Marble red granite saw cut memorial marker

This beautiful marbled red granite marker is shown with basic engraving in a feminine font highlighted by white litho paint. The optional sandblasted cross design is a great way to honor your faithful loved one and is available for an additional charge. Contact us for other beautiful design options.

This lovely gravestone with saw cut sides and polished top is shown with the optional sandblasted outline and a floral design which are both available for an additional charge. The bold lettering is done in Spanish and highlighted by a black litho paint. Engraving is available in multiple languages so contact us with your specific needs and we will be happy to assist you.

This impressive monument is a great way to honor someone that touched your life. It has saw cut sides and a polished top perfect for an inspiring epitaph and plenty of room for a porcelain portrait as shown. Ceramic photos are an optional feature that incur and additional charge. We offer a wide variety of sizes and shapes. contact us for more information or click the link below.

Headstones Designing should commemorate and be a tribute to individual's life whose grave they are meant to mark. A design is usually picked to reflect a personality or interest of the person it is for. There are many elements of a headstone design that have symbolic meaning. Cemetery headstones are an important part of any family's grieving process Headstones serves to help families cope with their losses.

Headstone designs are generally reflective of the individual's whose grave they are meant to mark. If the person was a nature lover there are designs that carry an outdoor motif such as evergreens or a mountain scene to set a breathtaking background. Also in this vein of headstone designs are numerous floral patterns derived from such popular flowers as roses, dogwoods, lilies and tulips floral headstone designs are very popular in today's culture. Each flower has a symbolic meaning and for this reason the are chosen to grace the design of a loved one's memorial. If religion played a big part in the person's life, there are numerous religious themed headstone designs available. If a religion is not represented among the headstone designs available, then any design can be accented through the use of religious emblems or symbols. Upon settling on a headstone design, comes the task of personalizing the headstone. Typically the person's name and life dates are engraved or cast on the cemetery headstone depending on the material. Emblems and symbols are usually can be either cast on a bronze cemetery headstone or sandblasted on a granite headstone. Emblems come in the widest array of subjects such as animals, flowers, religious icons, military credentials, sports, music and all sorts of vehicles to name but a few. Their purpose is to further accent the memorial of the person it is for. With the need to personalize a headstone, more and more individuals are choosing headstone designs that incorporate a ceramic picture. Ceramic pictures or portraits are the result of a proprietary process that enables the likeness of a loved one to be emblazoned on a ceramic or porcelain oval tile. They are available in both color and black & white versions and many shapes such as rectangular, circular, and heart shapes. Another option is that the headstone can be drawn out on a computer screen that will give a printout of the finished article. It allows seeing what the stone will look like and make any necessary changes. The advances in technology mean that one can have their own personal design put onto a cemetery headstone and it can be any shape.

Cemetery Headstone designs are simple if known how and Decided upon a theme. If appropriate, add a symbol(s) related to the theme. Add personal information like the name and date. Keep in mind headstone space limitations. If the situation is right add a ceramic picture. Consider using a beautiful epitaph that represents the life of loved one in a concise form. The overall design coupled with a fitting epitaph or verse will make for a truly unique memorial that will serve as an everlasting tribute to the loved one. Headstones, of course, need to be designed to last the ages, and the solid construction of headstones assures just that.

Choosing the Right Headstone Dealer

When buying a cemetery memorial for your loved one, you want to make sure you get it right the first time. Unlike purchasing most any other product or service, you not given the chance to try again if you are not satisfied the first time. The cost, let alone the fact that a monument is one of the final purchases made for your loved one,, It is very important to take your time required to ensure you get it right the first time. The first place to start is in evaluating the monument dealer you plan to purchase from. There are many schools of thought when selecting criteria to apply to someone who is doing work for you, but let us consternate on the three important items. They are– product quality, customer service, and price.

Product Quality

The last result of all your efforts in buying a headstone is to have a lasting headstone to your loved one. One that can be peacefully looked at for years as you visit your loved one’s grave. It is very important that the quality of the product and the craftsmanship is first rate. How do you know what’s first rate? – you might ask. Depending on the type of headstone and the material used, there are several things to consider. Here are the most important ones in two categories --

Sandblasted Monuments The monuments are made using high pressure air and sand that’s used to carve the design and lettering into the surface of a granite or marble monument. Here are some things you should look for :

Adequate detail of lettering - Look for deeply cut lettering and lines in the design. Most companies paint in the lettering and design for contrast and this is fine.

Shallow carving / etching – this type of carving is okay when it is on a dark color of granite such as jet black. In this case it is preferable to lightly carve the lettering into the stone’s surface as this will still allow light to reflect off the carved areas providing the best contrast.

Lettering - should have fine edges and be aligned with spacing. Make sure the floating areas of letters such as A, B, R, and P’s are intact. In some cases these parts of the letters tend to be blown out by the high pressure from sandblasting.

Designs - the design should look great and appear pleasing to the eyes. Of course on black granite, surface will work just as well, but most people choose to have deep lettering with white paint for contrast on black granite. Since granite is a product of nature it is acceptable for solid granite colors to have blemishes. These slight imperfections give your loved one’s headstone’s its unique character. During the quarrying process it is very hard if not impossible to procure a perfectly even colored piece of granite.

BRONZE GRAVE MEMORIALS

Bronze grave memorials consist of a bronze plaque mounted to a granite base and in most cases have a flower vase. They are made using a casting method in which molten bronze is poured into a mold made from sand. There are only a few of bronze memorial companies which sell through a network of headstone dealers. Here are some things to look for if you have a chance to inspect samples of bronze plaques. Lettering and dates – Look for the lettering and dates to be aligned straight without being crooked.

Relief work – Raised spots of the bronze design, also known as relief work, should have adequate definition and the raised portions should be properly highlighted.

Bronze finish – The paint and clear coat should be applied evenly. The raised parts of the design and lettering are typically polished . This provides a nice contrast and should look as good as examples you see in the brochures or images provided.

Product Price

Price is one of the most important aspects of any purchase. You don’t want to overspend, but you don’t want buy on the cheap and sacrifice on quality either. Yet in the funeral industry, it has been reported that some charge prices that reflect profit margins in the 1000% range. How can you make sure you are getting a good price on a quality monument? Typically cemeteries and monument companies will be priced higher, but offer you the option of seeing actual samples. Online monument dealers can only provide a showroom if you are willing to travel, but do offer much better pricing on many of the same products that the cemeteries and headstone dealers carry. In many cases it is hard to compare like characteristics when purchasing a headstone memorial. In general cemeteries, monument dealers, funeral homes and online monument sellers get their products from a variety of different sources making it almost impossible to compare pricing on an even field. The best way to compare pricing is to make sure you are getting a quote for the same size headstone or bronze memorial from each company. Also, make sure the following headstone attributes are the same or similar for comparing :

Headstone design

Granite color

Monument accessories - such as vases or ceramic pictures.

Customer Service

Customer service is an important role in the purchase of any item, but in situations where feelings are involved it is often regarded as the most important aspect of the whole experience. Since a person buying a monument is at some stage in the process, it’s always important to see this fact and for a headstone sales person to help them with the most care and consideration possible. Sadly some sales people in the death care business who attend to view this as an opportunity and take advantage of their grief to increase the size of the sale. Since you are purchasing a customized headstone that can take weeks to finish, there is a chance that you will be in contact with the company throughout the duration of the whole process. Here is a simple checklist of things to look for:

Do they listen to what it is you want and are you confident they understand you?

Are they available when you contact them, or do they return your calls/emails within a reasonable time?

If they make promises, do they keep them?

If they make a mistake will they correct it ?

Many of these things are hard to determine prior to purchase.



Final Details

After the sale is finished you want to be able to look back on this purchase with no regrets. Making a bad choice in choosing the wrong headstone dealer will not only add strain to an already difficult time in your life, but there will be a constant reminder each time you visit your loved one’s beautiful monument. It is uncommon for headstone companies to make mistakes on monument orders, but you want to feel comfortable that they will work with you . Never be afraid to ask what kind of mistakes they have made in the past and how they fixed them. If a headstone dealer says they have a better quality granite or bronze than someone selling online that they are not familiar with , you may want to consider moving on.