When it comes to ashes being scattered, the law in the UK is very relaxed compared to many countries. Once you determine where you want to spread your ashes, make sure you get the landowners permission.
Scattering the ashes at sea or at the quayside is a ceremony which can be quite peaceful and serene.
While Scattering is the most popular ashes treatment , there are many other ways ashes can be treated.
Your loved one’s ashes can be placed into an urn, made into jewellery or glass ornaments, placed into a reburial chamber, used for a painting and even tattooed. For a long time, families have chosen to have the ashes of their loved ones as a part of their daily lives and kept them at home in a container.
Urns come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and designs. When choosing an urn, make sure that it will hold a medium to heavy weight, around 4-6 pounds. They can be made from marble, stainless steel, aluminium, bronze, glass, porcelain, or wood. Biodegradable urns are used in ocean burials or “green burials” in which the urn, with ashes and seeds, is planted ultimately growing into a memorial tree.
Placing a loved ones ashes inside necklaces, rings, lockets, pendants, or even bracelets can be a respectful way to keep a loved one close. Cremation memorial jewellery can easily be personalised, and shared with other loved ones. Ashes can also be stored in decorative objects like festive decorations, glass paperweights, hourglasses, even golf balls.
Of course, ashes may also be interred at the cemetery, just as a death is interred in caskets. Cemetery plots (gravesites) may house several urns, which may share a single headstone. Similarly, Mausoleums can also accommodate multiple vessels.
A Columbarium is a facility above ground, or on the walls, that has niches for the placement of an urn or similar container. Such niches are an option for families that wish for a permanent, accessible place for visiting so that they can memorialize their loved ones.
Scatter Gardens are a popular option provided by cemeteries for families who are interested in spreading their ashes over cemetery grounds. Scatter gardens are well-maintained areas which permit ashes to be spread anywhere in the grounds.
There are also a number of non-traditional, innovative options available to handle ashes; having the ashes built in to fireworks, dropped from an airplane or balloon, they can even be sent in to space! And more options are being created daily.