Upright Headstones

Upright Headstones: The Classic Form, Elevated by Exceptional Craft

There is a reason the upright headstone has endured for centuries. It stands. Visibly, permanently, without apology — a vertical declaration that someone lived here, loved here, and deserves to be remembered at eye level. It is the form most people picture when they close their eyes and think of a memorial. And for good reason: nothing communicates presence quite like stone rising above the ground.

At Memory Headstones, every upright headstone we produce is handmade from exclusive granite by master artisans working in the United States. We bring no templates and no shortcuts to this work — only the craft our family has refined since 1960, and the singular story your loved one deserves to have told in stone.

Why the Upright Headstone Remains the Standard of Memorial Tradition

Traditions endure because they work. The upright headstone for grave placement has been the primary form of memorial commemoration across cultures and centuries because its strengths are fundamental: it is visible across a cemetery from a distance, immediately legible, and unmistakably significant. A monument headstone that stands vertically commands the space around it in a way that no flat or low-profile form can.

Its vertical surface also provides something more practical: room. An upright monument headstone offers generous engraving space for names, dates, epitaphs, portraits, religious symbols, decorative imagery, and extended personal inscriptions — all visible to a visitor standing naturally in front of it. There is no need to crouch or lean. The memorial speaks directly, at a human scale.

"An upright headstone is not a tradition we follow because it is conventional. It is a tradition that has survived because it honors the living and the departed equally — giving families a place to stand and a place to look."

For families seeking a tribute that is simultaneously visible, personal, and enduring, upright headstones for graves remain the definitive choice. The form is classical. The execution, in our hands, is anything but standard.

Exclusive Granite — Built to Stand Through Every Season

A fully upright monument faces the full force of the elements — wind, frost, thermal expansion, driving rain, and decades of direct sun exposure. The material it is made from is not a secondary consideration. It is the deciding factor in whether a memorial remains dignified in ten years, or in a hundred.

We use only exclusive granite sourced for its exceptional density, internal grain structure, and resistance to weathering. This is not a marketing distinction. Granite of inferior density absorbs moisture, which expands in freezing temperatures and fractures the stone from within over time. Our granite upright headstones are selected specifically to prevent this — chosen slab by slab for the characteristics that matter at the geological level.

Rare colors that become part of the memorial's identity

The vertical face of an upright headstone is on permanent display. The granite's natural character — its color, veining, and mineral depth — becomes inseparable from the memorial's presence. We offer a curated selection of rare granite tones not available through conventional suppliers: deep absolute blacks, luminous blue-grays, warm rose and amber formations, rich forest greens, and cool Nordic silvers with crystalline flecks that catch different light at different times of day.

Because we work exclusively with natural, undyed stone, no two slabs are alike. Your family's upright headstone will carry a geological signature that exists nowhere else — an unrepeatable surface for an irreplaceable person.

Custom Upright Headstones — Personalization at the Highest Level

The vertical surface of an upright headstone is among the finest canvases available in memorial craft. It accommodates virtually every form of personalization: laser-etched portraiture, hand-carved religious symbols, scenic landscape etchings, decorative botanical or architectural motifs, extended family histories, and inscriptions in virtually any language. At the scale of a full upright monument, there is room to tell a complete story — not merely to mark a name and a date.

Our artisans work with families directly to determine the composition of the design — how much of the surface is given to imagery, how much to text, how borders and decorative elements frame the whole. These are not decisions we make for you. They are decisions we guide you through, with the expertise of decades and the patience the process deserves.

The range of upright headstone designs in our portfolio spans classic and contemporary forms, traditional and cultural styles, spare and ornate aesthetics. Whatever direction feels right, we can execute it with precision and care.

Signature Upright Headstone Designs

Every design below is a starting point. Families work with our team to personalize granite color, inscription content, additional carvings, and finish until the memorial is genuinely their own. These are some of the most requested upright memorial headstone styles in our collection.

Rustic Serp Upright Headstone

A design that honors the stone as much as the life. The classic serpentine curved top — a form with centuries of cemetery tradition behind it — is paired with hand-pitched natural rock edges that reveal the raw, unpolished face of the granite beneath. The contrast between the refined curved silhouette and the rugged natural perimeter gives this monument a grounded, organic authority that speaks of strength without pretension. An ideal tribute for those who found beauty in the natural world, or who lived with straightforward, unadorned integrity.

Square Upright Headstone with Vases

Architectural in its clarity. This design brings a contemporary discipline to the upright form — clean right-angle lines, a bold symmetrical profile, and a polished surface that presents inscriptions and imagery with sharp precision. Integrated matching granite vases flank the monument, providing a permanent invitation for families to leave fresh flowers at every visit. The vases are crafted from the same exclusive granite as the stone itself, so the entire monument reads as a single, unified piece. For families who value order, elegance, and a living quality in their memorial.

Comfort Modern Cross Memorial Monument

Faith and contemporary form, held in the same silhouette. This monument integrates a cross into a sleek, modern profile — not as an ornament applied to the surface, but as the structural logic of the shape itself. The result is a tribute that communicates spiritual conviction without relying on visual elaboration. Clean lines, a polished finish, and a form that is immediately recognizable and quietly powerful. For those whose faith was a quiet, defining constant rather than an outward proclamation.

Christian Cross Upright Headstone

Among the most traditional and enduring forms in our collection. A classically proportioned cross rises from the granite base with full vertical presence — deeply sculpted, precisely finished, and commanding in its simplicity. It requires nothing additional to communicate what it means. For families for whom Christian faith was the foundation of a loved one's life, this monument is not one option among many. It is the right answer — rendered in exceptional stone by artisans who treat the work with the reverence it deserves.

Companion Upright Headstone

A single monument wide enough to honor two — designed with the same vertical presence as a standard upright, but proportioned to tell two stories side by side on one unified surface. Available in a full range of exclusive granite tones, with personalization across the entire face. For spouses, life partners, and siblings: a memorial that says, as their lives did, that these two people belonged in the same breath.

Fully Custom Upright Headstones

For families with a clear vision — or a story that does not fit any standard form — we accept fully bespoke commissions. Original silhouettes, architectural profiles, cultural forms, occupation-specific symbols, hand-drawn motifs translated into stone. If it can be conceived and drawn, our artisans can carve it. The upright headstone's generous vertical surface makes it the most accommodating form for ambitious personalization. Bring us what you imagine. We will build it to last.

From First Conversation to Final Installation — We Handle Everything

Choosing an upright headstone involves more decisions than most families expect: height, base dimensions, granite color, finish type, inscription layout, portrait placement, cemetery approval requirements. Each of these has aesthetic and practical implications, and they interact with each other in ways that are not always obvious without experience.

Our team provides complete guidance from the first consultation through to installation. We advise on every dimension of the decision — design, material, site requirements, engraving composition — and we manage the production process with close oversight at every stage. Our artisans handcraft each monument to the agreed specification. We coordinate delivery and professional installation, and we do not consider the commission complete until the stone is in place and your family is satisfied.

You are supported throughout. No question is too early to ask, and no detail is too small to matter to us. That is what it means to work with a family business that has been doing this since 1960.

Flexible Financing — Because the Right Tribute Should Never Be Out of Reach

A premium upright headstone is a significant investment — and one we believe every family deserves to make without financial anxiety. We offer flexible installment plans with 0% in-house financing, so you can begin the commission at the right moment for your family, and manage the cost in a way that causes no additional burden. Our artisans begin work the moment you are ready. The process moves at your pace, not ours.

As a family-owned business since 1960, we extend special discounts to military veterans, active first responders, and families who choose to pay their balance in full. These are genuine expressions of gratitude — for service, for trust, and for the honor of being chosen for work this meaningful.

Whether you are looking for a single headstone upright or a grand family estate monument, let our family bring the craftsmanship, the stone, and the care that your loved one's memory deserves — built to stand for every generation that follows.