Funeral Rentals: Rent a Casket or Cremation Urn

Funeral rentals are a real thing, and can actually be a great way to save on your final expenses.

Renting funeral accessories is actually a fairly common practice. Think about it - you're already "renting" the facilities for the memorial service, perhaps some tables and chairs for the reception.

So why not rent a casket? Or a cremation urn?

It's not only possible, but sometimes it's the smart option.

Let's learn more about funeral rentals.

Common Funeral Rentals

Below is a list of common items available for rent from funeral homes or other vendors. Most of these will make perfect sense to you, while others will require some explanation.

• Venue for funeral or memorial service
• Venue for reception
• Buffet and food service accessories
• Tables and chairs
• Tablecloths and décor
• Sound system
• Tuxedo
• Silk flowers
• Casket
• Cremation urn

We're going to take a closer look at those last two.

Casket Rental

Now, why would you want to rent a casket?

Here are the two main reasons people rent a casket:

1. Cremation. When the body is going to be cremated anyways, there's no reason to purchase and then destroy a nice casket. Instead, the typical practice is to rent an attractive casket for the memorial service. Then, when it comes time for the body to be cremated, they place the body into a basic cremation container (essentially a cardboard coffin).
2. To save money on burial. If you can only afford a very basic casket, or if your loved one chose to be buried in a simple pine box, you can still have an attractive and appropriately fancy casket to honor your loved one at the funeral. Just rent it! Many families choose to rent a casket for the service and then have the burial using a more affordable option.

How & Where to Rent a Casket

Most funeral homes offer rental caskets. Just ask! The rental will include use of the casket during the funeral, along with clean sanitary lining and pillow.

As with any service offered by the funeral home, you can shop around. Perhaps there is a low-cost casket rental service in your city, or maybe you can get it cheaper (with delivery and pickup included) from another funeral home.

However, after transportation costs and the headache involved in trying to find a casket elsewhere, you'll probably find that it's simpler and at least comparable in price to just rent one from the funeral home you're using.

How Much is a Rental Casket?

Casket rentals are still pretty pricey. The typical rental will be between $700 on the low end, up to $1200 or more on the high end.

For comparison, the same caskets would cost between $1500 and $6000 to purchase. So you would save quite a bit by going with a rental.

Cremation Urn Rental

This one seems even more bizarre. Why would anyone want to rent a cremation urn to hold someone's ashes?

Again, as with casket rentals, once you see the reasoning it all makes sense.

Here are the most common reasons why families rent an urn:

1. They didn't choose the permanent urn yet. Choosing the perfect urn for your loved one can be a difficult and emotional task. (Those emotional decisions are often the ones people most regret. Here's how to avoid many of those.) Here are Urns Northwest, we often provide urns for people six months, a year, even multiple years after the funeral. Sometimes you need to wait, and that's ok. The funeral home will rent an urn for a small fee so that you have something nice to display at the service.
2. The urn didn't arrive in time. We've spoken with many customers who found the perfect urn on our website, but the funeral is tomorrow and the urn they want is made to order. What do they do? Simply rent an urn for the service, then we'll get the permanent urn to them after it's made. Same thing goes in the case of a shipping delay, or when expedited shipping costs are prohibitive. Instead of stressing and/or paying extra in shipping fees, it's often best to rent an urn for the service and have the permanent urn shipped free.
3. The remains will be scattered or divided. When the family chooses an alternative disposition method, they still often want a single, attractive urn for display during the service. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to purchase something they really don't need, they rent one from the funeral home.
4. The remains will be buried. While many of our beautiful cremation urns get buried, some people don't see the point in paying for a beautiful memorial urn that will just be buried in the ground within a few days. If that's your view, the best option would be to rent an urn for the funeral and then have the remains buried in the temporary urn. Simple, easy, affordable.

How Much is Cremation Urn Rental?

Cremation urn rentals vary quite a bit. Sometimes, depending on the package you purchased, it may be included. Other prices we've seen are as low as $20 and up to $100. Prices vary by funeral home, so just ask the funeral director.

And when you're ready to purchase the permanent urn, start with our premium selection of beautiful cremation urns.