As long as you need. Many families wait six months or a year before putting up a stone, and some wait longer while the ground settles. Nobody is behind. If you would like to start a design now and leave it, it keeps.
Does the ground need to settle first?
For a new burial, usually yes. Cemeteries generally ask for six months or so before a full memorial goes on, so the stone does not sink or lean as the ground consolidates. The cemetery you choose will tell you what it asks for, and you can design in the meantime.
Who does what?
You make the design. A monumental mason builds and installs it. The council grants the permit... your mason usually lodges it, and your design pack gives them everything the application needs.
Do we need a permit?
Usually. Most councils require a permit before a memorial is erected, and most charge for it. Your mason normally lodges it, using the pack. The amount differs by council and some charge nothing, so we pass it on at cost rather than folding it into our price, and the figure for the cemetery you choose is shown while you design.
How do councils measure a memorial?
Not the same way as each other, which is the thing worth knowing before you fall in love with a height. One district measures the whole monument from the ground up. The other measures the headstone above the base and the plinth together. The same number means two different stones.Hastings District: 900mm over the whole monument, HDC Handbook s6.6. Napier City: 900mm above base and plinth, NCC Bylaw 2021 Sch 5, Eskdale Limited Headstone Areas.
What are we allowed to put up?
It depends on the cemetery and often on the section within it. Lawn sections usually take a plaque set flat; monumental sections take an upstanding headstone on a base. Sizes, materials and what may be planted are all set by the council. We hold those rules and check your design against them as you work.
Can we add a name later?
Yes. A companion memorial is cut now for the person who has died with room left for the second name, and the second inscription is added in place when the time comes. Some councils ask to be notified before a memorial is altered, and a few ask for a photograph afterwards.
What does a dash after one date mean?
That the memorial was made before the second date was known. The first date and the dash are cut now, the space after it is left, and the second date is added in place when the time comes.
Can we show the design to family who are not here?
Yes. Every design has a link. Send it to whoever should see it and they are looking at the same memorial you are, on whatever they happen to be holding. Nothing to sign up to, nothing to install.
Is the design really free?
Yes, and it stays free. The preview, the link you send your family and the download cost nothing. There is no layout fee and no charge for a proof, because the design you are looking at is the proof.
Can we use our own monumental mason?
Yes. The production pack contains everything a mason needs to quote and build your memorial anywhere in New Zealand: the drawings, the dimensions, the stone and finish, and the inscription as it will be cut. It is $120, and it is credited in full if we make the memorial instead.
Who guarantees the work?
We are responsible for the design and the pack. The memorial itself is built and warranted by the monumental mason who makes it, on their own terms, and those terms are shown with their listing.