Customizing Cremations

There are many cremation services offered in Beltsville, MD, so you have many different ways to customize your cremation or the cremation of a loved one.

Whether you’re preplanning your own cremation or you are making cremation arrangements for a loved one, your funeral director can offer advice and assistance to help you create the cremation you want.

First, you can choose what you want to do with the cremation remains. Cremation remains can be used in many different ways, so you can choose to do several different things with them.

For instance, you may want a portion of the cremation remains put into an urn to keep or be buried in a cemetery, but you also want some of the cremation remains made into memorial jewelry and some of them to be scattered in a special place.

Your funeral home has a wide selection of urns (indoor and outdoor) to choose from for storing cremation remains or burying them. Likewise, your funeral has many cremation jewelry designs for you to pick from so you’re sure to find something that will fit everyone’s taste and style.

The portion of cremation that you want to scatter will be given to you in a cremation container so that you can take them or have them shipped to the place where they will be scattered. Some people have special ceremonies with family and close friends when they scatter the cremation remains, while other people decide to simply scatter them.

With cremation, you can choose to have a service before the cremation happens or after the cremation happens. If you choose to have a service before the cremation takes place, then you can also have a visitation or a viewing as well (you don’t have to, however).

The service you hold can range from having all the elements of a traditional funeral service to having friends and family meet at a restaurant or a favorite vacation spot to hold a memorial tribute that includes stories and memories.

You have the ability to customize the service in almost any way you choose. Some people hold services that combine elements of funeral services, such as readings and spiritual comfort, with a more informal format that allows mourners to convey their own thoughts on the life and the impact of the deceased.

Just as with burials, military honors can be included with services for cremations for military veterans. Your funeral director can make all the arrangements to have these honors provided by a local military installation or veteran’s organization.

Many services for cremations are also followed by a reception that includes food and drinks (if the service isn’t held in a restaurant or at a special place). Some funeral homes have caterers they work with who can provide food and drinks for the reception, but usually, friends or church congregations organize and supply the provisions for the reception.

If you want some of the cremation remains buried, you can choose to have them stored in a columbarium (aboveground burial – niches may be inside a mausoleum or self-contained in a standalone structure) or buried in a cemetery.

If you want the cremation remains buried in a cemetery, the funeral director can make the arrangements and make sure that the cremation remains are put into an urn designed to be buried. Most cemeteries require that urns and caskets be buried inside a vault, but your funeral director will take care of providing that as well.

If you want more information about cremation services offered in Beltsville, MD, you can talk with our expert staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A.