Understanding Burial Options

Exploring Burial and the Decisions Ahead

Burial remains one of the most common ways families honor a loved one, preserve traditions, and create a permanent place of remembrance. Explore these resources to better understand the choices ahead. 

Explore Burial Options  Start Planning

Where Are You in the Planning Process?

Still Deciding?

Explore burial, cremation, and memorialization options through a guided planning experience.

Burial Feels Right for Me

Learn about burial vaults, caskets, monuments, and other burial products commonly considered when planning a burial.

Ready to Move Forward?

Connect with a trusted local funeral professional to review your plans and discuss next steps.

What is the Burial Process?

Burial remains one of the most common ways families choose to honor a loved one and create a permanent place of remembrance.

It typically includes a casket, burial vault or grave liner, cemetery or mausoleum, and often a monument or marker. You can also bury cremated remains in an urn encapsulated by an urn vault.

Services may include a funeral, graveside service, celebration of life, or another meaningful tribute.

Understanding these elements can help make important decisions feel more manageable.

An elderly couple sits on a sofa, talking to a professional holding a clipboard.

Wilbert offers the best burial products and guidance for families navigating these difficult decisions.

They deliver consistency, reliability, and the peace of mind every family deserves. When we use Wilbert, I know we’re providing the best protection available.”

— Sarah Martinez, Licensed Funeral Director, Martinez & Sons Funeral Home

Memorial Options to Support a Meaningful Burial

A gold-toned metal casket with an open lid, showing a rectangular panel on the top.

Burial Vaults

Protective burial solutions that help create a lasting place of remembrance.

Open bronze-colored casket with a cream-colored interior lining and pillow.

Caskets

Thoughtfully crafted caskets that help honor a life and reflect personal preferences.

Four metal cremation urns in red, brown, black, and light blue, decorated with engraved birds, leaves, and butterflies.

Urns

Memorial urns designed to honor a life and support a variety of remembrance preferences.

Black granite upright headstone for Michael S. and Erin G. Watson, featuring the Penn State and Kansas State University logos, wedding date, and engraved ribbon and pumpkin symbols.

Monuments

Permanent memorials that provide a dedicated place to remember, reflect, and honor.

A square metallic urn with a textured, patterned side and a removable lid featuring a marble-style square inlay.

Urn Vaults

Protective urn burial solutions that help create a lasting place of remembrance.

Silver circular pendant featuring an openwork tree design over a green background, on a silver rope chain.

Memorial Jewelry

Wearable keepsakes that help keep meaningful memories close.

A blue glass perfume bottle with a stopper next to a blue glass egg-shaped paperweight.

Mementos

Personal keepsakes that help preserve memories and celebrate meaningful moments.

Casket with a memorial print on the lid featuring an American flag and a portrait of Sgt. Michael L. Woods, USMC, with his name and dates of birth and death.

Personalization

Meaningful ways to reflect a unique life through imagery, inscriptions, symbols, artwork, and personal details.

Create a Tribute as Unique as the Life It Honors

Every person’s story is different.

From personalized burial vaults and custom casket details to monuments, inscriptions, and memorial imagery, Wilbert helps families create tributes that reflect the people, passions, values, and memories that made a life unique.

Discover Personalization Options

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Personalized Burial Vault Designs

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Custom Casket Colors and Finishes

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Personal Photographs and Imagery

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Meaningful Symbols and Emblems

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Engraved Messages and Inscriptions

A white checkmark inside a teal circle.

Monument and Memorial Customization

Are You a Funeral Director or Industry Professional?

For more than a century, Wilbert has served funeral professionals with trusted products, dependable resources, and industry expertise that help guide the families in your care.

Explore Wilbert solutions and resources designed just for you.

I’m a Funeral Professional Visit Pierce by Wilbert

Frequently Asked Questions About Burial

Common Questions About Burial, Burial Products, and Cemetery Products

A burial vault is a protective outer container placed around a casket when it is buried. Most cemeteries require a burial vault or grave liner to help support the ground above the grave and prevent sinking, which maintains the appearance of the cemetery over time.

Many families also choose a burial vault because it helps protect a loved one’s final resting place from moisture, earth pressure, and other natural elements.

Invented by Wilbert in 1880, today’s burial vaults combine trusted protection, quality craftsmanship, and meaningful personalization options.

Explore Wilbert Burial Vaults

The burial process typically includes selecting a casket, choosing a cemetery or mausoleum, making memorialization decisions, and coordinating the funeral service.

Many families also choose a burial vault, monument, or personalized memorial elements that help create a permanent place of remembrance, even for cremated remains. A funeral professional can help guide each of these decisions and coordinate the arrangements.

Find a Funeral Home

Yes. Many burial memorials can be personalized to reflect a loved one’s interests, values, faith, military service, hobbies, family traditions, or life story.

Personalization options may include custom imagery, inscriptions, colors, symbols, emblems, monument designs, and other meaningful details that make a tribute uniquely personal.

Whether you’re creating a simple tribute or exploring highly personalized memorial options, Wilbert brings over a century of craftsmanship and care to honor each unique life.

Explore Personalization Options

Both burial vaults and grave liners help support the ground above a grave and preserve the appearance of the cemetery.

A grave liner generally provides basic structural support, while a burial vault is typically lined and sealed to provide additional protection for the casket and a loved one’s final resting place.

Your funeral professional can help explain cemetery requirements and determine which option is most appropriate.

Choosing burial or cremation is a personal decision influenced by family traditions, religious beliefs, cultural practices, budget considerations, and personal preferences.

Many families find it helpful to explore both options, discuss them with loved ones, and speak with a funeral professional before making a decision.

Explore Cremation

Talk Through Your Options With a Funeral Professional

A licensed funeral professional can help guide the remaining decisions and create arrangements that honor your wishes and priorities.

Find a Funeral Home Near Me

Cremation

Learn about the cremation process and explore cremation products, including beautifully crafted urns and urn vaults.

Personalization

Find jewelry, keepsakes, headstones, and other permanent memorialization products to personalize.

Creating a Permanent Place of Remembrance

Burial provides a permanent place to gather, reflect, and remember for generations to come. Explore your options and begin shaping a tribute that reflects a life, values, and legacy.

Start the Planning Process Find a Funeral Home