Unique ways to personalise a coffin

We all know that death is inevitable, and that we will all face it at some point. Given this, why not make it memorable for those that we leave behind?

The coffin has for many centuries been an integral part of funeral services, which date back to the Egyptian era, and interestingly, personalised coffins are also an old concept designed to capture the essence of a personality and reflect the life they lived. The word coffin derives from an Old French word ‘cofin’ which translates as ‘little basket’.

Customisation of coffins has grown in popularity in recent years, accounting for up to five per cent of Australia’s coffin market. In fact, many Australian funeral homes today provide a wide range of creative design options for personalising coffins. Some ways to design a coffin include adorning it with beautiful images and photos, hand-written messages, wrapping it in a favourite colour, or having it custom printed with the flag of a favourite sports team.

Coffin Wraps

These wraps provide a plethora of personalised options such as flowers, birds, colours, landscapes, or even themed images of a movie character or television series in photographic quality using cutting-edge technology.

Decorated Coffins

There are no rules when it comes to decorating a coffin. It could be anything from painted handprints to collages of family photos of various sizes, quotes painted in various colours and styles, flowers, or decorating with sparkling-coloured stones or ornaments.

Eco Coffins

Eco-friendly coffins are made from natural renewable materials such as bamboo, willow, seagrass, cotton, banana leaf, and rattan, which decompose, causing less impact to the environment.

Uniquely-shaped Coffins

When it comes to unconventional or unusually shaped coffins, the imagination knows no bounds. These unique objects could range from cigarette shapes to ladies’ purses, eccentric cartoon shapes to food items such as hamburgers, as well as skateboards and even mobile phone shapes.

Case Study

A few years ago, the family of a young man who died of cancer in the United Kingdom decided to celebrate their son’s life and came up with a creative idea to have a personalised coffin. A seven-foot yellow Lego block coffin, because Lego was one of his favourite things. They believed they could inspire others who were going through the same heartbreaking experience of losing a child to deal better with a send-off by creating a personalised goodbye that truly reflected his personality.

Other examples of unusually shaped coffins and caskets from around the world: doughnut-shaped, hotdog-shaped, corn-shaped, car-shaped and chocolate-box shaped.

Coffins and Caskets

The word ‘casket’ in middle English refers to a jewellery box which is why, in some cultures, a casket is the preferred option to honour the dead – the term refers to storing something that is precious.

The terms coffin and casket are often used interchangeably; however they are not the same thing. While a coffin and casket serve the same general purpose, the two differ in terms of design and materials.

Coffins are tapered at the head and foot, and are wide at the shoulders. They’re generally made from materials such as particleboard and custom wood. Caskets on the other hand, are rectangular in shape and are usually constructed from more substantial materials such as solid timber or metal.