What to Expect When Ordering Your Glass Memorial
“What do I need to do to order a glass memorial from you”? – That is the question I get asked the most, and with good reason. It can seem like a rather daunting task, how much ashes do I need, what do I put the ashes in, how do I get the ashes to you and that’s before you get to the task of actually collecting the ashes. Don’t fret though, you know I got you!
Take it One Step at a Time
You’ve decided you want a glass memorial to celebrate the life of someone who meant so much to you, and you found your way to Silver Creek. Now what? Let’s take a look at each step. If the below is too long to read, there’s a graphic below with just the highlights:
Pick Something That Speaks to You
The very first thing you do is pick which memorial will be right for you. I try to have enough options for every budget but if you don’t see anything that resonates with you, reach out to me either here, through my website, or DM me from any of my social media and we’ll discuss your ideas.
Receiving Your Collection Kit
Once you find a design that brings your heart joy, completing your purchase kicks off the next step, which is obtaining your Collection Kit. Your Collection Kit will be sent to you via USPS Priority Mail and will contain everything you need to collect the ashes and safely send them back to me. Let’s take a look at what’s in your Collection Kit:
- Instructions for collecting the ashes and a form to fill out. The form asks a couple of questions about your loved one, like what music they liked, because I like to play their music while I’m working with their ashes.
- A glass vial with a cork to collect the ashes in. You’ll see your order info on the vial and a mark where to fill the vial to. The vial will be in a small bubble pack with your order info on it as well.
- A USPS Priority Express bubble mailer with a big orange ‘cremated remains’ sticker on it.
- USPS Priority Express label with Silver Creek’s info already filled in.
Collecting the Ashes
I don’t want to scare you but I do want to prepare you, this is the hard part. It’s hard and it hurts and it’s probably going to stir up emotions that you may or may not be ready for. Do NOT beat yourself up if you have trouble with this part. I’ve literally had clients take months to send their collection kit back because it was just too hard for them to do at the time. Don’t worry about that. I’m not going anywhere. If you just can’t bring yourself to collect the ashes, ask a trusted family member or friend to help you out. Another option is to ask the funeral home or veterinary office to help you, they’ll understand.
Sending Your Collection Kit to Silver Creek
Good job getting through the hard part! The rest of the process should be pretty painless, in comparison. Press the cork into the vial as far as possible. Place the vial in the blue bubble pack and seal it up. Place the bubble pack and the completed form in the USPS Priority Express bubble mailer and seal it up. Fill out and affix the label. Take it to your local post office to send it off. Just a heads up, it’s going to cost $25-$30 to send it. Please be sure to send me the tracking number so I can monitor its travels.
Into the Queue
Once your package arrives at Silver Creek it goes into the queue. I work on each memorial in the order in which I receive them. My average turnaround time is 3-4 weeks. Depending on my current workload, it may be a bit more or less time. I *try* to send progress photos but don’t always have enough time, so don’t worry if you don’t see them.
Receiving Your Glass Memorial
Once your memorial is finished it will get a few ‘glamour shots’ then will be safely packaged to be sent to you. Any ashes that were not used will be returned unless you’ve chosen to have me scatter them. It will ship USPS Priority Express so you will have it in a day or so. You’ll get an email with your tracking number so you can watch for it.
That’s It?
Almost! It’s a pretty straightforward process but I do try to make it as easy as possible for you, though I do have a couple of other things I’d like to touch on.
- Scattering ashes: if you choose to have me scatter the unused ashes, I do so at one of several local lakes or the Pearl River. I’ll send you a photo, so you can see how incredibly beautiful the area I choose is.
- USPS Priority Express: I know the shipping is expensive but the USPS is the ONLY carrier that will knowingly transport cremains. They have rules for how the ashes must be packaged and mailed and I follow those rules. I would hate for your Granny’s ashes to get lost so please please please do not try to save a few dollars by using any other ways to ship. You can read more about USPS rules by visiting USPS Packaging Instructions 10C or USPS Other Restricted Materials .
Ok, that’s it! Of course, I’d love to hear what you think about your memorial, and the best way for you to do that is to leave a review on my website. You can also tag Silver Creek in any photos you post to social media with either the @ or #silvercreekmemorials. If you have any other questions you can check out the FAQs or reach out via my contact form or social media.
