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.

Collecting Ashes After Cremation: Who Can Pick Them Up, What to Bring, and What Happens Next

Collecting Ashes After Cremation: Who Can Pick Them Up, What to Bring, and What Happens Next

When a funeral home or crematory tells you the remains are ready, it can feel like one more errand—and also like a moment you were not emotionally prepared for. If...

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...

Which Religions Allow Cremation? A U.S.-Focused Guide to Faith-Based Beliefs and What to Do With the Ashes

Which Religions Allow Cremation? A U.S.-Focused Guide to Faith-Based Beliefs and What to Do With the Ashes

If you are trying to make end-of-life decisions while holding grief, it is completely normal to look for a steady answer to a question that feels both spiritual and practical:...

How Much Do Cremation Ashes Weigh? Urn Size Rules, Volume Estimates, and Simple Calculators

How Much Do Cremation Ashes Weigh? Urn Size Rules, Volume Estimates, and Simple Calculators

When someone you love is cremated, the questions that follow can feel surprisingly practical. You may be grieving, you may be planning, and you may still find yourself staring at...

Are Cremation Ashes Biodegradable? What They’re Made Of and How Biodegradable Urns Really Work

Are Cremation Ashes Biodegradable? What They’re Made Of and How Biodegradable Urns Really Work

Most families don’t start with a science question. They start with a real-life moment: an urn on the table, a temporary container from the crematory, a quiet urge to “do...

10 Meaningful Things to Do With Ashes After Cremation (Ideas, Costs, and How to Choose)

10 Meaningful Things to Do With Ashes After Cremation (Ideas, Costs, and How to Choose)

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:...

Collecting Ashes After Cremation: What Happens Next and What You Can Do With Them

Collecting Ashes After Cremation: What Happens Next and What You Can Do With Them

The moment you realize you need to figure out collecting ashes after cremation is often a strange mix of practical and emotional. On one hand, there are real questions—timelines, paperwork,...

Keeping Cremation Ashes at Home in the US: Is It Legal, How to Store Them Safely, and Display Ideas

Keeping Cremation Ashes at Home in the US: Is It Legal, How to Store Them Safely, and Display Ideas

Bringing cremated remains home can feel strangely ordinary and profoundly heavy at the same time. You may set a temporary container on the kitchen table, sign a last form, and...

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 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...

How to Transfer or Divide Cremation Ashes and Fill an Urn Safely

How to Transfer or Divide Cremation Ashes and Fill an Urn Safely

For many families, the moment the ashes come home is quieter than expected. There may be no ceremony, no gathering—just a temporary container on a table and the sudden realization...

Is Cremation a Sin? What the Bible Says About Cremation, Burial, and Ashes

Is Cremation a Sin? What the Bible Says About Cremation, Burial, and Ashes

For many Christian families, the question is cremation a sin rarely starts as a debate. It starts in a quieter place: a hospital hallway, a sudden phone call, a kitchen...

Is There “Energy” in Cremation Ashes? Beliefs, Etiquette, and Keeping Ashes at Home

Is There “Energy” in Cremation Ashes? Beliefs, Etiquette, and Keeping Ashes at Home

The first time cremated remains come home, many families feel two different realities at once. There’s the practical reality: a temporary container, a sealed bag, paperwork, and the sudden question...

Catholic Cremation Rules Explained: Keeping, Scattering, and Burial of Ashes

Catholic Cremation Rules Explained: Keeping, Scattering, and Burial of Ashes

If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to do two things at once: honor someone you love and make sure you’re staying faithful to what the Catholic Church actually teaches....