When making various decisions about a loved one’s funeral or memorial service, you might want to consider their personality. It’s not uncommon for families to make certain unique or non-traditional decisions when planning funerals. They often do so in an effort to properly honor the character and identity of the deceased.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- What’s a Glitter Casket?
- What Are Glitter Caskets Made Out Of?
- Where Can You Buy a Glittery Casket?
- How Much Do Glittery Caskets Cost?
- Other Ways to Incorporate Glitter in a Funeral or Memorial Service
For example, there are many different types of caskets you can choose from when planning a funeral. Some are more unique than others.
Perhaps you’re planning the funeral of someone who was very outgoing. You may want their casket to reflect this quality. Or you may be planning your own funeral, and you want to be sure you go out in style.
If so, consider a glitter casket. This guide will explain what a glitter casket is and how you can find one if this idea appeals to you. It will also offer ideas for other ways to add glitter to a funeral.
What’s a Glitter Casket?
A glitter casket is exactly what it sounds like: a casket with a glittery exterior. This distinguishes the casket from most traditional options, which tend to feature solid colors with minimal variation among them.
There are a number of reasons you may decide a glitter casket is right for a loved one (or even yourself). The following are just a few noteworthy examples:
Celebrating a life
Again, a glitter casket is ideal for the burial of someone with a big personality. Choosing this type of casket can give you the opportunity to genuinely celebrate someone’s life.
Adding levity
Funerals are often somber affairs. Some people feel they should be.
However, not everyone feels the same. Once more, some want funerals to be joyful celebrations of life. Thus, they may look for ways to add a degree of levity to a funeral.
You need to be careful when deciding how to make a funeral a slightly more light-hearted affair than it might normally be. You want to achieve your goal of transforming the occasion into a celebration, while also respecting the feelings of those who may be mourning.
That said, depending on the attitudes and personalities of the people who you expect to attend a funeral, you may confidently determine they would not take issue with the use of a glitter coffin. Using one can help a funeral feel more celebratory in nature.
Hosting a living funeral
This reason for choosing a glittery coffin doesn’t apply when you’re planning the funeral for someone who has died. Instead, it may apply if you ever decide to host a living funeral.
Some members of the death-positive movement host funerals for themselves while they are still living, typically with a few friends and loved ones in attendance. They may do so as a means to confront their own mortality.
However, some don’t want a living funeral to be too morbid for their tastes. Thus, if you’re considering planning a living funeral, you might decide that a glittery coffin is more appropriate for the occasion than a traditional coffin. This minor change can ensure a living funeral achieves its purpose in a more joyful and easygoing manner than it otherwise might.
What Are Glitter Caskets Made Out Of?
Although the number of companies offering glitter coffins is quite small compared to the number of suppliers offering traditional coffins, there are technically multiple suppliers you can order from if you want to purchase a glitter coffin. That means the material from which a glitter coffin is made can potentially vary depending on which supplier you choose.
That said, most suppliers state that the glitter itself consists of plastic shards. They specify that they use non-chlorinated plastic, which does not give off emissions when burned. This ensures glitter coffins are safe for cremations.
They apply these glitter shards to cotton fabric, which they then apply to the exterior of a traditional casket consisting of common casket materials. The cloth is biodegradable, ensuring that glitter coffins are appropriate for burials, as well.
Where Can You Buy a Glittery Casket?
Again, there are only a few suppliers of glittery caskets operating right now. Two major examples include the following:
The Glitter Coffin Company
The Glitter Coffin Company is a UK-based company that has received more press coverage than most other glitter casket suppliers. Although the company is UK-based, they can ship their coffins throughout the world.
It’s worth noting that The Glitter Coffin Company customizes its products according to the wishes of individual customers. The company also doesn’t sell glittery coffins directly through its website. Instead, the company’s owners advise customers to ask their funeral directors to contact them. The funeral director will facilitate the order.
Colourful Coffins
Colourful Coffins is another supplier of glitter caskets from whom you might consider ordering one. Like The Glitter Coffin Company, they don’t sell their caskets directly to the consumer. They sell them to funeral directors and funeral homes that are interested in stocking them. They provide a link on their website, allowing potential customers to find funeral directors from whom they can purchase their glitter coffins. However, this company only sells to funeral directors in the UK.
(Tip: If you want to purchase a unique coffin, but you’re not sure that a glitter coffin is exactly the type you’re looking for, check out our guide on how to buy a custom casket.)
How Much Do Glittery Caskets Cost?
Just as casket prices can vary in general, the price of a glittery casket can vary depending on a range of factors. Such factors include the degree to which a customer wants a casket to be customized, how far the casket must be shipped, and more.
Prices can vary significantly because the primary supplier of glittery coffins tailors each order to the specifications of a given customer. Thus, they price them individually. For more information about how much a glittery casket may cost, the owners of The Glitter Coffin Company advise you to put your funeral director in contact with them.
Other Ways to Incorporate Glitter in a Funeral or Memorial Service
A glittery casket may not be the only proper way to add some glitter to a funeral. Other options you might consider include the following:
Glittery urn
The Glitter Coffin Company doesn’t merely supply glitter caskets. They also sell glitter urns. Unlike their coffins, you can buy a glitter urn straight from the company’s website instead of working through a funeral director to place an order.
Photo frames
Perhaps you like the idea of using a little bit of glitter during a funeral to honor unique elements of a deceased loved one’s personality, but you don’t want to necessarily go as far as using a glitter casket or urn, as you still would like the occasion to have a fairly traditional quality.
If so, a more subtle way to incorporate glitter into a funeral or memorial service is to display photos of a loved one in glittery picture frames. This is an easy way to strike a balance between respecting the traditional nature of the occasion while also respecting the personality of someone who would have appreciated such a gesture.
Glitter candles
This idea is another way to add a little bit of glitter to a funeral without feeling like you’re overdoing it. Many suppliers of memorial items offer funeral candle-holders that consist of glittery exteriors. Additionally, artists on platforms such as Etsy can make custom glitter candles based on your ideas.
Glitter memorial gifts
There are a number of glitter memorial gifts you can give to those attending a funeral or celebration of life service. Examples include ornaments, paperweights, candles, and more. A wide range of items that often serve as memorial gifts can be made to sparkle like the soul of a lost loved one with the addition of some glitter.
Glitter guestbook
A glitter guestbook is an idea to keep in mind if you want to incorporate glitter in such a subtle way that those who will appreciate the idea will notice it, while those who might think the presence of glitter at a funeral is inappropriate will likely overlook it.
The guestbook of a funeral can feature some small images on the front (such as stars or birds) that may be glittery. Because these details will be small, they won’t necessarily catch the eye of guests who may not think you should be using glitter for traditional funeral decor.
Glittery clothing
Perhaps your deceased loved one was a fan of dressing up in glittery clothing. If so, you might consider dressing them in such attire for their funeral, particularly if you are planning on having an open casket.
Again, some people might feel this type of non-traditional choice isn’t ideal for a funeral, but if they understand that a loved one genuinely loved glittery clothes, they probably won’t object.
Glitter Caskets: For Fabulous Lost Loved Ones
Remember, when planning a funeral, you want to consider how you can organize a service that embodies and celebrates who a loved one was. For some people, using a glitter casket may be a perfect way to achieve this goal.