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.

Adult Cremation Urns: How to Choose the Right Full-Size Urn (Capacity, Materials, and Shopping Tips)

Adult Cremation Urns: How to Choose the Right Full-Size Urn (Capacity, Materials, and Shopping Tips)

When you start shopping for an adult urn, it can feel like you’ve walked into a store where everyone already knows the language—except you. Listings mention “full size,” “adult,” “200...

Cremation Jewelry Buying Guide: Metals, Waterproofing, Filling Kits, and What to Ask Before You Buy

Cremation Jewelry Buying Guide: Metals, Waterproofing, Filling Kits, and What to Ask Before You Buy

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re carrying two things at once: the weight of a loss, and the responsibility of making decisions you never wanted to make....

Cremation Urns 101: Types, Materials, and How to Choose the Right Urn

Cremation Urns 101: Types, Materials, and How to Choose the Right Urn

Choosing an urn can feel like an oddly technical task at a time when your heart is still trying to catch up. Families often describe the same moment: the cremation...

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.”...

Wooden Cremation Urns Pros and Cons: Durability, Care Tips, and Best Wood Types

Wooden Cremation Urns Pros and Cons: Durability, Care Tips, and Best Wood Types

There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles in after cremation. Sometimes it’s immediate—right after you pick up the remains, when the box feels heavier than you expected. Sometimes it...

Cat Urn Size Guide: How to Choose the Right Cremation Urn for Your Cat

Cat Urn Size Guide: How to Choose the Right Cremation Urn for Your Cat

After a cat dies, the first thing you notice is the quiet. The water bowl stays full. The favorite window spot holds a rectangle of sunlight and nothing else. And...

What Size Cremation Urn Do I Need? Easy Capacity Chart + Calculator (Adults, Kids & Pets)

What Size Cremation Urn Do I Need? Easy Capacity Chart + Calculator (Adults, Kids & Pets)

There are moments in funeral planning that feel unexpectedly hard because they’re so practical. Choosing an urn is one of them. You’re not only buying an item—you’re deciding where someone’s...

What Metals Are Cremation Jewelry Made Of? Stainless Steel vs Sterling Silver vs Gold

What Metals Are Cremation Jewelry Made Of? Stainless Steel vs Sterling Silver vs Gold

There’s a particular kind of quiet that follows cremation. The arrangements are done, the calls slow down, and then you’re left with decisions that don’t feel “urgent” in the paperwork...

Metal vs Wood Caskets: Durability, Appearance, and Myths About Protection

Metal vs Wood Caskets: Durability, Appearance, and Myths About Protection

When you are grieving, it can feel strangely unfair to be asked to choose a casket the way you might choose a piece of furniture: metal or wood, light interior...

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...

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...

What Is an Ash Necklace Called? Cremation Necklace vs Urn Pendant (Names, Styles, and How to Choose)

What Is an Ash Necklace Called? Cremation Necklace vs Urn Pendant (Names, Styles, and How to Choose)

If you’ve searched for an “ash necklace,” you’ve probably seen a dozen names for what looks like the same thing: cremation necklace, urn necklace, memorial pendant, ashes locket, keepsake jewelry....

What’s an Ash Necklace Called? Cremation Jewelry Terms, Styles, and Buying Tips

What’s an Ash Necklace Called? Cremation Jewelry Terms, Styles, and Buying Tips

If you’re searching what is an ash necklace called, you’re probably not looking for trivia. You’re looking for steadiness—something you can hold onto after the calls are done, the paperwork is...

14K Gold Cremation Jewelry: How to Choose a Real Gold Urn Necklace (Plus a Price Guide)

14K Gold Cremation Jewelry: How to Choose a Real Gold Urn Necklace (Plus a Price Guide)

If you’re searching for a 14k gold cremation necklace, you’re probably carrying two needs at once: you want something beautiful enough to wear every day, and you want something secure...

Infant & Child Cremation Urns: Sizing, Styles, and Compassionate Buying Tips

Infant & Child Cremation Urns: Sizing, Styles, and Compassionate Buying Tips

There are losses that rearrange time. When a baby or child dies, many families describe the days afterward as both painfully slow and impossibly fast—appointments, forms, phone calls, decisions you...

Cremation Jewelry Guide: Best Necklace Styles, Materials, Filling Tips, and Shopping Checklist

Cremation Jewelry Guide: Best Necklace Styles, Materials, Filling Tips, and Shopping Checklist

In the days after a cremation, families often discover that the hardest part isn’t paperwork or logistics—it’s deciding what “close” should look like. An urn on a shelf can feel...