Vase

Seven Arguments Families Have About Headstone Vases, Refereed

There are certain arguments that are raised in our consultation meetings so consistently that the design department referees them by heart, and the issue that is the cause of the most heated debates among the families is…the vase. While headstone vases look very straightforward, they behave quite differently: one vase or two, granite or bronze, standing or flush, fresh flowers or silk, now or later. People enter with a disagreement and leave with a decision and we provide you with this full guide: seven most typical issues concerning headstone vases, both cases fairly argued, and the referee’s decision, with explanation. Get your own dispute ready; it is bound to be addressed here.

Argument one: do we need it at all? The case against: the headstone is complete without it, the cemetery mows less space around, and nobody in the family lives close enough to bring flowers weekly. The case for: a vase does not mean an obligation to bring flowers weekly – it is the right to bring them when it happens. The referee’s decision: for the vase, unambiguously. Years spent observing different sections of the cemetery showed one consistent thing: the stones with vases are visited differently, as bringing something with you turns a stop into a ritual. The empty vase in February is not a problem – it is just the place to wait for May. Order the headstone with the vase, or leave a mounted spot for adding one in the future – it costs very little and closes off no options.

Argument two: granite or bronze? The case for bronze: tradition in certain memorial parks, warm metal, required in some sections. The case for granite: it is made from the same rock family as the marker, it ages forever along with it, and, the referee needs to mention it clearly, it will never attract metal thieves, as bronze families have learnt. The decision: granite, whenever you are able to choose between these two materials, and from the same granite family as the monument, so the pair will age in one process. Whenever the section demands bronze, go for the peace and switch to argument five.

Argument three: one vase or a pair? Argued the most heatedly on the companion and family stones. The case for one: economy, symmetry for the centered design. The case for two: each name has its own flowers – the grandchildren’s roses for her, the poppies that he brings once a year in November. Wide stones accommodate two vases much better. The decision: match the number of vases to the number of names. One stone, one vase; companion stone, two vases, ordered together and sawn from one granite block – assembled pairs gradually differ in the tone during years, which is noticed by families forever. This ruling admits of no appeals.

Argument four: standing or flush? The case for standing: presence, capacity, classical outline beside the vertical and slanted markers. The case for flush: it is the only vase allowed in the lawn and flat marker sections – ground-sleeved vase, which is flush to the mower, but standing for the flowers. The decision: your cemetery’s rules decide this issue before any family – that is why we settle them beforehand, while discussing section regulations with the cemetery management office. When both kinds are legally possible, the referee prefers standing beside the vertical monuments and flush beside the flat ones – the vase should keep the position of the stone.

Argument five: fresh flowers or artificial ones? The perpetual fight. The case for fresh: fragrance, ritual, all the point. The case for artificial ones: distance, winters, sun-paled reality of long intervals between visits. The decision: both, on a calendar – fresh for the visits and quality artificial flowers for the periods between, thrown away the moment they begin to fade (such a paled bunch reads as an absence, opposite to its purpose). And the technical remark from the referee that settles half of this argument’s content: whichever the flowers, the vase should drain. Weep channels or liners that can be removed are included in our granite headstone vases as a standard measure because the water trapped inside granite is the one opponent that granite cannot win. Drain it before hard frost, please, families from the north.

Argument six: install it now or later? The case for later: concentrate on the headstone now. The case for now: one order, one granite lot, one delivery, and the mount drilled at the workshop, not retrofitted at the grave. The decision: now, whenever the family wants a vase within five years from now – the benefits of bundling and of the guaranteed perfect match of the material weigh more than deferral, and with engraving included in marker prices, no-shipping-cost policy and 0% installment plans offered, the vase does not change the moment when the family can order it. Whenever there is any uncertainty, the referee’s compromise: order the headstone pre-drilled for installing a vase mount in the future. It is the cheapest option on the entire card and does not lock you out of any further possibilities.

Argument seven: whose job is the vase, forever? The silent argument, usually coming up as a last one: who is going to maintain it – fill, empty, keep the frost calendar in mind, change the liner? The case for nobody’s assignment: it will sort itself out. The case for somebody’s: it will not. The decision: assign the keeper of the vase, as people do with the keeper of photo albums. From our practice, there is one such person in each family, usually unexpected, often quite a quiet grandchild – and the assignment makes maintenance their inheritance. The referee observed vase maintenance passed through three generations of one stone, and rules, without irony, that this is the most important issue on the card to be resolved.

The final page of the rulebook. Seven arguments, seven decisions, one pattern the referee will mention on the way out: every vase argument is actually about visiting – who will come, how often and what they will bring – and the vase is simply a part of the headstone that provides the answer to it. Make your plans generous. Our granite headstone vases are available for each marker we produce, standing and flush, singles and pairs that are sawn from one lot, drainage included as a standard feature and pictured in the free 3D preview along with the headstone itself, with revisions included until the agreement reached – and the arguments, in the end, are a good sign. Nobody argues the flowers for a person they do not intend to visit. Court adjourned; get your roses.