Tell Your Own Story
Choosing to pre-plan your cemetery monument gives you complete control over the story that your monument tells.
Your cemetery monument will tell the story of your life for generations to come. Rather than leaving this important and difficult task to somebody else, you can pre-plan your own monument. In doing so, you can help give your family members the peace of mind they need that they are fulfilling your final wishes. And, while we try to make the monument shopping process simple, there are some complicated choices to make. With our monument pre-planning option, you can select the style, size, and color of the monument, as well as personalize it to best reflect your religious beliefs and values.
Why Should I Pre-Plan a Cemetery Monument?
Ordering a cemetery monument is a large responsibility with many considerations to make. Will the Long Island monument company be able to deliver it to the cemetery? Does the design fit your loved one? Will you be able to afford the monument?
Purchasing a monument removes this immense responsibility from your family, ensuring that they will be able to handle this difficult time appropriately.
1. Financial Security
In addition to removing this responsibility from family members, pre-planning a cemetery monument can have financial benefits for both you and your loved ones.
While there are several monument options that range greatly in price, monuments are generally expensive. In today’s economy, monument prices inevitably fluctuate as time go by. Purchasing a cemetery monument locks you in at current prices, without the uncertainty of future charges.
It’s often difficult for heirs to access inheritance money immediately following a loved one’s death. Purchasing a monument will eliminate your loved ones from experiencing accessibility issues, especially following a death.
Taking care of the headstone’s expense means that your family will have one fewer cost to worry about.
2. Emotional Security
The death of a loved one can leave families in severe emotional distress, especially when somebody passes unexpectedly. Pre-planning a monument ensures that your family will not suffer the emotional difficulty of ordering a monument, especially with other responsibilities at hand.
To place a monument order, families must provide the Long Island monument company with important details about their life. This includes the birth and death date, a fitting epitaph, and likely some headstone symbols. Choosing these important headstone details can be an emotionally taxing process. Ordering your monument before your death prevents family members from having to make these emotional choices, especially amidst the stresses of arranging a funeral, wake and other services.
At Queen of Peace Monuments, we are sensitive to the difficulties that families are undergoing during these tragic times. By pre-planning your own monument, you can help family members to avoid this.
3. Accurate Choices
The stylistic choices of a monument can speak volumes about a person’s history and character. Making these selections may cause arguments among family members, or cause stress for one individual assigned with making these choices.
Pre-planning your monument removes the element of uncertainty that may drive anxiety during this time. Making these stylistic choices by yourself will allow family members to focus on other important tasks, as well as process their grief.
How do I Pre-Plan a Cemetery Monument?
Fortunately, ordering a cemetery monument offers tremendous benefits without a long, drawn-out process.
Size/Style:
The style of your monument should be the first consideration, as it informs the rest of the design process. Headstones are the most common choice, while foot markers are best for smaller grave plots.
Material:
Carefully selecting a monument’s material is imperative, as the material can have a large influence on the monument’s appearance. The material will also impact the monument’s durability, as stronger monuments will be more resistant to weathering and other damage. Marble, granite and bronze are all common materials.
Inscription:
What should be inscribed on the monument? You should provide your name, birth date, and potentially other relevant information. If you are planning to share a headstone with a spouse, we can engrave additional names and/or dates after they have passed.
Epitaph:
An epitaph helps visitors have a meaningful and reflective experience by reminding them of the individual’s values. You can select an epitaph that you feel represents your values. Typically, epitaphs come from scripture, literature, song lyrics, or idioms. Alternatively, some people elect to include their relationships (e.g. father, friend).
Photos:
As an additional enhancement, some people choose to have a photo laser-etched onto their headstone. This could be a picture of yourself, your family, or anything else of significance.
At Queen of Peace Monuments, our goal is to make this process as simple as possible for you. Through our monument pre-planning program, you can ensure that your monument is beautiful, accurate, and representative of you. Please let us know if we can do anything to simplify this process for you and your family.
