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In the United States, you must obtain permission to scatter ashes on private property. Therefore, in places such as Disneyland or Disney World that do not grant permission for visitors to scatter ashes on their property, scattering ashes is illegal.
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Cremation jewelry typically has a small compartment where a tiny amount of ashes can be placed, often sealed with a screw or other closure method. For your convenience, we include a filling kit with each jewelry order, which contains a detailed instruction pamphlet, a funnel, a pipette, a toothpick, and sealing glue.
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Selecting the right urn size is important to ensure you have an urn that can accommodate your loved one's remains. It can be distressing to discover that an urn you picked is too small for your loved one. Fortunately, a standard-sized urn is properly sized to hold the full volume of ashes from most adults, which can take some of the guesswork out of choosing urn sizes. Use our urn size calculator to estimate the approximate volume you will need for your loved one's ashes, and when in doubt, always size up.
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Unlike a traditional burial, when cremated remains are buried, they do not decompose further in the ground, because they have already been reduced to bone through cremation. Some families may choose an eco-friendly or "green" burial by burying their loved one's ashes within a biodegradable urn that breaks down in the soil over months or years, eventually allowing the ashes to mix with the earth. More commonly, ashes will be buried within a permanently lasting cremation urn encased by a durable urn vault. This urn vault can be buried underground at a cemetery plot, designated memorial garden, or other chosen location. Burying cremated remains allows family and friends to give their loved one a final resting place in a memorial location that they can revisit.
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The amount of ashes you will need to fill a cremation jewelry urn depends on the specific jewelry piece you have, but you can expect to need no more than 2 cubic inches of cremated remains at most. Many cremation jewelry pendants hold a minuscule amount of ashes, approximately the size of one or two grains of rice. This minimal amount ensures the jewelry remains lightweight and comfortable to wear while still honoring your loved one.
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After you are cremated, your ashes can be buried in a variety of ways, such as in a traditional cemetery plot, a columbarium niche, or even in a family member's garden. The ashes can be placed in an urn or biodegradable container before burial, or they may be deposited directly into the ground, similar to a scattering.
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A cremation jewelry urn allows you to keep a loved one close wherever you go, which can provide you with comfort. Wearing a cremation jewelry piece can also symbolize how important your loved one was to you. For practicality's sake, a cremation jewelry urn is additionally the memorial option that takes up the least space if you want to display the jewelry as a keepsake.
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To fill a cremation urn with ashes, you can use direct transfer, bag transfer, or bag-to-bag transfer. The simplest way to fill a cremation urn is through bag transfer, where you simply place the entire bag of ashes inside the urn. Pouring ashes from their bag into the urn itself is called direct transfer, while pouring ashes from one bag into another bag is called bag-to-bag transfer. Any of these three methods will work to fill a cremation urn. If you are filling a smaller urn such as a medium urn or a keepsake urn, you can use direct transfer to pour some ashes into the urn, or use bag-to-bag transfer to portion out some ashes into a smaller bag before using bag transfer to place the smaller bag into the urn.
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A cremation urn is a container used to hold the cremated remains of someone who has passed away. While a standard urn for ashes has enough volume to hold the complete ashes of an average adult, keepsake urns are cremation urns that are designed to hold a much smaller volume of ashes. Keepsake urns are useful for families that want to divide a loved one's ashes among several people or households, allowing multiple family members to each have a small memento of their loved one.
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At In the Light Urns, urns are engraved using one of several different methods, depending on the type of urn. We engrave our urns using laser engraving, diamond drag engraving, and sand blast engraving. Laser engraving uses a focused laser beam to etch designs or text onto a surface, and is appropriate for wooden urns. Diamond drag engraving uses a diamond tip to physically carve designs into our metal urns. If a metal urn features a wrapped design, like our Winter Wolf Moon urns, we use sand blast engraving to blow sand across the stenciled surface of the urn and wear away the top layer of the design. Our urns are all stocked and engraved within one warehouse.
What should I engrave on a cremation urn?
Educational Resources > Choosing the Perfect Cremation Urn, Engraving & Printing
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A custom cremation urn is frequently engraved with the deceased's name, birth date, and death date. You can further personalize your engraving with an epitaph, which is a short expression of love or respect that goes on memorial items. Examples of epitaphs include "In Loving Memory" and "Beloved Wife and Mother"/Husband and Father". If there is room, a short quote or statement such as "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" can also be included.
Educational Resources > Collecting Ashes After a Cremation, Educational Resources > Filling a Cremation Urn with Ease
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Anyone can fill a cremation urn with ashes or other sentimental items, and there are no special qualifications or training needed. However, if you are uncomfortable with handling your loved one's cremated remains, you can ask your funeral home or cremation provider to fill the urn for you.
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You can reuse a cremation urn that is fully intact, but some people may find it inappropriate or disrespectful to reuse an urn that has previously held someone's ashes. If you do choose to reuse a cremation urn, make sure that it is clean and empty of past cremated remains. If cost is an issue for your family, we offer free cremation urns at In the Light Urns that have visual imperfections but are structurally sound.
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The opportunity for a final goodbye before cremation can occur at a funeral or memorial service held prior to the cremation. A memorial service before cremation allows family and friends a time to grieve and say their final goodbyes to their loved one. If the deceased is laid to rest in an open casket during the service, this viewing can also give mourners closure to see their loved one a last time before cremation. Some cremation providers also offer a witnessed cremation, where a small number of family members are allowed to join the cremation operator and watch their loved one be placed into the cremation chamber. A witnessed cremation allows grieving family to be the last people to see their loved one before cremation occurs.
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The simplest form of cremation is direct cremation, where a person is promptly cremated without any type of memorial like a casket viewing, funeral service, or cremation witnessing. Because there are no additional costs associated with memorial services, direct cremation is the most affordable form of cremation.
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Urns are typically used to hold the cremated remains or "ashes" of a person that has passed away, but urns, especially keepsake urns or jewelry urns, can hold other items as well. Other items that can be placed inside keepsake urns or jewelry urns include soil or sand from a burial site, dried flower petals, sentimental notes and other paper, fabric from a meaningful blanket or piece of clothing, locks of hair or fur, or anything else you can think of.
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To transport cremated remains to a new location for burial or scattering, you may choose to drive by car, fly by plane, or ship the ashes ahead of you. Traveling by car is the easiest way to transport ashes because there are no regulations or guidelines that you have to follow. If you are shipping ashes or bringing them on a flight, you will have to make sure your loved one's cremated remains are in a suitable cremation urn or other container for your chosen method, and pack the urn accordingly. The best mode of transportation depends on your specific needs, but any of these methods can get your loved one to their final destination safely.
