Gravestone Designs

Death of a loved one is an ineluctable part of life of every person and no one can escape from it. In order to bridge the void that remains in our lives, due to the unforgettable memories of the deceased one, we build monuments. Monuments to honor, tribute and cherish their memories forever in the form of headstones and gravestone markers. When it comes to personalized gravestone designs, we need to be creative and practical at the same time. You must have seen the old designs with various cryptic symbols and religious inscriptions. Well, these numerous designs have endless interpretations and meanings, that could be inspirational for us to design a gravestone.

Gravestone Ideas and Designs

While selecting a gravestone design, you need to consider its cost, type, material as well as the size of the headstone/gravestone. There are numerous grave marker designs that are popularly selected. Some of the popular headstone designs are the horizontal tablets, vertical tablets, heart shaped tablets, slant grave markers, flush grave markers, bevel grave markers and personalized child and pet grave markers. You can also design personalized shape tablets for the deceased person. For instance, lithochrome dye designs, flat carved, hand carved, etched and shape carved gravestones.

The floral patterns of dogwoods, lilies, roses, tulips and other such patterns are also popularly selected these days, along with the mountain or evergreen forest scenes. All these designs are available in various popular and durable materials like marble, glass, granite, bronze, cement, etc. Selection of the design, size and the material has to be done quite carefully and by taking their prices and durability in mind. You can also browse through Internet and get an idea about the headstones for graves. This fact gives you an added advantage of checking various designs at a single go.

How to Design a Gravestone

If you want to design a gravestone or for a loved one, there are a few other things to consider apart from the size, price and material. These things are the personality of the gravestone. However, material chosen for the headstones and the inscriptions make the personality of a gravestone/headstone.

Personality
Personality of the deceased person plays a huge role in determining the gravestone designs, especially the headstone plaque and sayings. For instance, a flat carved design might suit a person with unassuming nature. While for a person with vibrant nature, you might want to opt for larger and upright gravestones. You also need to zero down a gravestone engraving that truly describes the spring of thoughts as well as personality of the deceased one. For instance, if that person was religious then you can opt for religious symbols and if that person was more into nature, then you can select some scenic engravings.

Epitaph
Choosing a perfect gravestone epitaph or saying also affects the cost as well as personality of that gravestone. Remember that the least are the words the greater is their impact. It is the reason why people opt for the one liners, since they are more definitive and cheaper. Lines like 'I told you I was sick' or simply an appropriate gravestone symbol, can clearly reflect the exact personality of the deceased person. If it is a companion grave markers design, then you can also get a love quote engraved on it, with the etched plaque of both the deceased people.

Finalization
Once you have finalized the design, size, material, type and inscriptions, you need to draw its rough sketch and take it to a professional engraver. You might get surprised learning this, but there are a few specialized gravestone and plaque engravers that can come to your rescue. You can also learn to engrave it yourself, which is a lesser expensive option than hiring a professional. If you are ready to spend a few extra bucks, then you can also get a marble or granite statue of the deceased one, from the engravers. If you are designing your own headstone, then keep it as a surprise by letting only a trustworthy third party to know about it.

Well, this is where I end this article about gravestone designs. If you really want to design a gravestone from the heart, then rather than concentrating on the prices, take maximum efforts in selecting the designs that can cherish the true memories of your loved one.