If you’re holding a box or urn and wondering what to do with ashes, you’re not alone. For many families, the hardest part isn’t choosing cremation. It’s what comes after: deciding where the ashes should live, what feels respectful, and how to make a choice you won’t second-guess when the initial shock fades.
This question is showing up more often because cremation is now the majority choice in the U.S. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate is projected at 63.4% in 2025, with long-term projections rising further. And the Cremation Association of North America reports the U.S. cremation rate at 60.6% in 2023. More cremation means more families standing in the same tender, unfamiliar place you may be standing now: trying to choose a “next step” while your heart is still catching up.
The good news is that you don’t have to make one perfect decision right away. Many families choose a “home base” first, then decide later whether to scatter, share, transform, or place ashes somewhere permanent. The ashes don’t demand urgency. Your grief might, your relatives might, your travel schedule might, but the ashes themselves can wait while you make a choice that matches your values and your timeline.
Before you choose: a gentle, practical way to think about the ashes
A calm way to start is to separate two questions that get tangled together: “What do we want eventually?” and “What do we need right now?” Right now, you may need safe storage, clear communication among relatives, and a plan for travel or shipping if family members live in different places. Eventually, you may want a permanent memorial, a scattering ceremony, a piece of wearable remembrance, or something creative like glass art or a diamond.
It can help to decide what portion is the “main portion” and what portion, if any, will be shared. That’s where keepsake urns and cremation jewelry fit beautifully: they let you keep a central resting place while also creating smaller, meaningful connections for different family members.
If you want a starting place that explains the legal, emotional, and logistical basics in plain language, Funeral.com’s guide Human Ashes 101 is a helpful companion. And if you’re still in the early “we’re not sure what’s next” stage, When the Urn Arrives normalizes the fact that many people create a temporary place of honor first, then choose a long-term plan later.
Typical cost ranges, at a glance
Costs vary widely by material, personalization, location, and whether you’re working with an artist or specialty provider, but these ranges can help you set expectations without locking you into a single “right” choice.
- Cremation urns (full-size): often $80–$400+, depending on material and design.
- Small cremation urns: often $50–$250+ for a mid-capacity option that still feels substantial.
- Keepsake urns: often $25–$150+ per keepsake, depending on craftsmanship and material.
- Cremation jewelry and cremation necklaces: often $40–$300+ for self-fill pieces; fine metals and custom work can be higher.
- Professional engraving/personalization: varies by item and method.
- Scattering ceremony supplies (including a scattering container): often $20–$150+.
- Water burial with a biodegradable urn: often $80–$400+ depending on the urn and ceremony logistics.
- Ashes in glass or custom art: commonly a few hundred dollars to $1,000+ depending on the piece and artist.
- Cremation diamonds or gemstones: commonly several thousand dollars and up, depending on size, cut, and timeline.
- Cemetery placement (niche, plot, or urn burial): varies widely by region and cemetery policies.
If you’re also weighing the bigger financial picture of the cremation itself, Funeral.com’s guide How Much Does Cremation Cost? breaks down common price bands, including direct cremation versus cremation with services. For national benchmarks, the National Funeral Directors Association reports a 2023 median cost of $6,280 for a funeral with viewing and cremation (not including cemetery costs).
Keeping ashes at home with a full-size urn
For many people, the most comforting choice is also the simplest: keeping ashes at home in a full-size urn, on a shelf, in a cabinet, or in a quiet corner that feels peaceful rather than performative. This choice can be especially supportive in the first year, when grief arrives in waves and you don’t always want to leave the house to feel close to someone.
If you’re exploring cremation urns for ashes, it helps to think about daily life. Do you want the urn visible, or would you rather place it somewhere private? Are there children, pets, or frequent visitors? Does your family agree on what “respectful placement” looks like, or do you need a plan that gives different relatives emotional space?
Browsing a wide range of styles can make the decision feel less abstract. Funeral.com’s Cremation Urns for Ashes collection and Full Size Cremation Urns for Ashes collection are designed to help families compare materials, closures, and aesthetics without rushing. If you want guidance that starts with your plans (home display, burial, scattering, or sharing), What Is the Best Type of Urn for Ashes? walks through the decision in a grounded way.
Choosing a smaller urn when you don’t need full capacity
Sometimes a full-size urn feels emotionally heavy or physically too large for your space. That doesn’t mean you love the person any less. It means you’re trying to build a memorial that fits your real life.
Small cremation urns can be a gentle middle ground: more meaningful capacity than a tiny keepsake, but a smaller footprint than an adult urn. They’re also helpful when families are dividing ashes among siblings and each household wants something that looks like a “real urn,” not a token.
If that sounds like you, Funeral.com’s Small Cremation Urns for Ashes collection is a practical place to compare sizes and styles, and the article Cremation Urn Materials Guide helps you choose materials based on how and where the urn will be used.
Sharing ashes with keepsake urns
One of the most meaningful modern options is also one of the most emotionally wise: you don’t have to choose between “keep” and “scatter.” You can do both. Families often keep a main portion in a home urn, then share small portions with siblings, children, or close friends using keepsake urns.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, a large share of families choose to keep cremated remains at home, scatter them, or divide them among relatives. That range of choices isn’t a sign of confusion. It’s a sign that families are building memorials that match how they actually live now, especially when loved ones are spread across states or countries.
Funeral.com’s Keepsake Cremation Urns for Ashes collection is designed for exactly this kind of shared plan. And if you want a “ritual” component to the sharing, some families fill keepsakes together during a quiet afternoon, saying a few words, playing a favorite song, or writing notes to place beside each keepsake in a memory box.
Wearing remembrance with cremation jewelry
There are days when a home urn feels far away, even if it’s in the next room. Work, travel, anniversaries, and ordinary errands can all trigger grief in ways you can’t schedule. That’s where cremation jewelry can be surprisingly practical: it offers a small, portable connection that meets you where you are.
If you’re browsing cremation necklaces, it’s worth understanding what the jewelry is designed to hold (a very small amount) and what “secure” actually means in daily wear. Funeral.com’s Cremation Jewelry 101 and Cremation Jewelry Guide explain closures, filling, and realistic expectations in a way that reduces anxiety. For families ready to explore options, the Cremation Jewelry collection and Cremation Necklaces collection make it easy to compare styles that feel discreet, symbolic, or personal.
This is also one of the best options for long-distance families: one person may keep the main urn, while others carry a small portion in jewelry. That plan often reduces conflict because it acknowledges that different people grieve differently.
Creating glass art or choosing a glass urn that catches the light
Some families want a memorial that feels like beauty, not just permanence. Glass can be powerful for that: it holds light, color, and presence in a way that feels less like “storage” and more like a tribute.
There are two common directions here. One is choosing a glass urn as the primary vessel, such as those in Funeral.com’s Glass Cremation Urns for Ashes collection. The other is creating art in which a tiny portion of ashes is incorporated into a custom piece. While many “ashes in glass” guides focus on pets, the process and considerations are similar for people, and Funeral.com’s Ashes in Glass article explains typical timelines, shipping considerations, and questions to ask artists in a very grounded way.
If you’ve searched for cremation art glass and felt overwhelmed by options, you’re not imagining it. The market is wide, and the details matter: how much ash is required, whether unused material is returned, how breakage is handled, and how the piece is shipped.
Turning ashes into a diamond or gemstone
Cremation diamonds can sound unreal until you learn what they actually are: a laboratory-grown gemstone created through a process that incorporates carbon sourced from ashes or hair (depending on the provider). For some families, that idea feels deeply comforting. For others, it feels too intense or too commercial. Either reaction is valid.
The practical realities matter here: cost, timeline (often months), and chain of custody. Funeral.com’s Cremation Diamonds and Gemstones and Turning Ashes Into Diamonds articles walk through what to ask before you ship anything, including what happens to unused material and how documentation is handled.
If you do choose a specialty memorial that requires shipping, it’s comforting to start with official rules rather than forums and guesses. The U.S. Postal Service provides packaging and service requirements in Publication 139 for shipping cremated remains, including pets, and Funeral.com’s Mailing Cremated Remains guide translates those requirements into step-by-step, family-friendly language.
Scattering ashes on land, thoughtfully and legally
Scattering can be a beautiful choice when the person loved the mountains, the family cabin, a favorite trail, or a place that always felt like “theirs.” It can also be complicated. Land ownership matters, park rules matter, and family expectations matter. A scattering plan is easiest when it’s specific: where, who, when, and what you’ll do if the weather turns or the crowd feels too big.
For scattering in national parks, permissions are often required and policies are park-specific. For example, Yellowstone requires a permit and notes that scattering should be a small, private affair held away from high visitor-use areas, as explained by the U.S. National Park Service. Even if you don’t plan to scatter in a park, reading one clear policy can help you understand the spirit of most rules: privacy, minimal impact, and respect for shared public spaces.
Many families also choose a dedicated scattering container (sometimes called an ash scattering tube) for cleaner handling and less stress in windy conditions. If you want to keep a portion at home while still scattering, that’s where pairing cremation urns for ashes with keepsake urns can make a blended plan feel simple rather than messy.
Scattering at sea and water burial ceremonies
If the person felt most like themselves near water, you may be drawn to a shoreline ritual. Two terms are often used interchangeably online, but they can mean different things in practice: scattering at sea (releasing ashes directly) and water burial (often using a biodegradable urn designed to float briefly, then dissolve).
In U.S. ocean waters, scattering at sea falls under federal rules. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains that burial at sea, including the release of cremated remains, is authorized under a general permit, and the federal regulation requires that cremated remains be buried no closer than three nautical miles from land. If you’re planning a ceremony and want the step-by-step version, Funeral.com’s Scattering Ashes at Sea guide walks through distance rules, reporting, and safety in a calm, practical way.
If you are considering a sea ceremony for a pet, note that the EPA’s general permit is for human remains. The EPA’s Burial at Sea Reporting Tool fact sheet states that placement of non-human remains is not allowed under the general permit, so pet families should look at local and state guidance and consider alternatives like shoreline rituals without ocean release.
For families drawn to biodegradable options, Funeral.com’s Biodegradable & Eco-Friendly Urns for Ashes collection and the article Understanding What Happens During a Water Burial Ceremony can help you match the urn to the setting (saltwater, freshwater, or soil) without guessing.
Placing ashes in a cemetery plot or columbarium niche
Not every meaningful choice is creative or portable. Sometimes the most supportive decision is to create a permanent place the whole family can return to: a niche in a columbarium, an urn burial plot, or placement in an existing family grave. This option is especially comforting for families who value tradition, live near one another, or want a shared location for anniversaries and holidays.
The key practical note is that cemetery rules vary. Some cemeteries require specific urn materials, vaults, or burial containers. If you’re considering this path, it helps to choose an urn based on the cemetery’s requirements, not just aesthetics, and Funeral.com’s Cremation Urn Materials Guide includes burial-compatibility considerations that families often don’t learn until late in the process.
Creating a memorial that can travel: flying, mailing, and timing
Sometimes the “meaningful thing to do with ashes” is also a logistical thing: bringing them to a hometown service, a reunion, a lake house, or a family gathering where people can say goodbye together. If travel is part of your plan, knowing the rules can reduce stress dramatically.
The Transportation Security Administration explains that cremated remains are allowed in carry-on and checked bags, but screening rules apply and the final decision rests with the TSA officer at the checkpoint. That’s why families often choose an X-ray-friendly container for travel. Funeral.com’s Flying With Cremated Remains guide walks through what to bring, how to reduce screening complications, and how to think about travel urns without panic.
For shipping within the U.S., start with the U.S. Postal Service guidance: Publication 139 explains how to package and ship cremated remains, and it notes the required service for these shipments. Funeral.com’s Mailing Cremated Remains guide is especially useful if you’re sending ashes to family or to an artist for a specialty memorial.
Including pets in the plan: pet urns, figurines, and shared keepsakes
If the ashes you’re caring for are from a dog, cat, or other companion, the emotional weight can be just as real, and the options are often similar: a home urn, a keepsake, jewelry, or a creative memorial. The difference is usually size and the symbolism you want to see every day.
Families often start by choosing pet urns that feel like the animal: simple and warm, playful and bright, or quietly classic. Funeral.com’s Pet Cremation Urns for Ashes collection includes a wide range of styles, while Pet Figurine Cremation Urns for Ashes can feel especially comforting for families who want a memorial that looks like a small piece of art rather than a container. If multiple people shared caretaking, Pet Keepsake Cremation Urns for Ashes make it easier to share without feeling like you’re “taking away” from anyone else’s grief.
For wearable remembrance, Funeral.com’s Pet Cremation Jewelry collection offers pieces designed with that bond in mind, and the article Pet Cremation Jewelry Guide helps families compare jewelry, charms, and specialty options like diamonds with clear expectations.
How to choose the right option for your family’s values and timeline
When families feel stuck, it’s rarely because they don’t have enough options. It’s because they have too many options, and everyone is grieving differently. A gentle way to choose is to look for the plan that creates the least regret and the most flexibility.
If your family is divided, consider a blended approach: a central urn plus keepsakes, or a temporary home base plus a future scattering date. If you’re worried about making a permanent choice too soon, give yourself permission to pause. Many families keep ashes at home for a while and later plan a memorial trip, a water ceremony, or a cemetery placement when the timing feels kinder.
This is also where funeral planning can relieve pressure. A cremation choice doesn’t eliminate the need for a service; it often gives you more time to plan one that fits. Funeral.com’s How to Plan a Funeral in 7 Steps can help you organize decisions without rushing, and if you’re planning ahead for yourself or trying to reduce uncertainty for your children, How to Preplan a Funeral explains how to document preferences clearly.
In the end, the “right” choice is the one that lets love stay present without turning grief into a constant emergency. Whether you choose cremation urns, pet urns for ashes, pet cremation urns, small cremation urns, cremation jewelry, a shoreline farewell, or a permanent resting place, you’re not choosing what someone meant to you. You’re choosing a way to carry that meaning forward, in a form your family can live with.
