How to Choose a Memorial Urn — A Practical Guide

Choosing an urn is one of the few decisions a family makes fully consciously during this particular time. Below we have gathered practical information worth knowing before making a purchase — without haste and without unnecessary embellishment.

What capacity is right

The volume of an adult’s ashes after cremation is usually between 3 and 3.5 litres, though this depends on body build, bone density, and the weight of the deceased, not only their weight in life. This is why most urns intended for adults have a nominal capacity of 3 to 4 litres or more — a smaller urn may simply not hold the entire volume. The crematorium or the funeral home conducting the ceremony will usually be able to provide the most accurate information about the amount of a specific person’s ashes.

Material

Wooden urns, including those made from ancient black oak, are notable for their durability and warm character — they work well both as a form for placement in a columbarium and as an object kept at home. Glass urns allow for greater freedom of form and colour. The choice of material is often a matter of what role the urn is meant to play — whether it will be part of the home interior or will go into a columbarium niche or grave.

Personalisation

An engraved name, dates, or a short dedication give the urn an individual character. In our Portrait Memory line, an additional feature is a built-in photo frame in the popular 4×6 cm format — it allows the photo to be easily swapped without affecting the urn’s construction.

Columbarium niche or keeping at home

If the urn is to be placed in a columbarium niche, it is worth checking the exact internal dimensions of the niche at the given cemetery or columbarium beforehand — these vary between facilities and regions. Rules on keeping ashes outside a cemetery vary by country; we always recommend contacting the local civil registry office or cemetery administrator in this regard, as regulations can change.

Processing time

Handmade urns, especially those with personalised elements, take time to produce. We state the exact processing time for each product or communicate it individually after the order is placed.

Source for data on typical ash volume: publicly available funeral industry guidelines (including urngarden.com). If in doubt, the crematorium that performed the cremation will always be able to provide the most accurate information.