How Burial Options Can Help Memorialize Your Personality
Clothes, hairstyles, and jewelry often serve as personal branding. Some people can change their styles by the month while others are “timeless classics.” Whatever the case may be, our personalities shine through outward appearances and behaviors and are part of our identities—how people know us. As we enter our senior years, our personalities are seen through “retirement personal branding” as evidenced by the vehicles we choose to drive, where we may relocate, and our travel and leisure activities. And, so if friends and family know and love us by our unique personalities through life’s stages, wouldn’t it make sense to factor in “burial personal branding” into the cemetery products we choose as we engage in pre-planning?
Marking your memory
Your choices should reflect your personality to choosing burial products and selecting your final resting place.
For example, grave markers are typically engraved flat bronze plates attached to granite and may include a photo or vase for flowers. To some, this style might reflect a more pensive, serene, or reserved personality.
Memorial tombstones are upright granite monuments that range from standard shapes to elaborate structures. This style could reflect a jubilant, outgoing, or adventurous personality.
Keep in mind, cemeteries may permit flat markers only or tombstones only (and some will allow for both). So in determining whether a flat marker or a tombstone best represents the personality you reflected during your life, be sure to include that consideration in choosing a cemetery.
A rose is a rose is a rose
Do you have a “colorful personality?” If so, you should include provisions to have your gravesite adorned with flowers. Depending on cemetery regulations, there are several options from which you may be able to choose. A common choice includes detachable flower vases built directly into tombstones or grave markers. These types of vases won’t topple over in strong wind, which could represent a pleasant, yet strong personality. Potted plants and flowers are also popular, and many could reflect a more progressive, easy going personality.
Staying green
Are you environmentally-minded? If so, you may wish to consider a green burial. Some cemeteries offer sections for eco-friendly burials with compostable caskets.
Some consider cremation as a green option. While there are a variety of reasons people choose cremations, environmental-consciousness is increasingly becoming a factor.
Long distance consideration
Some cemeteries provide gravesite decoration services. So, if your family lives a distance from the burial site flowers, wreaths, log boxes, or flags can be placed at the marker and removed at the end of the season. If your family is located miles from your final resting spot, consider a cemetery that will keep your gravesite freshly adorned for when they visit—in a manner that best reflects you.
As you engage in burial pre-planning, reflect upon how your choices can contribute to memorializing the personality your family and friends will fondly remember.
