The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Storing and Sharing Cremation Ashes: Keeping a Portion, Burial Rules, and Keepsake Urns

Storing and Sharing Cremation Ashes: Keeping a Portion, Burial Rules, and Keepsake Urns

Most families don’t start this process thinking in percentages or policies. They start with a very human question: what would feel right? Sometimes that means a single resting place. More...

15 Reasons People Choose Cremation: Cost, Flexibility, and How to Decide What’s Right for Your Family

15 Reasons People Choose Cremation: Cost, Flexibility, and How to Decide What’s Right for Your Family

A generation ago, many families assumed a traditional burial would be the default. Today, the “default” is less clear—and that can feel unsettling when you’re grieving or planning ahead. But...

Burying Cremation Ashes in a Cemetery: Rules, Urn Vaults, and Typical Costs

Burying Cremation Ashes in a Cemetery: Rules, Urn Vaults, and Typical Costs

After a cremation, families often assume the hardest decisions are behind them until a quieter question shows up in the middle of grief where should the ashes rest. For some...

Interment of Ashes Explained: Burial Options, Cemetery Rules, and Ceremony Planning

Interment of Ashes Explained: Burial Options, Cemetery Rules, and Ceremony Planning

When a family hears the phrase interment of ashes, it can sound more complicated than it is. In plain language, it means placing cremated remains in a permanent resting place—most...

Religious Views on Cremation: What Judaism, Islam, and Christianity Traditionally Teach

Religious Views on Cremation: What Judaism, Islam, and Christianity Traditionally Teach

In many families, the first cremation conversation starts quietly, often in the middle of a much louder season of grief. Someone mentions cost. Someone mentions space. Someone admits they don’t...

Is Cremation Biblical? A Christian Guide to Cremation vs. Burial and End-of-Life Choices

Is Cremation Biblical? A Christian Guide to Cremation vs. Burial and End-of-Life Choices

For many Christians, the question about cremation isn’t really about fire or earth. It’s about love, reverence, and the quiet fear of getting something sacred “wrong” at the worst possible...

Interment of Ashes Explained: How to Bury Cremated Remains in a Cemetery (Step-by-Step)

Interment of Ashes Explained: How to Bury Cremated Remains in a Cemetery (Step-by-Step)

A lot of families picture “burial” as a casket and a headstone, and then feel off-balance when cremation becomes the choice by preference, by cost, by timing, or simply because...

Biodegradable Urns: How They Work, Types for Water or Ground Burial, and Where to Buy Eco-Friendly Options

Biodegradable Urns: How They Work, Types for Water or Ground Burial, and Where to Buy Eco-Friendly Options

When a family chooses cremation, the next questions tend to be quieter and more personal: what to do with ashes, whether keeping ashes at home feels comforting or heavy, and...

How a Body Is Prepared for Cremation: What Happens Before, During, and After (Plus Container & Casket Choices)

How a Body Is Prepared for Cremation: What Happens Before, During, and After (Plus Container & Casket Choices)

When a family chooses cremation, the decision often brings a mix of relief and new questions. Relief, because cremation can be simpler and more flexible. Questions, because the steps before...

Cremation Preplanning and Prepaid Plans: How It Works, What to Ask, and How to Compare Options

Cremation Preplanning and Prepaid Plans: How It Works, What to Ask, and How to Compare Options

Most families don’t think about cremation preplanning because they’re eager to “get it over with.” They think about it because they love someone and they know what grief does to...

Urn Vaults Explained: When You Need One, Types of Burial Vaults for Cremation Urns, and How to Choose

Urn Vaults Explained: When You Need One, Types of Burial Vaults for Cremation Urns, and How to Choose

Most families don’t begin funeral planning thinking they’ll need to learn a new vocabulary. You may start with a simple question—what to do with ashes—and suddenly you’re comparing urn styles,...

Can You Bury a Cremation Urn? Best Materials for Ground Burial, Vaults, and Sea Burial

Can You Bury a Cremation Urn? Best Materials for Ground Burial, Vaults, and Sea Burial

When a family chooses cremation, the hardest part often isn’t the decision itself. It’s what comes next. You may come home with a temporary container and a quiet new question:...

Low-Cost and Free Cremation Options in 2025: Direct Cremation, Body Donation, and Budget Tips

Low-Cost and Free Cremation Options in 2025: Direct Cremation, Body Donation, and Budget Tips

When a death happens—or when you’re trying to plan ahead with a clear head—money questions can feel painfully out of place. You want to do right by someone you love....

Eco-Friendly Caskets and Shrouds: Greener Choices for Earth Burial

Eco-Friendly Caskets and Shrouds: Greener Choices for Earth Burial

There are moments in funeral planning when the practical question in front of you is also a values question. You may be sorting through decisions about a casket, a cemetery,...

Metal vs Wood Caskets: Durability, Appearance, and Myths About Protection

Metal vs Wood Caskets: Durability, Appearance, and Myths About Protection

When you are grieving, it can feel strangely unfair to be asked to choose a casket the way you might choose a piece of furniture: metal or wood, light interior...

Judaism and Cremation: Beliefs by Tradition and What Families Can Do

Judaism and Cremation: Beliefs by Tradition and What Families Can Do

When a family is facing loss, decisions can arrive faster than grief can catch up. Sometimes the questions come before the goodbye. Sometimes they come after—when a loved one has...