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.

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 vs. Internment: The Right Term for Ashes (Plus How to Plan an Interment Ceremony)

Interment vs. Internment: The Right Term for Ashes (Plus How to Plan an Interment Ceremony)

If you’ve ever typed “interment” into a message and watched autocorrect fight you, you’re not alone. In the days after a death—or while you’re trying to plan ahead—small words can...

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...

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...

Headstone Requirements in U.S. Cemeteries: Size, Material & Installation Rules

Headstone Requirements in U.S. Cemeteries: Size, Material & Installation Rules

Most families don’t start this process thinking about paperwork. You start with a name you want to honor, a set of dates that still feel unreal, and a quiet desire...

How to Clean and Care for a Granite Headstone Without Causing Damage

How to Clean and Care for a Granite Headstone Without Causing Damage

If you have ever stood in front of a loved one’s marker and felt the urge to “make it right,” you are not alone. Dirt, streaks, moss, and dark staining...

How to Pray at a Grave: Simple Approaches for Visits to Cemeteries and Memorial Gardens

How to Pray at a Grave: Simple Approaches for Visits to Cemeteries and Memorial Gardens

If you have ever stood at a headstone and felt the strange mix of love, numbness, and uncertainty, you are not alone. A cemetery can be quiet in a way...

Buying a Headstone Online vs Through the Cemetery: Pros, Cons, and Hidden Fees

Buying a Headstone Online vs Through the Cemetery: Pros, Cons, and Hidden Fees

Buying a headstone can feel like an oddly complicated task to face in the middle of grief. It’s also one of those decisions that tends to arrive when everyone is...

Common Symbols on Headstones and What They Mean: Crosses, Flowers, Animals, and More

Common Symbols on Headstones and What They Mean: Crosses, Flowers, Animals, and More

Standing in front of a headstone for the first time can be surprisingly emotional, even if you have been “doing okay” day to day. A marker is small in the...

Headstone Fonts, Layout, and Design: Making Sure the Inscription Is Easy to Read

Headstone Fonts, Layout, and Design: Making Sure the Inscription Is Easy to Read

Most families don’t walk into a cemetery thinking about typography. They walk in thinking about a person. And then, somewhere between the quiet rows and the practical conversations with a...

Choosing a Headstone Color and Finish: How It Looks Now—and Years from Now

Choosing a Headstone Color and Finish: How It Looks Now—and Years from Now

You can do a lot of funeral planning with checklists and phone calls, but choosing a headstone tends to feel different. It’s visual. It’s permanent. And it often happens at...

Cemetery Rules and Regulations 101: What Families Need to Know Before Buying a Plot or Headstone

Cemetery Rules and Regulations 101: What Families Need to Know Before Buying a Plot or Headstone

Most families don’t walk into a cemetery office expecting a lesson in contracts, property rights, landscaping policies, and concrete foundations. They walk in because someone they love has died, or...

Do Urns Decompose? Biodegradable Urns, Burial Timelines, and What to Expect Underground

Do Urns Decompose? Biodegradable Urns, Burial Timelines, and What to Expect Underground

After a cremation, a family often finds itself holding something that feels both solid and strange: a container that represents a life, a relationship, a whole history. Some people want...

Most Popular Types of Headstones Today: Styles Families Choose and Why

Most Popular Types of Headstones Today: Styles Families Choose and Why

For most families, choosing a headstone is not simply a purchase. It is one of the first permanent decisions you make after a loss, and that permanence can feel heavy....

Cremation Urn Materials Guide: Metal, Wood, Ceramic, Stone, and Biodegradable Options (Plus What Can Be Buried)

Cremation Urn Materials Guide: Metal, Wood, Ceramic, Stone, and Biodegradable Options (Plus What Can Be Buried)

Choosing an urn can feel strangely difficult. Not because you can’t find something beautiful, but because the object you choose is tied to a decision you didn’t want to have...

How Big Is a Cremation Urn? Sizes, Cubic Inches, and What Fits in a Columbarium Niche

How Big Is a Cremation Urn? Sizes, Cubic Inches, and What Fits in a Columbarium Niche

If you’re shopping for cremation urns for the first time, it can feel strangely technical at a moment that’s already tender. A listing might say “200 cubic inches,” while your real...