Consistent lettering, expert craftsmanship, and a three-day turnaround — so every niche front reflects the dignity of your memorial.
A columbarium is a visual whole. Each niche front sits in close proximity to the next, and without careful management, inconsistencies in lettering style, spacing, depth, and highlighting can make the memorial look disorganized over time — discouraging future niche purchases and diminishing the dignity of the installation.
Eickhof’s inscription services ensure that every niche front on your columbarium is inscribed with consistent quality, every time.
Your inscription layout is the overall appearance and spacing of your inscriptions — including fonts, letter sizes, the placement of names and dates for companion and single occupancy, emblem spaces, and quote spaces. Once approved, your layout is used for every inscription on your columbarium, ensuring complete visual consistency.
We offer several standard layout options, and custom layouts are available for organizations that want something tailored to their specific aesthetic. Our standard font is Optima Bold, chosen for its clarity once inscribed and its suitability for memorial use. Approximately 90% of our clients use it.
Your inscription format governs how recurring situations are handled within your layout — date formats, how nicknames and maiden names are listed, and how prefixes and suffixes appear. Establishing a clear format upfront eliminates inconsistencies and ensures every family receives a uniform, professional result.
We provide specially designed, reusable shipping containers to send your niche fronts to and from our facility. The containers are built to protect your stone through transit, and we replace them at no cost as they show wear. You may use the shipping provider most convenient to you — we recommend UPS, USPS, or FedEx. Pre-paid shipping labels are also available through the Lasting Legacy portal.
Once we receive your niche front, we guarantee a three-day turnaround — not including the day of receipt. If you have a time-sensitive need, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate. We are in the best position to correct or replace your niche front should an error occur, and we stand behind our work.
We define customization as any text or emblem beyond an individual’s given or married name and life dates. While families may request unique designs, we recommend that establishments maintain a clear policy on what is permitted. Allowing families free rein to design their own inscription layouts can lead to visual inconsistency that detracts from the memorial’s overall appearance.
We recommend designating an individual or small committee to manage the columbarium and all associated decisions — including inscription approvals, urn selection, and niche assignments. This single point of management keeps the process efficient and the memorial cohesive.
For clarity and visual depth, inscription letters are typically highlighted with Lithichrome Shadow — a painted color applied within the depth of the inscription. Once a highlight color is approved for your columbarium, it is used consistently across all niche fronts.
White works best on dark stone, black on light stone, brown on cream, and gold on either cream or dark. If you have questions about how a particular color will appear on your chosen stone, we can provide digital mockups or physical samples.
Our Lasting Legacy online portal makes managing inscriptions effortless. Through the portal, you can customize inscriptions in real time, order sheet bronze urns and key wrenches, create shipping labels, and track the status of your orders — all in one place.
We recommend pricing inscriptions separately from the initial niche sale. This protects your organization from absorbing cost increases over time and gives families the ability to choose whether customization is worth the added expense.
If you prefer to include inscriptions in the niche price, consider setting a fixed inscription allowance — any costs beyond that allowance are covered by the family.
Whether you’re setting up inscription services for a new columbarium or looking for a better partner for your existing memorial, our team is here to help. We’ll walk you through the layout process, set up your templates, and have you inscribing niche fronts in no time.
