Cremation Today

If your loved one has chosen cremation for final disposition, one important choice you need to make is which of the many cremation vessels is appropriate. Whether you’re transporting ashes for a scattering ceremony, enclosing them for interment or retaining them in your home, a cremation vessel is a necessity. You can choose a vessel based simply on utility, in which case a simple wooden or metal vessel will do, but a meaningful cremation vessel can help you bring closure to your grieving process. There are a number of vessels you can choose from.

Cremation Vessels for Scattering
When you choose a vessel for scattering, you want to look foremost for a vessel that is easily portable. A secondary consideration is a design that matches the ambiance of the scattering site. For example, a simply designed wooden urn with a natural finish may be perfectly suited to a scattering ceremony that occurs in a forest setting. Another consideration is what you would like to do with the vessel after the scattering. If you would like to display it or use it in your home as a remembrance, you’ll want to consider how its design matches its surroundings. If you choose not to keep the urn, you can find biodegradable urns perfect for at-sea and natural area scatterings.

Cremation Vessels for Display
You can choose from an amazing array of urns, finding one that serves as unique accent piece as well as being a remembrance of your loved one. Wooden urns are popular choices, especially since the versatility of wood allows it to be shaped into anything from a simple box to an ornate vase and to be stained to meet any aesthetic, while keeping the price relatively low. However, you can buy urns in nearly any material—from metal to glass to marble. You can also find urns in special shapes, such as lamb-shaped urns to hold the ashes of infants and young children, or double urns to hold the ashes of couples.

Keepsake Cremation Vessels
Keepsake urns are designed to hold only a small portion of ashes so that more people can keep them as a remembrance, or so that a small amount of ashes can be retained while the rest are scattered. Keepsake urns may look just like miniature versions of larger urns, or they may be in cast in shapes like hearts. If you want to give family members matching keepsake urns, you can often buy a set.

Cremation Jewelry
If having your loved ones ashes with you gives you a stronger bond with the deceased, you may want to consider cremation jewelry rather than traditional cremation vessels. Cremation jewelry comes in a wide range of designs, though most are tiny vessels that serve as repositories for a small amount of ashes. You can find crosses, hearts, birds, flowers and other representational designs, as well as simple cylinders appropriate for both men and women. With cremation jewelry, everyone in the family can keep ashes as a memorial.