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.

Ritual Space 101: How to Create a Sacred Place for Grief at Home (and What to Expect at a Graveside Service)

Ritual Space 101: How to Create a Sacred Place for Grief at Home (and What to Expect at a Graveside Service)

Grief can feel like it lives everywhere at once—on the kitchen counter beside an unopened condolence card, in the car when a certain song comes on, in the quiet moment...

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...

How to Create an At-Home Memorial or Grief Shrine: 10 Comforting Ideas

How to Create an At-Home Memorial or Grief Shrine: 10 Comforting Ideas

When someone you love dies, the world keeps moving even though you may feel like time has stopped. An at-home memorial can be a gentle way to give grief a...

Why We Light Prayer Candles for the Dead: Catholic Traditions and Modern Memorial Ideas

Why We Light Prayer Candles for the Dead: Catholic Traditions and Modern Memorial Ideas

If you’ve ever stepped into a quiet Catholic church on an ordinary weekday, you’ve probably seen it: a small rack of flickering flames, each one lit by someone who didn’t...

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...

Prayer & Memorial Candles: Meaning, Traditions, and How to Light Them Safely

Prayer & Memorial Candles: Meaning, Traditions, and How to Light Them Safely

There’s a reason a candle feels like the right shape for grief. In a week when your brain can’t hold logistics for more than a few minutes at a time,...

Why We Light Candles in Memory of the Dead: Symbolism, Traditions, and Memorial Ideas

Why We Light Candles in Memory of the Dead: Symbolism, Traditions, and Memorial Ideas

There’s a moment many families recognize—sometimes in the hours after a death, sometimes weeks later—when the house goes quiet and your mind keeps reaching for something small and steady to...

A Brief History of Ceramics: From Ancient Pottery to Modern Ceramic Memorial Urns

A Brief History of Ceramics: From Ancient Pottery to Modern Ceramic Memorial Urns

A ceramic vessel is one of the oldest human ideas take earth, add water, shape it with your hands, and use heat to turn something fragile into something that can...

Candles in Memorial Traditions: Meaning, Etiquette, and Day of the Dead Ofrenda Ideas

Candles in Memorial Traditions: Meaning, Etiquette, and Day of the Dead Ofrenda Ideas

There are moments in grief when words feel too heavy to lift. A phone call you can’t quite make yet. A closet you can’t open. A song you can’t play...

Pet Memorial Shelf Ideas: Create a Cozy At-Home Tribute with Photos, Urns, and Keepsakes

Pet Memorial Shelf Ideas: Create a Cozy At-Home Tribute with Photos, Urns, and Keepsakes

Grief after losing a pet can feel strangely quiet. The house still holds their routines: the corner where they waited for breakfast, the spot on the couch that somehow stays...

Best Companion Urns for Two: Styles, Materials, and Buying Tips

Best Companion Urns for Two: Styles, Materials, and Buying Tips

There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles in when two people have spent a lifetime together and the family begins making end-of-life decisions that assume “one” instead of “us.”...

How to Display a Cremation Urn at Home: Memorial Shelf and Table Ideas That Feel Peaceful

How to Display a Cremation Urn at Home: Memorial Shelf and Table Ideas That Feel Peaceful

After a cremation, families often expect the hardest part to be over. The calls are made, the paperwork is signed, the immediate decisions are handled—and then you come home to...

Lighting a Candle in Memory: Symbolism, Traditions, and Safe Ways to Create a Memorial Glow

Lighting a Candle in Memory: Symbolism, Traditions, and Safe Ways to Create a Memorial Glow

There’s a quiet moment many families recognize: the day is moving forward, people have gone back to work, and the house feels a little too still. In that kind of...

Prayer Candles Explained: Catholic & Anglican Traditions + How to Light One in Memory

Prayer Candles Explained: Catholic & Anglican Traditions + How to Light One in Memory

In the first days after a loss, people often reach for something simple and physical—something that doesn’t require the “right words.” A phone call can feel too heavy. A sympathy...

Where to Keep a Pet Urn at Home: Peaceful Display Ideas (Not Heavy) & Storage Tips

Where to Keep a Pet Urn at Home: Peaceful Display Ideas (Not Heavy) & Storage Tips

After a pet dies, you can do a lot of things “right” and still feel unsure about one very ordinary question: where should the urn live now? It can feel...

Keepsake Urns Explained: What They Are, How Big They Are, and When Families Choose Them

Keepsake Urns Explained: What They Are, How Big They Are, and When Families Choose Them

Most families don’t start out knowing they’ll need a second urn. They begin with one practical question—what happens after cremation?—and then, a little later, another: what do we do with...