bodies are embalmed.