Urns

A Guide To Selecting the Perfect Cremation Urn

Finding the perfect cremation urn to memorialize the ashes of a loved one adds a beautiful personal touch to the memorial process. With so many different styles of cremation urns available it can be overwhelming trying to find an urn that you think encapsulates the personality of a loved one. It is important to take your time when choosing a funeral urn as the final resting place for the ashes of the recently deceased. This guide will take everything into consideration when selecting a beautiful urn to pay tribute to a loved one.

The Color You Choose

The color of the urn is what gives it that distinct feeling. The color of the urn is in a way the personality or energy of the urn. Every single color symbolizes a specific feeling. Colors represent emotions, and at an even deeper subconscious level they can represent a person. Color theory does a great job of describing what each color represents.  

Red Cremation Urn – Since red is the warmest color, it is often great for symbolizing love and passion. This is the most high energy color on the color wheel.

Yellow Cremation Urn – A yellow urn is perfect for holding the ashes of a loved one who was cheerful because the color yellow is associated with optimism and happiness.

Blue Cremation Urn – Blue evokes feelings of calmness and spirituality as well as security and trust. Dark blues elicit feelings of strength while light blue colors have a more friendly energy.

Orange Cremation Urn – Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and enthusiasm.

Purple Cremation Urn – Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. The color purple symbolizes nobility, luxury, and creativity. 

Green Cremation Urn – Green is the color of nature and symbolizes health, harmony, rejuvenation and new beginnings. Green is the easiest on the eyes and is calming and restful. 

White Cremation Urn – White is associated with light, goodness, simplicity, and purity. It is considered to be the color of perfection. The color white can symbolize a blank slate and a new beginning.

Black Cremation Urn – In ancient Egypt, black represented life and rebirth. The color black is often associated with power, knowledge, loyalty, and finality.

Pink Cremation Urn – Many people associate pink with feminimity. It might also bring to mind romance and holidays such as Valentine’s Day. Some shades of pale pink are described as relaxing.

Check out this interactive site to help select colors that best compliment each other!

The Shape of the Cremation Urn

Shape plays a huge factor in the identity of the urn. With so many different types of urns to choose from, finding an urn that you like the shape of can be difficult. Because interpreting shapes is so subjective and everyone may have their own opinion on what emotions and feelings the shape actually conveys, it is best to just select an urn with a shape that compliments the color of the urn and the overall feel of the urn. It is difficult to explain but you will know it when you see it.

Where Will the Urn be Kept

Depending on if you plan to bury the urn or to display the cremation urn in a columbarium or at your home will also factor in to the urn that you select. If you plan to keep the urn on display then you may want to consider a cremation urn that nicely compliments it’s surroundings. If you plan on burying the funeral urn then you may place more importance on the material of the urn.

Wooden urns are very suitable for burial because they are biodegradable and have less of a long term impact on the environment. Metal urns such as bronze urns, brass urns, aluminum urns, and closinne urns all make great display urns, but they can also are durable enough to preserve the ashes if you do decide to bury the urn.

Cremation Urn Sizing

Probably the most common question that people ask when searching for a cremation urn is “What size urn do I need?” Since people and pets come in many different sizes, so to do cremation urns. It is important to note that you can never get an urn that is too big to fit the ashes. It is perctly acceptable to have some space left in the urn after all the ashes have been put in. However, you can get an urn that is too small and does not fit all of the ashes. This may not be a problem for some families but some people may want a funeral urn that can hold all of the ashes of a loved one. Another factor that needs to be taken into account is if you choose to display your urn on a niche in a columbarium or on a shelf in your house then you want to make sure that the urn can fit in the space beforehand.

When Selcting a Cremation Urn to hold the ashes of aloved one:

1lb of body weight = 1 cubic inch of ashes

The amount of ashes left from the cremation of the body usually depends on many other factors besides body weight. As such, it is impossible to guarentee the exact capicity of a cremation urn needed to accomodate all of the ashes. Most cremations that we carry at Safe Passage Urns are adult sized and the majority of the adult urns are 200 cubic inches. This size can accomodate most people’s cremains, however, we do have larger urns to accomodate taller and larger people. 

Pet Urns

When purchasing an urn for a pet it is important to consider the cremation process is different and they oftentimes need a slightly larger urn than a human may at the same weight. It is suggested to add an additional 10-15 cubic inches to the urn to accommodate the extra cremains.

So, if your pet weighed 50 lbs then a 60-65 cubic inch urn would be best. It is also important to note that choosing an urn larger then the minimum required size is perfectly acceptable. Many families choose to use the additional space within the urn for their pets favorite toy or their collar.