Memorial types
Almost every cemetery in Northern Virginia allows one or more of these. Which one you can use is decided by the section your plot sits in, so that is the first thing we check.
On pricing
We quote the whole figure before anything is cut, and that figure includes the foundation and the setting. Upright monuments start at [PRICE]. Flat markers start at [PRICE]. Nothing gets added at the end.
A die that stands on its own base, readable from the path. It suits family plots and any cemetery section that permits a raised memorial, and it holds more lettering than anything else we make.
Set flush with the ground so mowers pass over it. Lawn sections require this, and it is the only memorial many memorial parks will approve.
A wedge with an angled face, set on a base or straight onto the foundation. It reads from standing height without the height of a full upright, which is why some sections allow it where uprights are not permitted.
A granite bench, lettered on the seat or on the legs, that gives people somewhere to sit when they visit. Cemeteries usually place these at the edge of a section or along a path rather than on the grave itself.
A cast bronze plate with raised lettering, mounted on a granite base and set flush. Common in memorial parks that ask for a flush marker but allow bronze over stone.
One memorial across two graves, with both names on the same stone. Families often set it with one side lettered and the second date added later, which we come back and cut on site.
Materials and options
Every stone here is in the shop as a sample. Come put your hand on one.
Barre Gray, Georgia Gray, and Absolute Black. Hard, slow to weather, and the only stone that holds a sharp V cut letter edge across generations. This is what most cemeteries expect.
Vermont marble, white to pale gray with visible veining. It is softer than granite, so lettering rounds and softens over decades. In the old sections of a cemetery it matches what is already standing.
Cast to order on a granite base. The face darkens to a warm brown patina in the first few years and then stays put. Raised lettering keeps its shadow, so it reads even in flat light.
The cemetery sets the outer limits: whether the section takes an upright or only a flush marker, the maximum size, sometimes the stone color, and always the foundation specification. We read those rules and file the application for you.
Inside those limits, everything is yours: the shape, the stone, the wording and how it is laid out, the lettering style, any engraved imagery, the finish on each face, and whether you want a second date left for later. If something you want falls outside what the cemetery allows, we will tell you before you are attached to it, not after.
What to expect
There is no deadline on the first two stages. Families take a week. Families take a year. Both are fine.
We talk through the section, the stone, and roughly what you want the memorial to say. No drawings yet, and nothing to sign.
We draw the memorial to scale with the lettering set in place. You read every line and every date. Changes at this stage cost nothing.
We file the application and wait for the written approval. This one is out of our hands, and it is the stage most likely to move.
The stone is shaped, the faces are finished, and the lettering is cut. Bronze is cast off site and adds to this stage.
We set the foundation to the cemetery specification, install the memorial, and send you photographs the same day if you would rather not be there.
Start here
Name the memorial type if you have one in mind, or describe what you are picturing. If you do not know the cemetery yet, leave that blank and we will sort it out on the phone.