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.

Sky Burials Explained: Understanding the Tibetan Tradition and Why It’s Rare Elsewhere

Sky Burials Explained: Understanding the Tibetan Tradition and Why It’s Rare Elsewhere

The first time most people hear the phrase sky burial, it can land with a mix of curiosity and discomfort. That reaction is understandable—especially if you were raised around cemeteries,...

Ghana’s Fantasy Coffins: Meaning, Craftsmanship, and Sustainability Questions

Ghana’s Fantasy Coffins: Meaning, Craftsmanship, and Sustainability Questions

It can start with a single photo: an airplane-shaped coffin painted the bright blue of a clear sky, or a giant fish with shimmering scales, or a cocoa pod, or...

When Family Can’t Agree on Funeral Plans: Practical Mediation Steps and Decision Rules

When Family Can’t Agree on Funeral Plans: Practical Mediation Steps and Decision Rules

If you’re in the middle of a funeral planning disagreement, it can feel like you’re trying to build a clear plan on shifting sand. People are grieving, everyone is tired,...

Balinese Cremation Ceremony: Ngaben Rituals, Meaning, and What Guests Should Expect

Balinese Cremation Ceremony: Ngaben Rituals, Meaning, and What Guests Should Expect

You might hear a wave of gamelan music before you see anything at all—bright cymbals, deep drums, the kind of rhythm that makes your feet want to move even when...

Zoroastrian Sky Burials: Towers of Silence, Excarnation, and the Beliefs Behind the Practice

Zoroastrian Sky Burials: Towers of Silence, Excarnation, and the Beliefs Behind the Practice

In the days after a death, families often discover something they didn’t expect: the hardest part isn’t always the paperwork or the logistics. It’s the quiet moment when you realize...

Viking Funerals: Myths vs. Reality of Norse Farewells (Ships, Fire, and What’s Actually Known) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Viking Funerals: Myths vs. Reality of Norse Farewells (Ships, Fire, and What’s Actually Known)

The scene is familiar: a lone figure stands at the shoreline, a bow drawn tight, and a flaming arrow arcs into the twilight. The ship catches, the sea swallows it,...

Buying a Cemetery Plot in Advance: Contracts, Fees, and Burial Vault Requirements - Funeral.com, Inc.

Buying a Cemetery Plot in Advance: Contracts, Fees, and Burial Vault Requirements

Most families don’t start by thinking about contracts. They start with a feeling: “I don’t want my kids to have to figure this out.” Buying a cemetery plot ahead of...

Final Expense Insurance Pros and Cons: Is Burial Insurance Worth It? - Funeral.com, Inc.

Final Expense Insurance Pros and Cons: Is Burial Insurance Worth It?

Most people don’t sit down one day and decide, “Today I’m going to research end-of-life finances.” It usually starts with a quieter, more human moment: you see a friend’s family...

VA Veterans Burial Benefits: How to Request Funeral Honors, Burial Allowances, and Free Headstones - Funeral.com, Inc.

VA Veterans Burial Benefits: How to Request Funeral Honors, Burial Allowances, and Free Headstones

When someone you love has served, the days after a death can feel like two kinds of weight at once: the personal grief you’re carrying and the paperwork you suddenly...

Burial vs. Cremation Costs: What’s Cheaper and What Changes the Price - Funeral.com, Inc.

Burial vs. Cremation Costs: What’s Cheaper and What Changes the Price

If you’re comparing burial vs cremation cost, you’re probably trying to do two things at once: make a loving decision and protect your family from financial shock. That tension is...

GBC-Certified Green Burial Cemeteries in Texas (2026): Locations, Costs & Alternatives - Funeral.com, Inc.

GBC-Certified Green Burial Cemeteries in Texas (2026): Locations, Costs & Alternatives

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that shows up when a family is trying to do something thoughtful, and the world keeps responding with vague language. In Texas, that...

Tulip Symbolism: Meaning of Tulip Flowers and What Different Colors Represent - Funeral.com, Inc.

Tulip Symbolism: Meaning of Tulip Flowers and What Different Colors Represent

When someone is grieving, flowers can feel like the safest language. You do not have to find the perfect words, you do not have to explain yourself, and you do...

Symbols of Life and Death: Meanings of the Ankh, Ouroboros, Birds, and Rebirth Flowers - Funeral.com, Inc.

Symbols of Life and Death: Meanings of the Ankh, Ouroboros, Birds, and Rebirth Flowers

There are moments in life when language feels too small. A death can do that—especially when the relationship was central, complicated, unfinished, or simply beloved. Even when you know what...

Blue Color Meaning & Symbolism: Psychology, Navy Blue, and Emotional Associations - Funeral.com, Inc.

Blue Color Meaning & Symbolism: Psychology, Navy Blue, and Emotional Associations

There are moments in grief when words feel too sharp. Families will tell us, quietly, that they are “fine” while their eyes say something else. And then, almost unexpectedly, the...

Bird Meanings Across Cultures: Hope, Fortune, Faith Symbols, and Folklore - Funeral.com, Inc.

Bird Meanings Across Cultures: Hope, Fortune, Faith Symbols, and Folklore

When you are grieving, the world has a way of feeling louder and quieter at the same time. The everyday sounds continue—traffic, a neighbor’s dog, the hum of a refrigerator—and...

Green Burial Cemeteries in Oklahoma (2026): GBC-Certified Providers, Costs & Options - Funeral.com, Inc.

Green Burial Cemeteries in Oklahoma (2026): GBC-Certified Providers, Costs & Options

When a family starts looking for green burial Oklahoma options, the first feeling is often relief: “There has to be a way to do this more simply.” And then the...