Cremation has many advantages when planning a loved one's funeral, and one of them is the freedom to do whatever you like with their ashes. However, if they didn't express a preference about their ashes, it can be hard to decide what to do with them. This guide explains three meaningful things you could do with your loved one's ashes after their cremation.
Get a Beautiful Urn for Your Home
Keeping your loved one's ashes in your home after the cremation is one of the simplest, and most beautiful, choices you can make. Choose a beautiful urn that you think reflects your loved one's personality, or get one custom-made with an inscription that is meaningful to you. You can then place it on a shelf, bookcase or dresser, making you feel like your loved one is still part of family life. If the idea of being able to remember them in a physical way while doing everyday things around the home appeals to you, then this might be the right option for you.
Scatter Them in a Special Place
Scattering your loved one's ashes is another excellent option, especially if you have special memories with them in a certain place. This might be a forest where you walked, a beach where you went for family trips or even a favourite holiday spot. This way you can imagine them in that place, and whenever you visit, you will be able to remember them. If you don't like the idea of an urn in your home, or your loved one really appreciated the outdoors, this might be the best option for you. However, before you scatter ashes anywhere, make sure you find out whether there are any local rules or laws that apply.
Get Them Made into Something New
If you don't like the idea of scattering the ashes or keeping them at home, you might want to consider getting the ashes made into something. There are a few different things you can get ashes made into, whether it's a custom-made piece of keepsake jewellery, a vinyl record, a diamond or even fireworks. This will depend on your loved one's personality and interests and what you think they would want, as well as how you want to remember them – would wearing a piece of jewellery containing their ashes be meaningful to you? Don't forget that you can get a small piece of their ashes made into keepsake jewellery while still scattering or keeping the rest.
There's no right or wrong answer on what to do with a loved one's ashes, whether you choose to keep them, scatter them, get them made into something new or even split them between multiple people and places. If you want to talk about your options before choosing cremation, speak to a local funeral director.
