Solar Memorial Flag

Our nation has set aside the last Monday in May, May 31 this year, to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have died gallantly in military service to the United States. On Memorial Day our nation will remember and grieve for the heroic men and women who have died protecting America, Americans and freedom. The Gravesite Masters can arrange to deliver memorial flowers, U.S. flag tributes or solar light memorials to the graves of your family’s fallen heroes anywhere in the U.S. Even if you live far from their final resting place, with the help of The Gravesite Masters you can arrange to remember and honor the men and women who have fought their final battle.

Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day dates back to the Civil War custom of decorating the graves of fallen soldiers. The end of May was chosen to commemorate the reunification of the country following the Civil War and was expanded to encompass all fallen veterans after World War I.

Solar memorial flags, solar crosses, solar yellow ribbons and solar-powered angels are particularly popular Memorial Day tributes for deceased veterans. Powered by unobtrusive solar batteries, these beautiful gravesite memorials light up the night, bringing comfort to all who see them.

Creating heartache for grieving families, some cash-strapped cemeteries have failed to provide the gravesite care many families contract for after the burial of a loved one. The lingering effects of the recession have pushed some cemeteries into receivership and led some cemetery owners to use pre-paid funds to pay for operating expenses. In Mississippi, the state has been forced to take over the management of five cemeteries forced into receivership. One cemetery owner faces criminal charges for appropriating nearly $1 million from 150 pre-need accounts, according to an online article in Hattiesburg American.

While states regulate cemeteries, oversight can be spotty. Many families who open pre-paid gravesite care accounts to provide for the care of a loved one’s gravesite no longer reside in the state where their loved one is buried. Too often, absent families are not aware that their funds are being abused and their loved one’s grave is not being cared for properly. Abuse at one cemetery In Mississippi was discovered when a relative visited a loved one’s grave two years after the death and found that the grave marker the family had paid for had not been installed. In fact, although the headstone had been paid for, it had never been ordered.

You can count on The Gravesite Masters to provide expert gravesite care for your loved one’s grave. The Gravesite Masters provides gravesite beautification in cemeteries located across the country, including floral arrangements, solar light cemetery decorations and many other cemetery accessories.

Grieving families can find it difficult to make informed decisions about funeral and gravesite arrangements for their departed loved one. Emotion clouds judgment. Distress makes it impossible for many people to let go of their grief long enough to make the many practical decisions that accompany the end of life. The shock of death and pressure to make funeral arrangements can be overwhelming. The result can be hastily made emotional decisions that ignore the family’s financial reality.

Some unscrupulous funeral homes take advantage of the family’s distress to sell them high-priced funeral products and services that they either don’t need or can ill afford. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a U.S. funeral was $7,323 in 2006, an increase of 45% since 2001, and prices are still climbing. The high cost of dying is causing many families to pick and choose services from respected online funeral product providers rather than purchase a funeral home’s comprehensive package.

Many families now choose online obituaries and Remembrance Registries instead of expensive newspaper obituaries prepared by funeral homes. Online memorials are available to friends and families across the country, not just local newspaper subscribers. Rather than purchase gravesite enhancements and floral holders or arrangements from cemeteries, people are seeking cost effective online resources. Many are purchasing their cemetery plots from owner Cemetery Registries.

The Gravesite Masters offers many affordable funeral products and services to help grieving families hold the line on funeral costs.

The first real storm of winter swept out of the Rockies, across the plains and is moving toward the East Coast. With temperatures plummeting into the single digits for the first time this winter, ice, snow and sleeting rain are making highway conditions slick and dangerous. Unpredictable winter weather can make your planned trip to the cemetery to honor your loved ones a dangerous journey. Yet knowing that their loved ones’ graves are decorated with wreaths or flowers over the holidays gives families a sense of peace and comfort. Decorating the graves of those who have passed is an honored part of the grieving ritual, a tangible symbol of a family’s love and respect. Many families feel that decorating the graves of their loved ones is an important way to keep memories alive during the holidays.

Forgoing this important tradition when the weather turns nasty may be practical but it leaves an emotional void. With the help of The Gravesite Masters, families can rest assured that their loved ones’ graves will be decorated this holiday. The Gravesite Masters provides gravesite beautification and nationwide delivery of both fresh-cut and artificial cemetery flowers and wreaths to cemeteries across America. Whether you want to pay tribute to a loved one in a cemetery across town or across the country, the caring staff at The Gravesite Masters is ready to help you. Call us today and let us help you decorate your loved ones’ graves for the holidays.

Headstone Photograph Holder

Pictures keep our memories alive when a loved one passes. We display pictures of family and friends to commemorate their passing and keep them close in mind and heart. In photo albums we chronicle the lives of those we love: baby steps, toothless five-year-old grins, cowboy boots and ballerina tutus, the shy embarrassment of first date, first dance, first prom.

In camera flashes we capture the pride of high school accomplishments, graduation day, leaving home, college, jobs, new friends and new loves as those we cherish slowly slip farther away. In digital images we record the ups and downs, successes and failures, joys and sorrows of life that follow.

We seem to chronicle more of the happy, silly, funny moments of life than the sad and serious ones. But perhaps that’s just as well. When someone we love leaves us, it’s the moments of joy and happiness we want to remember, those are the memories that most seem to ease our grief. Adding a headstone photograph holder to your loved one’s gravesite can help keep our memories alive and provide solace in our grief. Every time you visit your loved one’s gravesite, you are greeted cold, lonely stone, but by the smiling countenance of your loved one.

Gravesite Masters offers several headstone photograph display options, including a solar-lighted display and one that includes a floral basket. Visit our website to view our complete selection of  cemetery products.

Choosing a sympathy gift is simple with help from Gravesite Masters who provides countless suggestions and gifts to choose from. The relationship one has with the person who passes helps to determine the proper gift. In one’s time of grieving, a gift may go a long way to show how much one cares for them.

Ultimately, if the person was a close relative, something more personal such as a framed gift, art, poem or personal keepsake box for the family. For someone who was a friend or someone less personal to one’s life, a tapestry throw may be a nice gift to the family. One such tapestry throw shown to the left provides comfort to the family who lost a loved one.

While most people would never expect a gift, a personal bereavement or sympathy gift further extends one’s sympathy in this troubled time. The gift will go a long way and might even brighten a day.

By attempting to bring comfort and kindness to one’s life, expressing one’s condolences with a gift is a kind gesture. Other bereavement gift suggestions include: floral arrangements, personal cards or personal gravesite care for the family. Gravesite Masters provides a large selection of sympathy and bereavement gifts for loved ones to choose from.

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Paying tribute to one’s loved ones is an important part of the grieving process. Finding a way to provide a memorial to their honor is a great gesture to make in order to begin moving on. With today’s advent of the Internet, online memorials have become a popular addition to the memorial options available to grieving families. Funeral homes provide online spaces for loved ones of those who have passed to write messages in honor of their name.

This online memorial provides more than just your average obituary. Memorials such as LifeLegacy are interactive funeral visitations on the Web. This gathering place provides family members and friends to share memories that will add to the legacy of a loved one’s name. Additional people can be invited to the space to share their own experience with the loss. With the ability to honor and share their love, individuals are given a chance at grieving their loss in a public forum where others can provide support.

Ultimately, memorials such as a Remembrance Registry allows a legacy to continue. Sharing stories and individual memories with others facing this loss can aid their grieving process too. The Internet provides an instant way to show support to others. By coming together to celebrate a life, a lasting impression of one’s life can be shared continuously.

Even when we know that our family member’s time here on earth will be ending soon, it is difficult to pre-plan a funeral service.  At the time of your loved one’s passing, the impending funeral arrangements can be a mind boggling task.  There are so many decisions to be made.  Where and when will the services be held?  What funeral home will handle the details?  What type of flowers should be ordered?  How will the funeral be paid for?  Should we choose cremation or a traditional burial?  These are only a few of the decisions that must be made in a short period of time.

Having to choose a cemetery at the time of a loved one’s death as well can be a daunting task.  There are several different types of cemeteries to consider.  They all vary in cost and services offered so it is wise to know your options before you actually need services.

Veterans Cemeteries are available to veterans who have served in any branch of the United States military.  Veterans and their family members are able to have free burial services and gravesite markers at one of the many national cemeteries around the United States.  District cemeteries are owned by a city, county, or township.  Religious cemeteries are owned by specific religious organizations.  Private cemeteries are not owned by any of the above organizations and are also available.

There are several types of cemetery plots that a cemetery may offer. Lawn Crypts are underground tombs that are reinforced by concrete and steel.  Mausoleum’s are above ground structures that are used for internment of your dearly departed.  A Columbarium Niche is a small space that is reserved for cremated remains.  Lastly, most people prefer the traditional In Ground Burial Plot.

Many people prefer to arrange for their own gravesite maintenance instead of utilizing the services that might be offered at a cemetery.  At Gravesite Masters, we specialize in individual plot maintenance, beautification and care.  With nationwide service available, you can be certain that your loved one’s final resting place is being properly cared for at all times.  We also have a wide selection of cemetery products that will give a lasting tribute to the love you have for your family member.

Funeral rituals and customs have been documented for many thousands of years.  It is amazing how many customs that were practiced in the past, are still practiced in varying degrees in today’s world.

It is believed that originally many burial customs were practiced to appease spirits and protect the living.  Originally, the practice of closing the deceased eyes was so that their spirit could not leave their body.  In today’s world, this practice is done to show that your dearly departed is now at peace.  In ancient times, the deceased’s face was covered, again to keep the spirit inside.  Now, covering your dearly departed is a sign of respect for the family.  Another tradition that is often still carried out today is when a family member passes away at home.  Often times they will be removed from the home feet first, instead of head first, which has been a world-wide custom for quite some time.

Thousands of years ago, gravestones were originally used on gravesites to weigh down the supposed spirits in the graves.  In today’s world they serve as a wonderful testimony to your love and respect for your dearly departed.  Gravesites can be adorned with beautiful fresh and artificial flowers, potted plants, wreaths, memorial rocks, pictures, flags, solar lights, and many other things to keep the gravesite a beautiful and memorable final resting place.  Gravesite Masters provides nationwide premium cemetery gravesite care and beautification services.  See how our professional and compassionate staff can help you keep your loved one’s gravesite beautiful all year long.

My very dear friend lost her husband three years ago.  He had a heart attack at the very young age of 42.  It has been quite a struggle for her and their three children over these past years.  He is buried at his parent’s plot that is located over an hour away from their home.  She has been religious about making trips up to visit the gravesite without complaint.

Despite having to drive an hour away to the cemetery, she has made sure that her husband’s final resting place is adorned with flowers and other decorations for each holiday and birthday that has passed.  Knowing that she now has to enter the workforce, she realizes that she can no longer make those long trips to the cemetery as often as she used to.  Not wanting the gravesite to be left unattended for long stretches of time, she decided that it was time to seek help from Gravesite Masters to care for the beautification and care of the gravesite.

Always having a love for angels, my friend was so pleased to find the Solar Lighted Angel that is available at Gravesite Masters.  This beautiful angel is powered by the sunlight and shines brightly throughout the nighttime hours.  It is made of acrylic and requires no maintenance.   It is an amazing tribute to her husband, and not only adorns his gravesite; but also his “angel garden” that she completed in dedication to him at her home.  Gravesite Master also has a beautiful Solar Light Cross available that will help you show your love for your special family member who has gone on before you.