If you have opted for cremation of a loved one's remains, you'll also need to decide what to do with the remains once you receive them from the cremation facility. Here are four wonderful ideas for giving your loved one a final resting place. 

Try an Urn

Urns are a more traditional use for cremated ashes, and they can be an easy option for storing the remains in a visible place in your home. The urn is a great casing because it is often made of metal or another durable material that is resistant to breakage. There are some more unusual urns coming out on the market as well, such as urns that nurture a seedling to grow. You can display the urn in a visible place, bury it in a ceremony, or encase it in a mausoleum dedicated to your loved one. With an urn instead of a casket, it can be less expensive to build a mausoleum because you will need to devote less space to the body.

Hold a Scatter at Sea Ceremony

There are many companies that specialize in holding scatter at sea ceremonies. In these memorials, the family gathers to speak about the loved one, and then their ashes are released into the ocean. This can be sort of a poetic notion for many families, as the ashes will literally be distributed to all corners of the Earth, which can be a symbolic way of showing that the person is always around. 

Use them for Something Decorative

You could also speak with your funeral director about jewelry makers who use the ashes from cremation to form commemorative jewelry pieces, sculptures, and paintings. The ashes are literally mixed in with the building or painting materials, where they are locked into the commemorative piece. This can be a great way to keep something on display that reminds you of the loved one, but also contains a small part of them. 

Let Individuals Decide

Finally, there may not be one single best answer for what to do with the ashes. But this is one of the good things about cremation; you can let several different people decide what should happen to the ashes. Split the ashes into several separate bags and give them to the friends and family who were closest to your loved one. Allow them to decide how they would like to use the ashes in a memorial to your loved one. You could even create a memorial that includes pictures and stories of how each person decided to use their ashes. 

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