Who buys a funeral casket ahead of time?

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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,409
8,698
136
Another, a favorite quotation of mine (I have quite a collection of fab quotations!):


Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. - W. Somerset Maugham

:D
 
Feb 25, 2011
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Another practice I find morbid - people who add their name to a gravestone while still alive, the year of death to be added later.
Like "Joe Smith 1960 - "
I don't wanna be visiting a cemetery and seeing my name.:neutral:
See, for me, that's something I'd do because I want to make sure that my stuff is all in order, and I'd like to have at least some say about what my headstone looks like.

Same reason I bought a grave plot. Make it easy for whoever's left at the time to just call the monument company and get the date added, instead of having to manage the whole mess. Same reason some people pre-purchase cremation services, etc.

Also it gives my vanity a certain degree of control over how I'm remembered/memorialized.
 
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Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,395
1,180
126
I can see purchasing a plot and making arrangements ahead of time, but having a casket in the garage waiting for use? :confused_old:

Wait what, you can buy and have your casket shipped to your garage? I'm totally sleeping in that on weekends and pretend to be a vamp with my kids.

Just in time for Halloween.

Stuff the inside with some cushy fancy lining, then I'll dress up in a full swag w1ith sleeves, cape, and all.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,458
12,611
126
www.anyf.ca
Wait what, you can buy and have your casket shipped to your garage? I'm totally sleeping in that on weekends and pretend to be a vamp with my kids.

Just in time for Halloween.

Stuff the inside with some cushy fancy lining, then I'll dress up in a full swag w1ith sleeves, cape, and all.

I got to admit they do look comfy! I'd totally sleep in one lol.
 

iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,330
56
91
See, for me, that's something I'd do because I want to make sure that my stuff is all in order, and I'd like to have at least some say about what my headstone looks like.

Same reason I bought a grave plot. Make it easy for whoever's left at the time to just call the monument company and get the date added, instead of having to manage the whole mess. Same reason some people pre-purchase cremation services, etc.

Also it gives my vanity a certain degree of control over how I'm remembered/memorialized.
Pretty much the only case I see this is when there's a family grave with maybe parent's names or a spouse name already there on the gravestone.
Its very clear how it will look like with your name added.
Basically the only difference is that when you die your name + years will have to be added, and this way only the year of death needs to be added. I just don't see some major financial benefit here.
And given the relation, those are probably graves they visit once in a while.
 
Feb 25, 2011
16,907
1,552
126
Pretty much the only case I see this is when there's a family grave with maybe parent's names or a spouse name already there on the gravestone.
Its very clear how it will look like with your name added.
Basically the only difference is that when you die your name + years will have to be added, and this way only the year of death needs to be added. I just don't see some major financial benefit here.
And given the relation, those are probably graves they visit once in a while.
There's no financial benefit to any of this.
 
Dec 10, 2005
25,055
8,334
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Pretty much the only case I see this is when there's a family grave with maybe parent's names or a spouse name already there on the gravestone.
Its very clear how it will look like with your name added.
Basically the only difference is that when you die your name + years will have to be added, and this way only the year of death needs to be added. I just don't see some major financial benefit here.
And given the relation, those are probably graves they visit once in a while.
Benefits don't have to only be financial. It could be a benefit for the family because they just have a desire to have some legacy somewhere, or reduce the burden when someone dies by providing a pre-paid option, or reduce the burden by removing decision-making entirely.
 

iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,330
56
91
I don't see it as reducing any kind of burden. An image below is an example - someone will still have to arrange for the year of death to be added. If it wasn't there, that same someone would have to arrange for name+years, the difference looks meaningless, you already know the style and everything.
I can perhaps buy into this as some sort of religious/emotional statement. I just know my family always finds this eerie...

 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,210
28,915
136
What gets awkward is when one spouse dies and the surviving spouse remarries leaving the headstone with the lingering death date because the spouse is buried somewhere else.
 
Nov 17, 2019
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highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,935
6,310
136
Niece in law just asked what to do about Ma's 83rd.

Cremation didn't go over well.

😀😀

I'm the baby, they made me this way.