What to Do with Cremated Remains (Ashes) — Options for Families
After the service, families often ask the same question: What do we do now?
There are many possible answers, but the one that is right for you will be the one that best suits the needs of your family. The following are the most common options chosen by families for the care of the cremains, as well as options we can help you coordinate.
What You Can Do with Cremated Remains — Quick Overview
Choosing what to do with cremated remains can feel overwhelming. Below are the most common options families consider, each offering a different way to honor and remember a loved one.
🌊 Scatter at Sea
A meaningful ocean ceremony
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🌿 Scatter on Land
Nature-based or personal locations
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🪦 Cemetery Placement
Urn plots, niches, or mausoleums
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🏠 Keep at Home
Urns or personal memorial spaces
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💎 Memorial Keepsakes
Glass, jewelry, or stones
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Every family’s situation is different. We can help you understand these options and guide you toward what feels right—without pressure.
Not Sure Which Option Is Right? Here’s How to Decide
Most families don’t immediately know what to do—and that’s completely normal. Each option offers a different type of experience.
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- If you want something peaceful and natural, many families choose burial at sea
- If you prefer a specific meaningful place, land scattering may be right
- If having a place to visit matters, a cemetery may feel best
- If closeness is most important, many families choose to keep remains at home
- If you want something lasting and shareable, memorial keepsakes are often chosen
Many families ultimately choose a combination of options. A common approach is to scatter a portion of the cremated remains—often at sea or in a meaningful location—while keeping or memorializing the rest through keepsakes or a permanent placement.
We can help you talk through these options and decide what feels right for your family.
📞 Speak directly with a licensed funeral professional: 619-550-7807
👉Talk through your options and get clear guidance
Ash Scattering at Sea — A Meaningful Ocean Farewell
For many families, this becomes the most meaningful option once they understand what the experience is like.
Sea scattering of cremated remains is a deeply meaningful way for families to honor a loved one. Being on the water offers peace, reflection, and a sense of closure that many families find difficult to experience in a land-based setting. Once families understand what the experience is like, this often becomes the option that feels most meaningful and complete.
San Diego’s coastline and favorable weather make it an ideal location for ash scattering ceremonies. Our sister company, San Diego Burial at Sea, offers private charters conducted with care, respect, and full regulatory compliance. For other Southern California locations, families may also explore California Sea Burial, which serves additional ports throughout the region.
Having coordinated thousands of ceremonies over the years, we know that no two scatterings are alike—each reflects the life, values, and wishes of the person being honored.
We have learned that each ceremony reflects the life and personality of the individual being memorialized, as well as the preferences of the families participating. Families have reported that scattering the ashes at sea gave them a feeling of peace and closure they had not anticipated, which is wonderful to hear.
Families can explore ceremony options directly with us and then choose the level of ceremony, privacy, and personalization that is desired. As the cremains are released into the ocean, families can find solace, peace and the natural beauty of the surroundings. Their loved ones are being returned to the embrace of the sea. This symbolic act allows for a profound connection to nature and serves as a poignant way to bid farewell to those who have passed on.
Ash Scattering on Land
For families seeking a simple and meaningful way to honor a loved one, land scattering can be a peaceful option, especially when the site is meaningful to the deceased, like a certain park, beach, or nature area. For simple, nature-oriented families, scattering can bring a sense of peace and reflection.
Given the potential of land scattering to run afoul of local laws and regulations, it is helpful to families to receive consultation services. We assist families in understanding local regulations, identifying possible sites, and selecting a time of significance to the family to dedicate to land scattering. We do our best to make the land scattering experience respectful, compliant, and worry-free.
👉 Get help planning a land scattering ceremony
Cemeteries as a Final Resting Place
Cemeteries provide many families a place to remember their loved ones. A family may decide to place their loved one’s ashes in a cemetery because some families may have a tradition to place ashes in a cemetery as a way to create a location where they can remember and visit their loved one over the years.
Throughout San Diego County, families can choose from over 25 cemeteries. Families can choose from different memorial styles, cemetery locations, and different types of memorials for the ashes. Families can choose memorial styles to meet their needs.
Below are the most common cemetery options for cremated remains.
Standard Burial Plot for Cremains
Burying the cremated remains in a standard burial plot is a popular family selection. These plots can be used for casket burials, but are also used for the burial of urns. Cremated ashes can be placed in a container and buried in the cemetery.
In addition to urns, families also like to place memorial headstones to mark the burial, and provide setting for family members to gather.
Cremation Plots
A cremation plot is a special type of burial plot in a cemetery designed for the burial of cremation remains in an urn. This type of plot is smaller than a traditional burial plot, so more than one urn could potentially be buried there.
Cremation plots also may have memorial plaques or markers, and the burial plot offers the benefits of cemetery care and a nice environment for memorialization.
Urn Gardens
An urn garden is a cemetery or memorial park specially designed for the interment or placement of cremation urns. Along with greenery and other plants, urn gardens may have walkways, seating, and sections for private memorials.
Cemeteries or memorial parks that have urn gardens provide a location for family and friends to visit for years to come, and the gardens are usually selected for their peaceful ambiance and natural beauty.
Mausoleum for Cremains
For the cremated remains, a dignified interment alternative is the option of a mausoleum. A mausoleum is a fully enclosed structure that has individual or family niches. Many families appreciate the protection and permanence a mausoleum provides.
The enclosed space of a mausoleum provides a private visiting atmosphere that many families appreciate. Some mausoleums have the capacity to hold large collections of both casketed and cremated remains, while others are more intimate and designed for a single family.
Bringing Home The Cremains
Many families choose to bring cremated remains home after a cremation has taken place. It is a way to feel close to the person who has passed and to keep them close by. Having them within the home is very comforting to those who mourn the loss.
Some families may choose to have a container that represents the loved one. They may choose a container that is simple and traditional, or they may choose a container that is more elaborate, artistic, or modern. After a container has been decided on, they may choose to place the cremains in a space where they can have a lot of reflection, such as a space on the mantel, a contemplative space, or a memorial shelf.
View our online urn selection for keepsake urns, memorial urns, and other cremation remembrance options.
Glass & Keepsake Memorials
Cremation glass—also known as remembrance glass—is a handcrafted art form that preserves a small portion of cremated remains within hand-blown glass. Each piece becomes a lasting keepsake that families can display in their home or share with loved ones.
Because only a small amount of cremains is needed, multiple family members can have individual memorials while preserving the remainder for scattering, burial, or other arrangements.
There are so many options. Please take a look at our blog article, Beyond the Urn: Exploring the Endless Possibilities of Cremains for 100 more ideas for using cremains.
Transform Cremains into Memorial Stones (Solidification)
Instead of receiving loose traditional cremation ashes, families can now get memorial stones made from some of their loved one’s cremated remains.
Loose cremains can be swapped for a clean and permanent keepsake from Parting Stone. Through a process of solidification, cremains are made into an average of 40-60 stones that are each uniquely shaped. The stones are hand-formed, and are a meaningful keepsake to hold, display, or share.
Reasons families prefer memorial stones include:
✅No loose ashes.
✅Easy to hold, display, or carry.
✅Entire collections are made from one person’s cremains.
✅Ideal for sharing among family members or keeping close at home.
Stones can be placed in a bowl, or memorial space, carried in a pocket, or shared with children or siblings. A minimum of ¼ cup of cremains is needed to complete this process.
Many families wish to scatter cremains at sea or on land, and are then able to do that while also having keepsake stones made, for a ceremonial farewell and lasting personal remembrance.
Further details can be found in our information guide, Cremains to Stones. Parting Stone® is an independent memorial provider. All services are coordinated through Funerals Your Way for continuity of care.
Price: $2,495 – Estimated completion time: About 10 weeks