I dunno...my mother is not someone to protect her family's feelings (strangers, yes, family NO). In fact, in contrast, the funeral home was apparently unable to embalm my brother for some reason (something to do with the condition of his arteries/veins) and therefore could only do a topical application of embalming solution. My mother was very concerned about their being a possible odor at the funeral so she instructed the funeral home to put the casket w/his body in the hearse and have it there the whole time, and then put an empty casket in the funeral home for the service itself. So clearly she was concerned about there being an odor since it had been several days since he died and complete embalming after the autopsy was not possible.
I asked her directly when she came back from being in his apt. for 8 hrs (the day after his funeral), clearing it out, if she detected any odor and she said no. I doubt she'd lie to me about it; she'd certainly not do it to protect my feelings (heh, you'd have to know how critical my mother is to understand).