Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

memorial urns

Creating Memorials That Matter

Kind words are always sweet to hear, and even more touching is when the client shares how they created a memorial for their loved one. One of the most unusual ceremonies involved both a wedding and the ashes of a beloved pet.

Thank you for the gorgeous urn for our pet Tucker. He passed away of Leukemia January 29, 2011. Unknown to me this would be the day that I would meet my future husband. Tucker brought us together.

tucker3

Because of Tucker having such a huge part of bringing our hearts together we incorporated his ashes in with our wedding sand ceremony.

tucker2

The oddity of it all is that we mixed the ashes in with 3 vases of different color sand. We each poured sand into our unity sand vase one by one. In the end it was Tucker’s ashes that ran in a solid line up through the layered sand colors. We cried. I am sharing with you photos taken of the Ceremonial Unity sand vase after being filled. My sister-in-law sealed the top with wax so that it will never be disturbed. Two Celtic pendants hang from the vase which say “Anam Cara” when translated means “Soul Mate.”

Ashes Sand Ceremony

From New York, a client wrote to tell us how much she loved the golf urn that she bought for her husband.

Golf cremation urn

I search for two weeks till I found the one I liked, I brought it to his memorial and everyone loved it. He was a golfer, so it suited him well…the blue sky color is amazing…his prayer cards also had a golfer on them…it arrived with out a scratch…and the blue on it so matches the sky and looks like he is in heaven playing golf.

Now,  I have it in my workout room that I am in every morning and love looking at the picture on it, it’s totally my husband.

I love the urn better than I expected….and much better quality than I expected!

It’s an honor to help families create beautiful memorials that matter and find light in a dark season of life.

Urn Garden

 

 

Size Does Matter at the Cemetery! How to Find an Urn to Fit the Niche

We’ve had several calls from customers trying to find a cremation urn that will fit into an odd shaped niche at the cemetery. It can be challenging to find an urn to fit.

Is it by design so that you have to buy from the cemetery? Some of the spaces have been quite tricky, especially when the customer is seeking an urn that will hold the remains of two people.

If you have selected a tight space, you will probably have to buy a box style for the ashes. This would apply to compartments that are 9-10″ high. Most of the traditional vase shaped urns are range 10-12″ high and will not fit in the smaller spaces.

Veteran Cemeteries

One of the benefits available to veterans is that their spouses and eligible dependents can be interred at no charge in national  cemeteries.  

However, the sizes at veteran cemeteries have been a little easier to work with regarding trying to fit 2 sets of ashes into one space. A niche in Arlington National cemetery was 13H x 10W x 18D. These dimensions allowed for ample room to place standard size cremation urns, regardless of the shape, vase or box container.  I decided to call our local Veteran’s Cemetery and see what the story was there on the sizes they offered.

This particular cemetery is located in Missouri and has two walls of vaults. One is full, the other has about a thousand spaces available. All the niche dimensions are the same 10″W x 14″ H x 19″ D. But according to the source I spoke to at the cemetery office, the measurements of military niches are not standard across the nation, which seems hard to believe.

Missouri is still primarily a burial state, but regarding cremation interment, families tend to trend to the columbarium wall.  At this particular cemetery, no wood urns can be stored in the above ground niche. No vault or outer container is needed for ground burial, and any material, including wood or ceramic can be placed in the grave. There’s no scattering garden here, but she said some families choose to use the uniform upright memorials provided by the US government.

By the way, I asked her how she pronounced “niche”. She calls it “nitch”. Me, I say “neesh”. I think both are correct. How do you pronounce it?

Regardless of how you say it, Urn Garden carries an urn that will fit, even if we have to custom order it. One size that’s almost always a perfect fit for an odd shaped niche and makes an affordable memorial is the Companion Double Wood Urn. Very basic, no frills, this compact style will hold the ashes of two people and fit into most niche spaces, but only if the cemetery allows placement of a wood urn in the wall.

Urn Garden Cremation Urns

Allow 3 to 5 Weeks Delivery

Back in the day if you ordered an item, whether it was advertised on t.v., magazine, or catalog, you expected 4-6 weeks before it arrived on your doorstep. One of the earliest examples of direct advertising I can remember was for the product Didi 7 on the television.

The disclaimer specifically states to allow 3-5 weeks for delivery.  You could call a free number, an operator was standing by and it shipped from the middle of the country.  Why did processing take so long? Was the product made to order? Not long ago, I recall seeing this product on a store shelf and noting that it had the familiar warning that it has been known to cause cancer in the state of California.

So now we have a continuous stream of marketing on the internet and you can buy anything you want and in most cases get delivery the next day. It’s magical, a couple of clicks and tomorrow you’re problems are solved. Or further complicated, depending on your purchase and what time of day you ordered. We have urns for sale. An item that no one wants to buy. Buying an urn can be an emotional experience and if you are making a purchase under pressure on Friday for a memorial service on the weekend, you should probably call the vendor and check the details of delivery. Sadly, we find that customers that have grown up in a 24-7 culture expect instant if they place the order at 2 AM on Saturday morning, the item will arrive on Sunday.  In the not too distant future, it will happen as Amazon begins to open distribution centers around the country offering same day delivery.

Because I’m paranoid, If I were making a time sensitive purchase,  I’d call ahead to make sure the item was in stock and available to ship right away, and if it does ship, when could I really expect it? I’d leave good contact information and make sure that my voice mail isn’t full.

Urn Garden stocks most of the urns and memorials that we sell. Usually,  your purchase is in transit within 24 hours, or at least on the next business day. If you have a question, we’re available to take your call. If not? Leave a message, we’ll return your call right away. We’re centrally located and here to serve, but we have to comply with the courier’s shipping schedule, how much you are willing to pay, and occasionally Mother Nature factors into your delivery.

Urn Garden Cremation Urns

Funeral Urns Video

Funeral urns range in finishes like bronze, stainless steel, copper, pewter, brass, cloisonne and resin. Styles range in shape from simple cubes and vases to bronze sculpture that can be displayed at the funeral or memorial, kept in the home or a secure selection for burial at the cemetery. Funeral keepsakes include small urns for a token amount of ashes as well as cremation jewelry.

Top of the Line: Bronze Cremation Urns

If you are looking for a way to create an eternal memorial for your loved one, a bronze urn for ashes is a top option. Bronze is one of the most superior metals that you can choose for your urn, because it lasts a lifetime and provides a wide range of decorative possibilities.

Bronze cremation urns can weigh anywhere from 25 to 45 pounds, and will also be higher in price than other more short-lived options. The extra amount of money that you pay, however, will give you a work of art that can be displayed anywhere in the home.

Is a Bronze Urn the Right Choice?

Bronze cremation urns are created from only the purest bronze on the market, with a range of traditional as well as more contemporary designs. When you are trying to choose the perfect bronze cremation urn, it’s a good idea to think about your loved one’s personality.

What would he or she have liked? Some urns are created to showcase certain hobbies or interests, while others will be more classical in design. These can all be the perfect resting place. Some of the more common types of bronze urns include:Pillars

  • Statues
  • Animals (American eagle, deer, etc.)
  • Vases (holds ashes and flowers)
  • Candle holder (holds ashes and a candle)
  • Egyptian pyramid
  • Military or veteran style
  • Seashells
  • Angels
  • Double or companion urns

Beautiful and Durable
They are designed to be strong, durable, and to last throughout the ages. Bronze has been used for centuries as a way to create sculpture, works of art, and funerary urns.

Cremation Urns

Bronze Cremation Urns – Strength and Beauty

Selecting a cremation urn can be overwhelming due to the nature of the purchase, as well as the many styles  now available to choose from.  Bronze is always a good choice for an urn that is not only strong and secure but can double as an art sculpture. Many of our families that buy bronze want something that blends in to the decor and doesn’t scream URN.

Bronze urns are more expensive than some of the other urns on the market.  The price of copper, molds, and the process involved to pour bronze command a higher price.  This style is not mass produced and is considered a custom order that requires a 2-4 week lead time depending on the finishing details. But the return is lasting beauty and a safe final resting place, certainly worth the wait.

bronze cremation urn

Recent developments in resin compounds have resulted in designer blends that mix bronze and marble dust into the finish that when used in a cold casting technique results in a less expensive product with the look and feel of bronze. An example is our new Lion Sleeps Tonight Urn.

lion cremation urn

Sculpted from resin blended with bronze metal, this cremation urn has all the rich details of a bronze urn but without the weight of the heavy metal and the price.

Both of the urns featured in this post are made in America.

Urn Garden