Cremation

Storage Options for Cremations

Cremated ashes are often stored in what we knew as cremation urns. However, a cremation urn can be stored in many places from your home to a Columbarium and other places. In fact, some people even choose to bury cremated remains or scatter the ashes, while some cultural traditions include turning the cremated remains into glass beads. Again, there are countless of cremated remains storage options.

These are some alternatives for storing cremated ashes, from the most popular ones to the most original ones.

Cremation Columbarium

A Columbarium is a building that has niches all around it where funeral urns are stored. A columbarium can also be considered just one niche use to store one funeral urn. In these recessed compartments or niches would be where you’d store urns so you could visit them as often as you’d like, in a peaceful resting place. You can also personalize the niche with photographs or mementos, commemorating your loved one’s life.

A Columbarium may have sealed niches or glass niches. The sealed ones are often made of marble or granite and can’t be open once they’re closed. The glass niches often have a lid to personalize the niche, adding memorabilia, photos, and other items to commemorate the memory of your loved ones.

Burial Plot

Some people might not realize that they can still choose to bury a loved one in the ground, even if they’ve been cremated. Another interesting idea is to bury the urn in the burial plot of another family member, keeping their remains together forever. It’s another cost-effective option.

Mausoleums

One can also be entombed in a crypt inside a mausoleum, which would be alongside others entombed in caskets and urns. While this above ground option seems similar to being stored in a columbarium, it’s actually a bit more expensive because it requires more space.

Memorial Pieces

One of the most interesting options you’ll have for storing cremated remains is to choose to hold them inside a memorial object, like a grave marker. You can also find memorial rocks that have space for an urn, allowing the loved one to rest in nature, in a place you can visit often. Cremated remains can also be converted into glass, by fusing small portions of the remains with molten glass.

Family Bench

Another common and meaningful option to store cremated remains are family estate benches, sometimes called cremation benches. These are usually granite benches situated in a garden, by a lake, or by a sidewalk that has the space to hold a cremation urn at its base. Usually, the bench is adorned with a plaque that has the name of the person buried there, and usually a short message by the family.

In Your Home

Finally, one of the most common options for storing an urn with cremated remains is just inside your house, on a mantle or shelf, where your family can see and remember them often. One reason this is a popular option is so that the urn can be shared amongst the other members of the families and their houses. For instance, if a parent dies, their grown children can share storing the urn over their fireplaces in their own houses.

While a columbarium is a relatively traditional place to store an urn with cremated remains, it’s definitely just one option. If you live in South Florida, discuss all of your options with the people at The Gardens of Boca Raton Cemetery and Funeral Services.