Beyond the Pall
New Post Every Wednesday
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Purchasing Urns - A Few Things to Keep in Mind

6/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
My Grandmother Fletcher's Urn. My father poured her cremains directly into the earth. I am so glad he kept the urn. I think it is lovely.
I don’t talk too much about cremation. Our society shrouds cremation in as much mystery and myth as embalming is, but that is another topic.  While many people do not understand the process of cremation, it has become the most popular way North Americans deal with the body after death. Cremains are in and of themselves the final disposition of the body, and for this reason, you can do so much more with cremains for memorial purposes. Memorials can take place without a body.  Funerals do not need to take place soon after death.  You can be pressed into a record, shot into space, be sprinkled in the garden or be placed on the mantle in an urn. Many families make use of an urn after cremation.  Remember according to federal law, urns like coffins can be purchased outside the funeral home or cemetery - one need not feel pressure to purchase from your service provider.  You can decide what the urn will be or look like.
 
One thing to keep in mind when “preplanning” a funeral with cremation is to make sure you know what kind of urn you might be preordering.  When I was a family service counselor, I worked with a few families who made a “preneed” plan for cremation. The families would bring in the plan that included a brass urn.  In their heads the urn might be a beautiful Grecian-like urn, one with elegant lines.  In reality the urn in the plan was this rectangular box made of thin brass.  I have no idea what was really sold to these families.  It could have been this very basic box.  The point is that no one could ever prove one way or the other what was said initially to the family.  Sometimes the product goes out of production and the cemetery or funeral home has to provide something similar to the product prepurchased. These are some aspects of the preneed sales, which do not make sense to me for the families.  You could think you are purchasing one thing and in the end, your family shows up and they are given something else.  It feels a little too imprecise for me. 
 
When the funeral director or the crematorium returns the cremains to the family, the cremains can be returned in a basic box.  It’s usually quite functional.  No one should make you feel that you need that Grecian Urn or anything else.  You can hold onto the cremains until you have made a decision as to what kind of urn or to scatter the cremains.  If the family has decided to go the cremation route, take your time in making the decision on what kind of urn is most appropriate.  Keep in mind the standards of the cemetery you are using.  They may or may not require a cremation vault. Keep in mind how you will be using the cremains.  Make sure the urn is up to your standards.  Consider the price point you might need to stay at.  If you know someone who makes beautiful boxes or lovely ceramic urns, you can choose this.  Some people divide the cremains among the family and will require several smaller containers.  You and your family need to decide.  You have a right to purchase anywhere you wish.  You can even make your own.  The choice is yours.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    RSS Feed

    Caroline Vuyadinov


    I graduated from St. Vladamir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York with a Master of Divinity.  I trained as a chaplain following graduation and worked with a wide variety of people. 

    When I moved to Canada, I began work in a women's halfway house in Hamilton, Ontario which worked with women in conflict with the law on a federal level.  I became the program manager and  loved working alongside the women, creating their plans for their reintegration back to the community.  I also worked as a liaison with the parole board, parole officers and other community service providers.

    Upon my return to the United States, I worked in the Death Care Industry as a Family Service Counselor, which lead me to become a green burial advocate. I co-founded Midwest Green Burial Society with Juliann Salinas. I speak  to community groups and have developed practical seminars for a variety of audiences.  I have been interviewed on a national podcast and was featured on a WGN spot dealing with green burial. 

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Children's Graves
    Comunicalbe Disease And Burial Practice
    Cremation
    Cremation Urns
    Cultural Conflicts And Medical World
    Death Of A Child
    Depression
    Ebola
    Family Rights
    Fear Of Death
    Fr-thomas-hopko
    Funeral Laws
    Funeral Planning
    Garden Memorial
    Green Burial
    Grieving Parents
    Heirloom Seeds
    History
    Infant Death
    Live Streaming Funerals
    Mausoleums
    Memorial
    Memorialization
    No Embalming
    Non Religious
    Orthodox
    Orthodox Christian Grave Practices
    Pre Planning
    Pre-planning
    Remembering The Dead
    Serbian Cemetery Rites
    Suicide
    Tree-memorials
    Vaults
    Zito

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly