Creative Scattering Ashes Ideas & Recommended List Of Service Providers

Written by: Adam Binstock

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Time to read 6 min

Creative ashes scattering ideas

Scattering ashes provides families with a sense of closure and peace, returning their loved one's spirit back to nature.

But with so many meaningful ways to scatter ashes, how do you choose the right to honor your loved one's memory.

In this article, we'll discuss some of these scattering ideas and the logistics behind organizing one. We'll also provide a list of recommended service providers for you to consider.

Preparing for the Scattering Ceremony

Choosing an appropriate location is the most vital part of the scattering ceremony. It could be a place that was significant to the deceased, a tranquil garden, a serene beach, or even a national park.

Involving family members in the planning and inviting them to the celebration of life can add to its significance.

Land Scattering Ideas

Ash scattering ceremonies on land is a popular memorial option to pay tribute to a loved one. It offers a sense of permanency and allows for a physical place to return to.

Memorial Forests

memorial forests

Imagine your loved one’s ashes nurturing a tree, providing life, and becoming part of a thriving forest ecosystem. That’s the idea behind scattering ashes in memorial forests.

It’s a beautiful, natural, and eco-friendly way to honor the memory of a loved one. In memorial forests, ashes are typically scattered around a special tree or mixed with the soil, providing a meaningful resting place for your loved one.

Recommended Memorial Forests

If you're interested in this type of memorial for you or a loved one, below you will find some of our recommended providers and their services offered. 

Better Place Forests

Better Place Forests

Better Place Forests provides a unique and scenic memorial experience that allows families to spread their loved one's ashes beneath dedicated trees within protected forests. 

Better Place Forests focuses on conservation and creating a lasting legacy for loved ones in beautiful, natural settings. 

Services include personalized scattering ashes ceremonies, memorial stones, and a digital memorial to share with family and friends.

Locations: 10 locations in California, Southwest, Midwest, & Northeast of the USA.

Life Forest

Life Forest

Life Forest offers a serene and sustainable way to honor loved ones by planting memorial trees. Each tree is planted in a protected forest, ensuring a lasting tribute that supports environmental conservation.

What's Included:

  • Tree planting in a designated forest.

  • Legal land deed for the tree and burial rights.

  • Personalized engraved stone marker.

  • GPS coordinates of the tree’s location.

  • Maintenance and protection of the tree and forest.

Locations:

  • Life Forest, Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Water Scattering Ideas

Water scattering ideas

Water scattering is a particularly appealing ceremony for families that have a connection to water. Maybe your loved one lived by the sea, liked to surf, or maybe fish.

Whether you choose to scatter at sea, a lake, or river, this gentle act symbolizes a return to nature. 

It provides a tranquil setting that allows family and friends to gather, reflect, and gain some closure.

Choosing water scattering is not just about saying goodbye, it's about celebrating your loved one's life and their return to nature.

Below are our favorite ways to scatter ashes by the water and some great providers to work with.

Sea Scattering Cruises

Sea Scattering Cruises

A sea scattering cruise is probably the most popular and convenient way to organize a ceremony.

Lasting usually around 1-2 hrs, sea scattering cruise service typically includes a private boat charter with a professional captain and crew. 

These services often assist in planning and conducting the ceremony, incorporating readings, music, and other personalized elements to honor the deceased. 

They may also provide flowers or petals for scattering, as well as biodegradable urns to ensure an eco-friendly process when scattering your loved one's ashes. 

Coral Reef Scattering

Let your loved one be apart of nature with truly unique and eco-friendly scattering option.

Coral reef scattering combines your loved one's ashes with concrete and secures them within a reef ball structure, which is then placed on the ocean floor. 

These artificial structures, over time, attract and support marine life similar to natural reefs, essentially turning your loved one’s ashes into a living, thriving part of the ocean ecosystem.

Companies offer packages for memorial reefs that may usually include:

  • Handling of remains

  • Placement at sea

  • Personalization options

  • Memorial services

Scattering Memorial Gardens

Scattering Garden

If you like the idea of scattering ashes but also want a place to come back and visit, a scattering memorial garden might be a great option.

These spaces are designated lands specifically for scattering human or pet cremated remains and are commonly found on private property, parks, cemeteries, forests, and churches.

Many scattering gardens include a memorial component, where individuals’ names and dates are inscribed, providing families a permanent space to pay tribute.

To give you a better idea about scattering gardens, here are some great service providers below.

Rest Ashured

Rest Ashured offers dignified and serene ash scattering services in beautiful memorial gardens. Their mission is to provide a respectful and meaningful way to honor the memory of loved ones, ensuring their final resting place is one of peace and tranquility.

Scattering Gardens Services:

  • Ash Scattering in Memorial Gardens: Rest Ashured specializes in scattering ashes in carefully maintained memorial gardens. These gardens are chosen for their natural beauty and serene environment, providing a tranquil setting for remembrance.

  • Personalized Memorial Packages: Each scattering service includes a customized memorial package, featuring a keepsake certificate and GPS coordinates of the scattering location, allowing families to visit and reflect.

  • Options for Attendance: Families can choose to be present during the scattering ceremony or opt for an unattended service, depending on their preferences and needs.

  • Eco-Friendly Practices: Rest Ashured ensures that all scattering practices are environmentally friendly, contributing to the preservation and natural beauty of the memorial gardens.

Locations:

Carolina Memorial Sanctuary

Carolina Memorial Sanctuary is a conservation and green burial cemetery dedicated to providing eco-friendly burial options in a serene and natural setting. Located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the sanctuary offers a peaceful and respectful environment for honoring loved ones while preserving the natural landscape.

Memorial Options:

  • Scattering Gardens: Ashes can be scattered in designated areas throughout the sanctuary, allowing loved ones to rest in harmony with nature. Each scattering is performed with care and respect, contributing to the sanctuary's mission of conservation and sustainability.

  • Green Burial: Families can choose to bury cremation ashes in a biodegradable urn or directly into the earth, promoting natural decomposition and soil enrichment. This option aligns with green burial practices and supports the preservation of the sanctuary's natural beauty.

  • Memorial Tree Planting: Your loved one's ashes can be buried at the base of a newly planted tree, creating a living memorial.

Location:

Aerial Scattering Services

If your loved one was a unique soul who was larger than life, an aerial scattering maybe a great celebration of their life.

Scattering ashes from the sky provides an uplifting and memorable experience. We will list some aerial scattering ideas, including airplane scattering, hot air balloon scattering, and fireworks scattering.

Airplane Scattering

Airplane Scattering

Airplane scattering services offer a unique and dramatic farewell, allowing your loved one's spirit to be scattered over specific locations from the sky.

Symbolizing a final journey and the ultimate freedom, aerial scattering services are typically conducted by experienced pilots who navigate to a predetermined location, often chosen for its scenic beauty or personal significance. 

The ash scattering ceremony can include a brief moment of reflection before the release, and some services provide a video recording of the event.

Hot Air Balloon Scattering

If you’re looking for a serene and peaceful scattering experience, consider hot air balloon scattering. Imagine the tranquility of drifting high above the ground, releasing your loved one’s ashes into the wind.

Many families love the symbolic gentle ascent and quiet drift of the balloon, which creates a contemplative and spiritual experience as their loved one's ashes are released into the open air.

Fireworks Scattering

Fireworks Ashes Scattering

Did your loved one always want to go out with a bang? Well they literally can with an ashes firewords display.

This exhilarating celebration combines their ashes with fireworks, which are then launched in a spectacular display. 

It combines the joy of a vibrant light show with the closure of a final farewell.

Other Creative Scattering Ideas

Still looking for the perfect ash scattering ceremony idea? Here are some other unique ways to spread ashes.

Space Scattering

For those fascinated by the cosmos, you'll be pleased to know that you can spread ashes in space.

If space was a meaningful place for your loved one, you can send a portion of their cremated ashes into:

  • Near space
  • Earth orbit

  • The lunar surface

This unique tribute is suitable for individuals passionate about space or science fiction, or those who dreamt of being part of the cosmos.

Adventure Scattering

For the adventurers at heart, spreading  your loved one's remains during a meaningful activity might be a fitting tribute. Here are some ideas to consider, just make sure you check if there are any local laws to consider:

  • skydiving

  • mountain climbing

  • hiking

  • kayaking

  • surfing

Virtual Scattering

In our increasingly digital world and family members living far from each other, the concept of virtual scattering has been gaining popularity. 

It enables those who cannot physically attend a scattering ceremony to still partake in the experience. 

The scattering journey is captured and a personalized memorial video is provided, which can be viewed in virtual reality, creating a truly immersive experience.