Cremation is the process of breaking down a body to its basic elements through exposure to open flames, heat, and evaporation. The remaining bone fragments are then ground down to create what we know as ashes.

The cremation chamber where the body is placed for cremation is usually only large enough to hold one container with a single body at a time. Identification tags follow the body through the entire cremation process so you can be sure the ashes you receive is your loved one.

Cremated remains will usually be provided in an urn provided or chosen by the family. If an urn has not yet been chosen by the time the cremation has been performed, the funeral home or crematory will place the ashes within a plastic bag placed into a temporary container such as a cardboard box.

If you find it too uncomfortable or distressing to transfer the cremated remains of your loved one into their cremation urn, you can always contact the funeral home or crematory who performed the cremation. Often this is included in the general process and they will take care of the transfer if the urn is provided before the cremation is complete. Otherwise, they may charge a nominal fee for the service.

The beauty of cremation is the variety of choices available for the final disposition of the ashes. You can choose to keep the ashes at home in a cremation urn, scatter the ashes in an important spot, or you could place the ashes in a cemetery.

If you are set to fly with a cremation urn, we recommend a wooden or biodegradable urn. For security reasons,all urns will have to be scanned to ensure they do not contain anything harmful, making wood/biodegradable cremation urns the best option as they are easily xrayed. If you’d like to fly with a metal urn, this is possible, but you can expect that the TSA agent will have to open the urn to determine the contents. This may be distressing so it would be a good idea to call your airline ahead of time to learn their specific rules and regulations regarding flying with an urn.

While searching for the ideal urn for your loved one, prices may seem daunting and even change your mind. With cremation urns though,the amount you invest directly determines the quality of the urn you receive. This comes back to the raw materials used in manufacturing- the cheaper a cremation urn is, the cheaper the raw materials used to construct it.