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.

Cemetery Scattering Gardens: How ‘Raking In’ Ashes Works and What Options Families Get - Funeral.com, Inc.

Cemetery Scattering Gardens: How ‘Raking In’ Ashes Works and What Options Families Get

You may have already decided on cremation, and then a new question arrives: where will the ashes rest, and where will your family return when you need a place to...

Hiking With Ashes: Backpacking Tips for a Respectful, Leave‑No‑Trace Scattering - Funeral.com, Inc.

Hiking With Ashes: Backpacking Tips for a Respectful, Leave‑No‑Trace Scattering

On most hikes, the weight in your pack is predictable. Water, layers, snacks, a map. When you are hiking with ashes, the weight is different. You are carrying love and...

Summit Scattering: Mountain Ethics, Wind Planning, and How to Avoid ‘Ash Blowback’ - Funeral.com, Inc.

Summit Scattering: Mountain Ethics, Wind Planning, and How to Avoid ‘Ash Blowback’

There is a particular kind of quiet that happens above treeline. The horizon opens, the air thins, and even a crowded summit can feel like it has a private corner...

Fabric Scattering Urns: Sewing a Soft Container for Transport and a Clean Release - Funeral.com, Inc.

Fabric Scattering Urns: Sewing a Soft Container for Transport and a Clean Release

There is a particular moment that doesn’t get talked about much in funeral planning: the moment after the cremation, when the ashes are returned, and the family realizes there isn’t...

DIY Scattering Tubes: Simple Cardboard Options for a Clean, Respectful Ash Release - Funeral.com, Inc.

DIY Scattering Tubes: Simple Cardboard Options for a Clean, Respectful Ash Release

The container often arrives before the plan does. After a cremation, many families find themselves standing in a quiet kitchen, holding a temporary box or bag and realizing that the...

Deep-Space Burial 2.0: How “Beyond the Moon” Memorial Flights Work (Costs, Risks, and Options) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Deep-Space Burial 2.0: How “Beyond the Moon” Memorial Flights Work (Costs, Risks, and Options)

When a family chooses cremation, the next question often arrives quietly: what to do with ashes. Some people want a traditional memorial at home. Others want a place in nature....

Scattering Wands and Dispersal Tools: Easier Ash Release With Less Wind Mess (How to Use Them) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering Wands and Dispersal Tools: Easier Ash Release With Less Wind Mess (How to Use Them)

Scattering can be one of the gentlest “next steps” after cremation—and one of the most practically tricky. In your mind, it’s a quiet release: a few words, a meaningful place,...

What to Do When You Inherit Ashes Unexpectedly: First Steps and Options - Funeral.com, Inc.

What to Do When You Inherit Ashes Unexpectedly: First Steps and Options

Inheriting cremated remains can feel disorienting in a very specific way. You may not have been part of the original decisions. You may have a complicated relationship with the person...

How to Plan for Ashes in Your Own Estate: What to Put in Writing - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Plan for Ashes in Your Own Estate: What to Put in Writing

Most people don’t worry about their own cremation plan because they think it’s “obvious.” Of course you want cremation. Of course your family will know what to do. Of course...

How to Handle “I Want to See the Ashes” Requests From Children - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Handle “I Want to See the Ashes” Requests From Children

When a child says, “I want to see the ashes,” it can land with surprising force. Part of you may feel protective—of the remains, of your child’s tender imagination, of...

Scattering Ashes: How to Choose a Location That Feels Right - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering Ashes: How to Choose a Location That Feels Right

When families talk about scattering, they often start with a sentence that sounds simple: “We want to scatter the ashes somewhere meaningful.” What makes it hard is that “meaningful” is...

Scattering Ashes Safely: Wind, Weather, and Practical Preparation - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering Ashes Safely: Wind, Weather, and Practical Preparation

A scattering moment can be one of the gentlest forms of goodbye. It often feels simple on paper: you choose a place that mattered, gather the people who need to...

Scattering Etiquette in Public Spaces: How to Be Respectful - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering Etiquette in Public Spaces: How to Be Respectful

When someone you love is cremated, the next decision can feel strangely open-ended. There may be no cemetery plot to visit, no automatic “place” where grief belongs. Instead, there’s a...

Scattering on Private Land: Permission, Timing, and a Simple Ask Script - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering on Private Land: Permission, Timing, and a Simple Ask Script

When a family chooses cremation, the next question often arrives quietly but with a lot of weight behind it: what to do with ashes. For many people, scattering on private...

Scattering at the Beach: Tide Timing and Practical Considerations - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering at the Beach: Tide Timing and Practical Considerations

There is a reason so many families picture an ocean horizon when they imagine a scattering. The beach has a way of holding both vastness and intimacy at the same...

Scattering in the Mountains: Terrain, Weather, and Accessibility Planning - Funeral.com, Inc.

Scattering in the Mountains: Terrain, Weather, and Accessibility Planning

There is a particular kind of peace that lives in mountain air. For many families, it feels like the closest match to the person they loved: spacious, honest, quiet without...