Losing your beloved is a painful process. However, you’ll still be tasked with deciding on their funeral arrangements. It includes picking an appropriate burial site and the type of headstone you’ll need to be placed on their grave. A headstone, also known as a gravestone, grave marker, or tombstone, is a monument placed at the head of the grave to indicate where your loved one is buried. It’s one way you can keep the memory of your loved one alive. It’s usually placed after the soil has settled.
Different cemeteries may have regulations on the style of headstones you can place in their cemetery. Therefore, ask before you put up a gravestone. You can use the following advice as a guide to create the ideal headstone that captures your loved one’s personality:
- Pick The Style You Prefer
Headstones usually come in different styles. Thus, consult with your family to determine which one is the most beautiful. It could be any of the following:
- Upright: It’s the most common style of a headstone. It contains a base and a tablet where the information about your loved one is displayed. You can either go for a single upright or a companion upright stone if you’re burying two relatives next to each other.
- Bench headstone: It’s another stylish option you can go for, and you’re not limited to simply having them in a cemetery. It can provide a place to sit as you reflect on the times you spent with the departed when they were still alive.
- Flat grave marker: It’s made to be at the same level as the grass. They’re 4 inches thick and primarily rectangular. They’re more affordable. However, you may have difficulty locating your loved one’s grave when visiting them.
These are the different styles of gravestones you can choose from. You’d want to go for the one you can quickly identify when you get to the cemetery. You can also select unique shapes such as a checked top, raised shoulder, oval, half-round, or gothic. Considering designing and installing these styles can be technical, it’d be best to work with artisans with years of experience and who can do the design while you sit back and grieve. You can check the offers on the next page and inquire further about the unique designs and pricing.
- Select The Right Material
The material you pick should be within your budget. Consider choosing a material that’s durable and doesn’t require regular maintenance. Some commonly used materials are:
- Granite: It’s an attractive material with durability and weather-resistant features. You won’t have to worry about the lettering washing away.
- Sandstone: It’s a material that makes it easy to inscribe letters on, only that it’s hard to clean, can stain quickly, and isn’t very long-lasting.
- Concrete: It’s commonly used when making bases. However, it’s likely to have mold, and you’ll have to clean it regularly.
- Marble: It’s a material that’s been used for hundreds of years for making gravestones. It’s smooth, bright, and easy to write on, but the inscriptions can quickly wear off.
- Bronze: It’s a classy choice for headstones and is your go-to material if you want to add more details to the stone. It requires minimal maintenance. However, it’s one of the most expensive materials.
Each material has a unique price range, weather-resistant capabilities, and durability. You may want to choose one that doesn’t require constant repair and can easily show engravings.
- Pick An Appropriate Finish
Headstone finishes vary, as outlined below:
- Polished finish: In this case, the headstones are soft and shiny, and you’ll require regular maintenance to keep such an appearance.
- Part-polished finish: It’s used to draw attention to the places you’d like to be more visible. For instance, you can make the inscriptions and the base shiny and slick and leave the other parts with sand or blast finishes.
- Honed finish: In this finish, the headstone is smooth but unpolished, and soft but not reflective. It’s commonly used on the monument’s sides.
- Rock pitch finish: It’s commonly used on the edges giving the stone a natural and coarse appearance, making it look more traditional.
Choosing a finish is mostly a matter of preference, but it also dictates the maintenance requirements. Smoother finishes are easier to maintain than rough ones.
- Decide On The Inscriptions
Discuss among family members and decide on what inscriptions you’d like to have added to the headstone. Ideally, it should contain the deceased’s name or nickname, date of birth and death, and their relations. You could also include a farewell message which could be their favorite scripture or poem.
You can use these engraving styles for the headstone inscription: incised lettering, V-cut, lead letter inscriptions, raised lead letters, and headstone symbols. Avoid using hidden profanity in the inscriptions.
- Consider Adding Accessories
You could make your beloved headstone attractive by adding accessories. Some of the things you can add include unique artwork, carving shapes, photos, solar-powered lights, picture frames, flag accessories, custom name necklace, and customized statues. You can add gardening around the grave site if the cemetery allows for landscaping.
Conclusion
Selecting a headstone is critical because it’s an identity marker in the cemetery. Since it’s an emotional time, you can take your time trying to remember what the departed loved most and try including them on the gravestone. While at it, pick an outstanding design with durable material, a nice finish, and include remarkable inscriptions. Work with reliable experts who can consider your needs and produce what you want.
