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For far too long, funeral directors have followed the same ol' formula: slide a 100+ page urn catalog over to the family or walk them into an arrangement room with mostly outdated and uninspiring choices. On the hardest days of their lives, families are expected to flip through and navigate hundreds of options—the majority of which don’t apply to their situation or are so impersonal they'd never be considered for their mother, father, child, veteran or hero first responder. Overwhelmed and under pressure, some families settle for something right in front of them.  Many start Googling on their phones while still sitting with the funeral director—and sadly, many walk away without making a decision.

 

Let’s call the experience what it is: Overwhelming. Outdated. So grossly ineffective it drives families to the internet. The fault doesn’t lie with funeral directors—it lies with the urn suppliers and the outdated tools they've handed them.

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A simple analogy:
Twenty years ago, picking a paint color meant the hardware store handed you a bulky “sample color deck” that morphed into a fan-like wheel with hundreds of paint swatches. Ninety-nine percent of the colors you’d never consider for your room—a shotgun approach—much like any 100+ page Cremation Urn Catalog. 

 

Today? You’re shown room photo-cards with; “coastal living-room tones,” “farmhouse neutrals,” “modern kitchen earth tones.” You explore actual living spaces, not paint chips. You’re guided then directed to what Sherwin-Williams Paints calls Inspiration Galleries. You're inspired.

 

That’s exactly what urn selection should be. And that’s what UrnSpiration delivers.

 

UrnSpiration is built on three simple pillars: 

 

• Segmentation

Families aren’t looking for 200 options. They’re looking for the right option. UrnSpiration organizes urns into concise, segmented collections—Infant & Child, Military & First Responder, Adult, and Companion—so families see only what’s meaningful to them.

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​No family—especially one who’s just lost a child—should be navigating pages and pages of urns designed for elderly folks or veterans—just to find, buried in the back on page 98, the same four outdated options that have been there for a decade. It's not just inefficient—it’s tone-deaf. The industry should be embarrassed. All "the big guys", and the smaller suppliers that copy their outdated model are guilty.

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• Simplification

Instead of a bloated catalog or arrangement room offerings, directors present streamlined Lookbooks—small, focused, segmented, easy-to-browse guides that calm the chaos. We don’t leave families guessing about price as nearly all adult urns are the same price and include personalization. Simple.

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• Personalization

Our forward-thinking pricing includes personalization on every urn, making budgeting easy and transparent from the start. Prices are upfront—no surprises, no hidden fees. Families can select a high-quality, custom urn at a reasonable price, more in line with what they'd expect from a third-party retailer or online store.

 

Add Inspiration to the Mix

The heart of UrnSpiration is our 30+ UrnSpiration Galleries. Each collection in each lookbook includes QR codes that link (phone or computer) directly to tailored galleries—think Pinterest meets memorial personalization. These real-life examples help families visualize how an urn or collection can reflect their loved one’s life, passions, and legacy. 

 

Real photos paint real stories and this pay-it-forward experience sparks ideas, inspires and moves families to create truly meaningful memorials. Once a family scans a QR code, they’ll never need or even think to go to Amazon. The galleries build confidence and trust with the funeral director.

 

UrnSpiration is data-driven. We’ve studied tens of thousands of urn purchases and curated our collections based on what families actually buy—not what looks good on page 72 of an urn catalog. In 2024 we served 24,000+ families. 85% of them chose from just 7 urns.

 

But We Have an "Urn Store" on our Funeral Home Website

Be honest—if a family wants to shop for an urn online, they’re already on Amazon, MainelyUrns.com, Urns.com or one of a dozen third-party sellers. These embedded e-commerce add-ons do nothing to help the family sitting right across from you. They don't inspire, they don't guide, and they certainly don't build trust.  

 

The Bottom Line?

Many of the world’s largest industries figured out long ago what the funeral industry still hasn’t: Inspiration beats overload. When you inspire people instead of overwhelming them, they make quicker, more confident decisions, and they walk away feeling good about them.

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The funeral industry has changed—but it hasn’t adapted. We’ve proven there’s a way to bridge the gap between the traditional funeral home experience and the expectations of today’s informed, modern consumer.

 

UrnSpiration isn't "selling urns".  It's a way to build trust and inspire families.

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Michael Madore

Founder - Mainely Urns, Inc. // UrnSpiration // UrnSpirationB2B

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