Friday, February 1, 2013

Grave Markers and Temporary Grave Markers

Throughout time while many things have changed, specific customs for honoring the dead remain pretty consistent. In fact, one death related thing in particular is pretty constant across most cultures – the placement of grave markers on or near the ground where their descendants are buried.

From the earliest days graves have been marked in one fashion or another. For instance, the Greeks had time-honored rituals emphasizing the necessity of a proper burial. They built monumental earth mounds, erected rectangular tombs, and created elaborate marble slabs bearing an inscription or design to serve as a grave marker. Statues were also often erected to mark the grave and to ensure that the deceased would not be forgotten.

On the other end of the spectrum, early Quakers did not believe in marking their graves with tombstones, using fieldstones or round stones instead. But again, grave markers still existed.

The purpose of a grave marker is to mark the burial place of a loved one to help cemetery workers, historians and family members located the graves of family members.
Funeral directors have the privilege of sitting down with client families and helping them create a beautiful and unique funeral service as well as offer keepsakes and mementoes in honor of their loved ones. A relatively new funeral product that funeral directors can now offer is actually an old traditional item renewed and revitalized with new purpose – the temporary grave marker.

Before a headstone or permanent grave marker can be created and installed, a temporary grave marker is put in place. Temporary markers are usually designed to be in place for only a short period of time, usually up to six months. Typically they are constructed of a simple plastic stake attached to a card holder. The plain white card would bear the deceased’s name, cemetery plot number and maybe the date of birth and death typed in black ink. Once the permanent grave marker was finished, these flimsy markers would be discarded.

Newly developed funeral software put an end to the outdated and unattractive temporary grave markers. Funeral directors now can create personalized, attractive grave markers that convert to a photo keepsake for their client families. This can be done in-house and is as easy as clicking a few buttons on the computer.

Utilizing the same colorful theme selected for the funeral stationery, this new temporary grave marker can include a photograph of the person who has passed away. It can also include the person’s name, dates of birth and death, a favorite poem, special verse or favorite quote. Both the front and back side of the temporary grave marker can be personalized using the funeral software pre-formatted templates. The grave marker will help loved ones honor their family member and help others locate the grave.

Once the permanent marker is in place, the stake can be detached from the temporary grave marker and the family can be presented with a beautiful photo frame keepsake for families to display and treasure for generations to come.


Frazer Consultants primary products and services include interactive funeral home website design, funeral tribute video software, funeral webcasting, funeral candles, funeral keepsakes, funeral register books, personalized funeral stationery, temporary grave markers and funeral holiday remembrance ornaments. For more information, please visit http://www.frazerconsultants.com or call 866-372-9372.

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