Category: Articles

When you lose a loved one, one of the most important aspects of organising their cremation is choosing an urn. Urns hold the cremated remains (also known as ‘ashes’ or ‘cremains’) of the deceased and serve as the perfect memorial of their life when displayed in the home. If someone very close to you has passed or you’re in the unfortunate position of having lost two loved ones, you may want to consider opting for a companion urn.

What Is a Companion Urn?

Companion urns (also known as ‘double urns’) are urns which are made to hold the cremated remains of two people. They’re most commonly used by married couples, but any two people can share a companion urn. Companion urns are usually identical to traditional urns in every way except size, as these containers need to be large enough to hold two adults.

If you’re unsure whether a companion urn is the right choice for your loved one or loved ones, keep reading.

Are Companion Urns Affordable?

As with all cremation containers, companion urns vary in price depending on their design and construction. However, if you’re concerned about affordability, a companion urn is usually the most inexpensive option, as a single large urn will be cheaper than two standard-sized urns of the same type.

Will the Remains of Both People Be Mixed or Separated?

The beauty of companion urns is that they’re very versatile. Whether the cremated remains are kept separate or commingled (meaning ‘mixed’) is entirely up to you.

If you would prefer to keep the remains divided (for example, if you follow Roman Catholicism, which doesn’t allow commingling), there are two main ways to achieve this. The first is to buy a companion urn with a divider; some urns have removable dividers, while others are permanently built-in.

The second method is to keep the remains in two separate bags which are placed side by side in a large companion urn. Cremated remains will often be returned to you in a plastic bag that you can use for this purpose. Bags also offer a second layer of protection for your loved one’s remains and allow for easy transfer if more remains will be added to the companion urn at a later date.

If you would prefer to commingle the ashes, this can be done by yourself or by your chosen funeral home. The ashes can either be placed directly into the companion urn or they can be commingled in a protective bag which is placed inside the urn.

Can Companion Urns Be Inscribed?

Many people avoid companion urns because they believe they cannot be inscribed if only one half of the pair has passed away. In reality, this is not the case. There are many ways in which a companion urn can be inscribed when it will temporarily hold only the remains of one individual.

The first option is to inscribe the companion urn with the date of the couple’s wedding rather than the dates of each individual’s passing. Each person’s date of birth can also be added if this is desired.

Alternatively, you may choose to have the urn engraved with the number of years the couple was married prior to the first individual passing away.

Finally, some may choose to refrain from adding dates altogether, instead inscribing the urn with the names of the two individuals (and, possibly, a heartfelt quote or message). This is a good choice for companion urns for unmarried pairs.

Whether you choose to use a companion urn or two separate urns, Cremations Only is here to provide respectful, dignified and compassionate funeral direction services for you and your family. Contact us online or by phone for a more information or a no obligations quote.

Making the choice to be cremated or buried can be complex and fraught with emotion. Family can be overwhelmed by the idea of cremation or the cost of burial, and it can often be difficult to respect the wishes of the deceased where conflicting values are held.

Funerals are as much a celebration of life as a mourning of passing. Cremation has a finality that physically ends one’s presence and for family members who wish to continue honouring the life of the deceased, a plaque has less of a poetic sentiment than a headstone. A sentiment that briefly describes the life of the deceased provides a context for how the deceased lived and died.

A Memorial for The Living

Burials have a tradition in the Christian faith that dates back the first testament when Moses was buried by God in an unknown location. Today, the final resting place of our dearly departed is celebrated at funerals and many years on from death.

Père Lachaise in Paris is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. It’s the final resting place of composer Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Proust, Gertrude Stein and Jim Morrison.

Some of the most romantic and beautiful stories are told in the intricate architecture and ongoing adulation of the deceased. Oscar Wilde’s tomb is covered in lipstick marks, whilst fans of The Doors make pilgrimages to the site of Jim Morrison’s gravestone, leaving epithets that seem to ultimately prove their own existence.

Westwood Village, a memorial park in Los Angeles, is the final resting place of many of Hollywood’s celebrities and creative geniuses. Marilyn Monroe, who was cremated, attracts thousands of visitors a year who bring flowers and leave lipstick marks surrounding her plaque.

Honouring Life

Life can be honoured in death whether we choose cremation or burial. An affordable funeral with living significance can include the scattering of ashes at a location sacred to the deceased, where descendants can pause for reflection in perpetuity of memory.

Functional memorials, such as stone benches or gifts to private clubs can also serve as a permanent memory of a cherished life well-lived. The options today are more varied than ever before.

Funeral Services in Brisbane 

When you’re ready to talk to a funeral director in Brisbane, Cremations Only can help with the planning and preparation of a funeral. If you’re considering expressing your wishes in a will, we can assist in the costing and preparation to ensure your loved ones are prepared to enact your wishes.

Our low cost options are among the most competitive for funeral homes in Brisbane and can be arranged discreetly and with the greatest sensitivity to all involved.

Depending on your culture, religion and other beliefs, a funeral may mean many things.

For many cultures, a funeral simply signifies the end of life on earth and the body we inhabit. After a funeral, the personal journey of the deceased continues as they move into the afterlife, reincarnation, paradise or heaven. The ceremony is an opportunity to remember, to mourn, to celebrate and to help your loved one on their journey.

For those who don’t believe in the afterlife, a funeral is still a time to take pause, to remember and to celebrate. The ceremony provides an opportunity for the recognition of a life well lived. The work of individuals throughout our communities is extraordinary, both the magnanimous and the minute. For many people, this recognition is more important than any religious or cultural aspect.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that funerals are there for the living, both to help us to celebrate and memorialise a loved one, and to help us through our grief.  Let’s explore this concept further.

The 5 Stages of Loss and Grief

The grief that we experience when we lose a loved one will undoubtedly be a highly personal journey. There are no simple steps to follow, no right or wrong ways to grieve and no definitive answers to why we grieve, how we should grieve, or how long we should be in mourning.

What the 5 stages of grief do provide is some further information on the near universal stages of mourning that you will probably experience in some form.

The 5 stages are:

1. Denial and isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Funeral ceremonies have been performed in some way or another since the start of recorded history. These ceremonies provide rituals, symbols and shared experiences that come in the form of religion, emotion, philosophy, culture and more.

These experiences often help to bring people together, teaching us to accept, to celebrate and to say farewell. By uniting people together, funerals also provide an invaluable support system that we can all lean on is some form. 

Dr Wolfelt’s Hierarchy of the Purpose of Funerals 

Dr Alan Wolfelt is an author and grief counsellor who teaches us more about the purpose of funerals.

Dr Wolfelt’s Hierarchy of the Purpose of Funerals outlines six essential purposes of a funeral. In many ways, these steps echo the importance of a funeral for grief and promote the ceremony as a form of healing, celebration and progression.

These six steps are:

1. Transcendence – helping us to accept the wonder of life and death
2. Meaning – recognising the life that was lived and providing new purpose for the living
3. Expression – an opportunity to articulate our feelings on life, death and the deceased
4. Support – as already mentioned, the symbols and rituals of funerals unite people
5. Recall – sharing memories of the deceased that create hope for the future
6. Reality – acknowledgement or acceptance that someone in our life has died 

Taking the Next Steps 

When you’re ready, take the time to reflect back on the 5 stages of grief, Dr Wolfelt’s 6 purposes of a funeral and our wider conversation. We believe that you will find the importance and even the beauty of the funeral ceremony.

A funeral is about helping us to mourn, it is about bringing us together, and it is about a celebration of a life. Of course, a funeral will mean many other things to you too, depending on your culture, your religion, your traditions and your own experiences. All of these are valid, important and beautiful.

If you need an affordable funeral in Brisbane or Gold Coast, Cremations Only can provide cheap funeral options and low cost caskets in various designs. Take the next step in the confidence that you can celebrate and remember a life, regardless of your budget. Call us on 1300 311 747 to discuss or email us.

When someone close to you is gone, it’s important to celebrate their life in a way that has meaning to those left behind. One way to pay tribute to your loved one without holding a full professional funeral service is to simply hold a memorial with friends and family. If you choose to hold a memorial instead of a professional funeral service, an unattended cremation service is a practical and affordable option. It means that once the ashes are collected the family can take time to organise a personal memorial that’s unique, special and rich in meaning

 A memorial service can take the form of a traditional funeral service or it can be an intimate gathering at home, at a park, beach, venue or other location of the family’s choosing. It’s a special time for the family and friends of the deceased to come together to celebrate the life of the individual, honour their passing and comfort each other through their grief. There are limitless shapes memorials can take – each is as unique as the life it commemorates. They can be as formal or as informal as you like, Cremations Only can provide a celebrant if you wish.

Some popular ideas for memorials include:

An intimate gathering at home

A home gathering could be similar to a traditional professional funeral service or completely unique. Ask friends to bring photographs, videos, trinkets and other special things they’ve shared with the deceased and share stories as a group. Alternatively, you could put together a photo wall and ask guests to bring a photo to add to the wall.

Special interest group tribute

If your loved one was involved in a special interest group such as a sporting team, band, art society, etc., ask members of the group to perform or pay tribute in another way.

Charity fundraiser

Organise a charity fundraiser. This option is especially pertinent for families who have lost their loved one to cancer or disease. Raising funds for research and awareness of the disease, for a hospital or care group, is a fantastic way to help prevent future illnesses and pay respect to those who helped your loved one through a difficult time. The fundraiser could even become an annual event.

A planting ceremony

Ask each guest (or group of guests) to bring a plant to contribute to a memorial garden for the deceased. If the deceased has been cremated, a memorial garden is a good place for friends and family to come to remember them – much like a traditional headstone is for burials. You may even choose to scatter or plant the ashes in the memorial garden.

At Cremations Only, we provide affordable cremations and funerals in Brisbane and we make each occasion as unique as your loved one. If you need advice or options for an affordable cremation or funeral service, we’d love to help you. Call us on 1300 311 747 to discuss or email us.