Is this the first time you’ve ever thought about aquamation urns right before or after an aquamation service in Kings Mountain, NC? It’s much better to be prepared!

Here is a list of things you should know about aquamation urns to help you get ready for the death of a loved one or to prepare for your own passing:

• An urn is just a container. An urn can be whatever kind of container you want or need it to be. As long as the container can hold the cremated remains, it counts as an aquamation urn.
• Capacity is important. While you should check an urn’s exterior measurements to see if it will suit your needs, you also need to check its capacity to make sure it will fit the cremains. Many urns have decorative edges or accents, making exterior dimensions useless when it comes to determining the urn’s interior size. Always double-check an urn’s interior dimensions before you make a purchase.
• You can pre-purchase urns. If you’re planning for your own eventual passing, you can pre-purchase an aquamation urn. This way, you’ll not only ensure that you get the urn that you want but you will also take one thing off your loved one’s to-do list. Simply store your urn in a box until it’s needed.
• You can rent an urn for a service. If you only want to have an urn for a funeral or memorial service, you can rent one. This is a great way to save money if you’d rather use the expensive, fancy urn for the service but want to scatter, bury, or otherwise inter the ashes afterward. Most funeral homes or aquamation providers have a selection of urns you can rent, so check with your provider.
• You don’t have to buy an aquamation urn from a funeral home or aquamation provider. While it’s often very convenient to get an aquamation urn from your provider, you don’t have to. You can buy an urn online, at a store, or wherever you can find one. You can also make an urn or use the one that comes free with the aquamation.
• The funeral home will transfer the remains for you. Since funeral homes are required to use an aquamation container of your choosing, they will transfer the cremated remains into that container for you.
• Use exterior measurements for placement. Do check an urn’s exterior measurements to make sure that it will fit in the place of your choosing. For example, if you want to house the urn in a columbarium niche, make sure it fits the niche’s dimensions. Or, if you want to keep the urn on your mantle, ensure it’s not too wide or too tall to fit safely.

We are here to help you, as there are a lot of things to think about when you’re planning a Kings Mountain, NC aquamation service. Call or visit us today to learn more about what we can do for you in your time of loss or preplanning.

A great way to celebrate your lost loved one’s life, honor their passing, and soothe the feelings of loss is by decorating their gravesite. If you’re decorating a gravesite after your lost loved one’s aquamation service in Kings Mountain, NC, you need these helpful tips and inspirational ideas for their final resting place:

• Personalized Flower Vase – Instead of a standard vase, invest in a personalized one that features a special message to your loved one, an etching, or any kind of meaningful inscription.
• Fresh Flowers – Even a simple, fresh bouquet that you leave once a week mean a lot. Plus, they give you a chance to visit the gravesite often.
• Solar Lights – Solar garden lights charge during the day with solar power, then light up at night. Find ones that are flush to the ground or ones that stick up on stakes.
• Preserved Flowers – Keep the flowers on your lost loved one’s grave fresh forever by preserving them. Order a custom-preserved bouquet in resin, or purchase a paperweight orb with flowers inside.
• Memorial Candles – Flameless battery or solar-powered candles are just as beautiful as real candles, but are much safer and longer-lasting.
• Personalized Photo Lantern – You can order custom lanterns that are printed with a photo of your lost loved one. Place a flameless candle inside the lantern and leave it on the grave to light up at night.
• Floral Saddle – A cemetery saddle is a flower arrangement resting on a metal “saddle.” It has legs so it can balance on top of the headstone.
• Solar Flowers – Solar flowers are fake flowers that light up at night after charging throughout the day in the sun.
• Candle Figurines – Buy a candle figurine that holds any candles you choose and represents a meaningful image, like an angel, animal, or symbol. You can even repurpose an old jar or mason jar by filling it with candles or twinkle lights.
• Personalized Flag – Place a flag on the ground near the gravesite with a personalized photo, message, or image. Add dates to make it even more personal.
• Memorial Stones – Stones have been used in memorialization for centuries. There are even examples in the Bible. Paint a stone yourself or order one online.
• Homemade Tributes – Nothing is more meaningful than a homemade tribute like handwritten notes, paintings, drawings, or even typed-up poems or memories.
• Memorial Benches – If the cemetery allows, place a memorial bench near the gravesite so you always have a place to sit and remember fond days when visiting.
• American Flag – If your lost loved one was a veteran, plant an American flag or the flag of their armed forces division.
• Grave Blankets – Grave blankets are painted with grass, foliage, or flowers so they can make the grave green and lovely even in the winter months when it’s too cold for fresh plants.

These are just a few of the many ways you can decorate your lost loved one’s gravesite. We are here to help if want more inspiration or information on Kings Mountain, NC aquamation services.

While pallbearers are traditionally used when the body is buried in a casket, people can choose to have pallbearers carry the casket at a funeral before an aquamation service in Kings Mountain, NC. They can also carry or walk alongside the urn before or after a memorial service. As intense or scary as this job seems, being a pallbearer is not as overwhelming as you might think.

Were you asked to be a pallbearer for someone’s service before or after an aquamation service? Here’s everything you need to know about pallbearers in order to help prepare you.

1. What is a Pallbearer? A pallbearer is someone that helps carry or officially escorts a casket during a funeral or service. Their duties traditionally consist exclusively of carrying the remains from the hearse to the church or funeral home before the service, and then back into the hearse after the service. If the remains are to be buried or inurned, the pallbearers also carry them from the hearse to the final resting place.
2. How Heavy is a Casket? Caskets can weigh as little as 60 pounds up to 400 pounds or more depending on the type of casket and the size of the remains inside. For example, pine caskets generally weigh about 150 pounds, while mahogany can weigh up to 250. Metal caskets, on the other hand, can weigh between 160 to 200 pounds depending on the kind of metal and the metal gauge.
3. What Should Pallbearers Wear? It’s best for pallbearers to dress conservatively, ideally in a dark suit and tie, dress, or pantsuit. However, be sure to wear clothing that is comfortable enough for you to move and lift in. Don’t forget to wear flat or low-heeled shoes so you don’t trip while carrying the casket.
4. What Is an Honorary Pallbearer? An honorary pallbearer is someone who will not actually carry the casket but is still recognized in some way. This title is usually used for older friends or relatives who might not be able to physically carry the casket. Sometimes people even choose to have deceased friends or family members as honorary pallbearers, as they don’t have to carry the casket or even be physically present to have the honor.
5. How Many Pallbearers are There? While there can be as many or as few as desired, there are traditionally six to eight pallbearers. If there are six, three stand on each side of the casket. If there are eight, the extra two stand on the front and back.
6. Who Can be a Pallbearer? Pallbearers can be anyone the bereaved or deceased choose. However, they are usually close family or friends like siblings, older children or grandchildren, colleagues, or friends. And yes, women can be pallbearers even though it doesn’t happen very often.

Do you have more questions about pallbearers or Kings Mountain, NC aquamation services? We are here to help. Call or visit us today to learn more about what we can do for you in your time of loss.

How can you get through a sudden, unexpected pain and loss? While everyone’s grief journey is different in both presentation and length and no one can truly understand someone else’s pain, there are certain things you can do to make a sudden bereavement easier. Losing a loved one and planning an aquamation service in Kings Mountain, NC is always hard, but it’s especially challenging when that loss is sudden and unexpected.

Here are some helpful tips for dealing with the sudden death of a loved one:

1. Understand That it Will Be Difficult – Everyone who experiences a sudden loss will most likely also experience a whirlwind of emotions from anger and shock to disbelief, guilt, and sadness. These tough emotions won’t follow a certain timeline as everyone grieves at their own pace. Therefore, it’s important to be prepared to endure difficult feelings for an undetermined amount of time. Being aware of that fact will make dealing with the situation simpler, if not easier.
2. Get Back into Regular Routines – It might seem impossible, but life will go on after you lose a loved one. As tough as it might be, getting back to your everyday routines can help relieve your grief. Go back to work if you feel ready. If not, try and continue your normal morning and evening routines. Hold family dinners, take the kids to school, and don’t be afraid to acknowledge how these routines have changed because of the loss.
3. Seek Out Counseling – Seeking professional help for dealing with the psychological and physical symptoms of grief is not only often incredibly beneficial but it’s also often necessary. When a loved one dies suddenly, it can be a traumatic experience like getting in a severe car accident or spending time in a war zone. There isn’t shame in a veteran or car accident survivor getting help, so why would there be in someone going through a loss getting help?
4. Spend Time with Others – It can be so easy to withdraw from friends, coworkers, and family after going through a loss. However, talking and spending time with other people can be a big help. Not only is being around other people comforting, but it can help make your grief more manageable. It does this by allowing you to share your feelings which in turn can help you come to terms with your loss. It also accomplishes this by giving you space to reminisce and receive emotional support.
5. Accept Help – It’s natural for people to want to help when someone they know is going through a loss. While you might not feel up to interacting with others, it’s probably true that you will need that help. From meals and assistance with household chores to help planning services, help is necessary when you’re going through a loss. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to accept it. Also, don’t be embarrassed to seek out help when you need it.

We are here to help if you want more information on grief or on Kings Mountain, NC aquamation services. Call or visit us today to learn more.

Most people don’t understand grief at all even though everyone will experience grief after an aquamation service in Kings Mountain, NC at some point.

There are many myths surrounding loss and grieving that muddy the waters and, in many ways, make it difficult for people to deal with loss in a healthy way. They include:

1. Staying Connected to the Deceased Makes You Crazy – How many movies have you seen where the widow is worried over and considered “crazy” for holding onto her dead husband’s shirts or talking to him at his gravesite? This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s healthy to continue your connection with the deceased. In fact, many cultures around the world have a deep tradition of connecting with the deceased through rituals, songs, conversations, songs, and keepsakes. The book Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief says, “remaining connected seemed to facilitate the bereaved’s ability to cope with loss and accompanying changes in their lives.”
2. You Need to Move on from the Loss – Oftentimes those in mourning feel a societal pressure to move on from the loss. However, there isn’t really a way to move on or detach from a loss. Grief doesn’t go away. Instead, it changes. In the early months you might grieve by sitting in the dark and crying, but as time goes on you might grieve by lighting a candle once a year. Also, there shouldn’t be any pressure to leave the deceased behind. The deceased can, and often should, always be a part of you and your life, even though that part may change with time.
3. A Death is a Loss – While people often refer to death as a “loss”, death doesn’t mean that someone is gone forever. Their memory, goodness, and even wisdom can live on through the people they met and loved in life. After all, how can you lose someone when you hold them dearly and deeply in their heart?
4. Remembering the Deceased Means Staying in the Past – Remembering a loved one doesn’t mean staying in the past, it can mean connecting to them in a new and meaningful way that changes as time goes on. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the only way to stay connected to the deceased is to remember past times. But your relationship with the deceased doesn’t have to stay the same. Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief states, “Instead [of a static relationship], they evolve and mature right along with us”. A healthy way of grieving a loss is to keep the deceased part of new experiences and new memories.
5. Grief Eventually Ends in Closure – This couldn’t be further from the truth. Grief is non-linear and generally has no end or “closure” when you can sign and move on completely. Grief can change over time, but it won’t ever completely go away. Eleanor Haley from What’s Your Grief says, “Grief isn’t something you go through, it’s something that becomes a part of you. It’s forever.”

Do you want to learn more about grief or Kings Mountain, NC aquamation services? We are here to help. Call or visit us today.