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.

How Much Does a Headstone Cost? Pricing for Flat Markers, Uprights, and Engraving - Funeral.com, Inc.

How Much Does a Headstone Cost? Pricing for Flat Markers, Uprights, and Engraving

When you’re planning a burial, the headstone decision often arrives later than you expect. The service may already be behind you, the paperwork is still unfolding, and then a cemetery...

Tulip Symbolism & White Tulip Meaning: What They Represent and When to Give Them - Funeral.com, Inc.

Tulip Symbolism & White Tulip Meaning: What They Represent and When to Give Them

Tulips have a way of saying something without forcing a conversation. They’re simple, clean, and recognizable—often the first flowers people picture when they think of spring. And that’s exactly why...

Bird Symbolism and the Soul: What Birds Represent in Grief and Remembrance - Funeral.com, Inc.

Bird Symbolism and the Soul: What Birds Represent in Grief and Remembrance

There are certain moments after a loss that feel almost too ordinary to matter. You step outside to get the mail. You look up from the sink. A bird lands...

Comforting Quotes for When a Loved One Dies (Plus Urn & Headstone Inscription Ideas for Dads) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Comforting Quotes for When a Loved One Dies (Plus Urn & Headstone Inscription Ideas for Dads)

If you are searching for quotes for when a loved one dies, you are usually not looking for perfect poetry. You are looking for words that feel steady enough to...

Leveling Headstones: Why DIY Fixes Are Risky (and What Families Can Do Instead) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Leveling Headstones: Why DIY Fixes Are Risky (and What Families Can Do Instead)

You don’t always notice it right away. Sometimes it’s a small shift you only see once you’re standing in the same place you always stand—near the corner of the plot,...

Adding a Date of Death to a Headstone: On‑Site Engraving, Matching Fonts, and Timing - Funeral.com, Inc.

Adding a Date of Death to a Headstone: On‑Site Engraving, Matching Fonts, and Timing

There is often a quiet blank space on a headstone that families don’t notice until they have to. It may be a single line left open on a companion monument,...

Grave Rubbings: Etiquette, Permission, and Technique to Protect Historic Stones - Funeral.com, Inc.

Grave Rubbings: Etiquette, Permission, and Technique to Protect Historic Stones

You can feel it before you even decide to do it—the pull toward a name carved in stone. Maybe you’re walking a cemetery for the first time since the funeral....

Caring for a Marker: Simple Maintenance Guidance - Funeral.com, Inc.

Caring for a Marker: Simple Maintenance Guidance

There is a moment many families recognize: you arrive at the cemetery with flowers, you kneel to straighten what the wind has shifted, and you notice the marker looks a...

Natural Stone Grave Markers: River Rocks vs Polished Granite (Cost, Durability, and Cemetery Rules) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Natural Stone Grave Markers: River Rocks vs Polished Granite (Cost, Durability, and Cemetery Rules)

Choosing a grave marker can feel like a surprisingly tender decision. It is not “just a stone.” It is the place your mind returns to when you want to say...

The Meaning of Coins on Headstones: Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters Explained - Funeral.com, Inc.

The Meaning of Coins on Headstones: Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters Explained

If you have ever walked through a cemetery and noticed a few coins resting on a grave marker, you are not alone. The moment can stop you in your tracks,...

In Loving Memory Quotes for Urns, Headstones, and Sympathy Cards - Funeral.com, Inc.

In Loving Memory Quotes for Urns, Headstones, and Sympathy Cards

Choosing words for an urn, headstone, plaque, or card can feel unexpectedly hard. You want something meaningful, but you also need it to be concise. Space is limited. Emotion is...

Headstone and Memorial Quotes: Short Epitaphs, Inscriptions, and ‘In Loving Memory’ Lines - Funeral.com, Inc.

Headstone and Memorial Quotes: Short Epitaphs, Inscriptions, and ‘In Loving Memory’ Lines

Finding the right words for a headstone, grave marker, or plaque is one of those tasks that looks simple until you sit down to do it. You’re trying to honor...

Entomb Meaning: Definition, Synonyms, and How It Differs From Burial and Inurnment - Funeral.com, Inc.

Entomb Meaning: Definition, Synonyms, and How It Differs From Burial and Inurnment

If you’ve ever heard a cemetery staff member say “entombment” and felt unsure what it meant, you’re in good company. Cemetery paperwork has its own vocabulary, and the words can...

Cremation Headstones and Columbarium Niches: Memorial Options, Designs, and Costs - Funeral.com, Inc.

Cremation Headstones and Columbarium Niches: Memorial Options, Designs, and Costs

Choosing a cemetery memorial after cremation can feel like an unexpected second set of decisions. Many families assume cremation automatically means scattering, and then discover they still want a place...

Memorial Engraving Ideas: Quotes, Headstone Sayings, and Personal Messages That Fit - Funeral.com, Inc.

Memorial Engraving Ideas: Quotes, Headstone Sayings, and Personal Messages That Fit

Engraving is one of the most meaningful details families choose, and it’s also one of the easiest places to get surprised. A message that looks perfect on a screen can...

Meaningful Engraving Ideas for Urns, Plaques, and Headstones (With Examples) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Meaningful Engraving Ideas for Urns, Plaques, and Headstones (With Examples)

Choosing words for a memorial engraving can feel like trying to fit a whole life into a few lines. You may know what you want the engraving to say emotionally,...