Two Urn Options For When A Couple Dies Together
An odd phenomenon occurs among lifelong couples. When one person dies, it's not unusual for the other person to follow soon after, sometimes within hours of his or her partner's passing. Choosing cremation over burial can significantly lessen the funeral costs, but it can be challenging deciding what to do with all those ashes. Here are two options for handling cremains for two people.
Single Extra-Large Urn
Possibly the easiest and most obvious option is to place all the cremains into one extra-large urn, letting the couple be together in death as they were in life. This is a good choice if the urn will be situated in one place (e.g. columbarium) or you don't have any other reason to divide the remains (e.g. split between family members). You can select a piece that speaks to the couple's relationship and personalities and have their names etched into the urn to commemorate them both.
It's important to get an urn that'll be big enough to hold both people. In general, you'll need one cubic inch of space for every pound (e.g. 300 cubic inches for 300 pounds). If the funeral director can't locate urns that are big enough, you can always have one customized to your needs or place half the ashes in a smaller urn and distribute the rest in other ways, such as sprinkle them at sea.
For those who are environmentally conscious, a greener option is to have the couple's ashes combined into a biodegradable container designed to grow a tree. You can then plant their ashes someplace where they can continue to live on in a different form.
Couple's Urn
The second option for housing the cremated remains of two people is to purchase a couple's urn. These are typically two separate urns that make a singular design when placed together. For instance, each urn would be in the shape of half a heart which made a full heart when placed side-by-side.
You can get these with either a horizontal design (made to sit next to each other) or a vertical design (made to stack on top of each other). Although these types of urns are designed to remain together, they can be separated if the cremains are to go to two different places. If this is the case, try to get a design that would look okay when the urns are apart.
For help choosing the best cremation services urns for your loved ones or assistance with planning the funeral, contact a funeral director.