When to order a headstone is simpler than the advice you get at a reception. Dash Monument’s published FAQ is that you can purchase whenever you want, as long as you follow cemetery regulations. There is no Dash-imposed year of mourning. Pre-need (a stone before a death) is also allowed when the cemetery will accept it on that lot.
What you do have to plan around is production. Average time from first meeting to installation is 12 to 16 weeks, depending on the monument, vendor timelines, and cemetery scheduling. If you want a stone set by a date, start from that window, not from a calendar myth.
You do not have to wait a year
People hear “wait a year” from relatives, funeral staff, or a neighbor who waited. Some of that is grief advice (do not decide while you cannot think). Some of it is a cemetery’s own setting calendar. None of it is a Dash rule.
Dash is a family-owned monument shop in Liberty, Missouri. Melissa and Bo design granite and bronze memorials. They are not a funeral home and they do not write cemetery policy. Their resources and FAQ page states you can buy when you are ready if the cemetery allows the stone.
If you need time, take it. If you are ready at six weeks, or at two years, that is a valid start. The shop will still check the cemetery first so you do not order a shape that section will not set.
What “ready” actually means
Ready is not a finished design. Ready is enough information to start a cemetery check:
- Cemetery name and city
- Section, lot, or deed paperwork if you have it
- Burial or cremation
- One grave or two
- At-need (someone has died) or pre-need
You can walk into 943 W. Liberty Dr. without a verse picked. Appointments are recommended. Hours are Monday through Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm, Saturday 10:00am to 1:00pm, closed Sunday, with after-hour appointments available.
Dash’s monument buying guide is the shape and granite list. Use it after the cemetery says yes on size, material, and bronze versus granite.
The 12 to 16 week clock
This is the number families miss when they ask “when should we order?”
Dash’s average from first meeting to installation is 12 to 16 weeks. That window includes design, mockups, cemetery approval, production, delivery, and setting. Custom carving and porcelain portraits can add time. The cemetery’s calendar is not something a blog can promise. Winter setting, foundation crews, and office backlog sit inside that estimate when they apply.
If you want a stone in place before an anniversary, count backward 12 to 16 weeks from that date, then add a little room. Starting the week before the date is how graves stay unmarked through a visit you cared about.
You get an estimate up front. Installation cost is typically included. The cemetery may still bill its own foundation, permit, or inspection. Those fees should be named before stone is cut.
Pre-need: order before anyone has died
Pre-need is a normal path. You can choose granite, lettering, and (for a companion) both names now, with space for a later date. There is no requirement that a death happen first.
Reasons families do this:
- They want the hard decisions made while both people can talk.
- They want one stone already on a lot they already own.
- They want to lock a design the cemetery will accept, then add a final date later.
Dash does final-date engraving on existing monuments as a named service. Do not treat an unofficial turnaround you saw online as a promise. Ask in the showroom.
Pre-need still follows today’s cemetery packet. A stone set years early is not a waiver of flush-only rules or color limits. For width on two-name stones, the companion article in this series covers lot measurement. For size and material, see cemetery headstone rules.
After a death: funeral first, memorial second
The funeral home handles the service and the burial or cremation. The memorial is a second project. A funeral director who “already talked to the cemetery” usually meant the interment, not a monument drawing.
You can start the memorial conversation:
- Before the funeral, if you want the cemetery check underway
- In the weeks after, when you can sit in a showroom
- Months or years later, if that is when you can decide
Dash handles communication, approvals, and paperwork for the stone. You should not have to learn which clerk to call. You are not required to buy the memorial from the cemetery or the funeral home. Their published comparison is that prices average 10% to 30% lower than cemetery or funeral home memorial prices. Flexible payment plans exist. Terms are set in the shop.
For what moves the number (without a fake dollar menu), see how much a headstone costs in Kansas City.
What can delay a setting (and what does not)
Does delay it: cemetery review, a section that only allows a grass marker when you wanted an upright, vendor backlogs, portraits, a companion width that will not fit, winter or crew scheduling on the cemetery’s side.
Does not delay it by itself: the fact that it has not been a year. Grief is not a production hold.
Do not invent a settlement rule from this blog. Some cemeteries have their own rules about when a new grave can take a foundation. Dash will ask that office. A neighbor’s “six months for the ground” is not a metro-wide law.
A VA-furnished marker is a separate timeline and a separate product. A private granite or bronze memorial from Dash is not a substitute for the VA process. Unofficial dollar amounts online are not a benefit you are owed. If you want both, start both conversations early. Government markers have their own wait.
Online catalogs will sell a size that looks right in a photo. They will not stand at the Kansas City area office and file the drawing. If the seller cannot say who gets approval, you do not have a complete project, no matter how fast the crate ships.
How Dash runs the first meeting
Melissa grew up around cemetery and monument work. The process they publish is:
- Cemetery requirements first (size, shape, color, bronze versus granite).
- Then granite and design, including mockups so you can compare options that fit a budget.
- Then production and setting.
That order means you can start before you have a quote you love. The first useful output is a yes or no on what the section will hold. Mockups come after that yes.
Walk-ins are welcome. If you are coming from grief, an appointment is kinder on time. Bring the cemetery name if you know it.
A simple timing checklist
- Confirm you want to start (at-need or pre-need). You do not need a year on the calendar.
- Bring cemetery and lot information.
- Let Dash check the packet.
- Pick a shape from what is allowed (grass marker, bevel, slant, upright, companion width).
- Approve a mockup and an estimate.
- Count 12 to 16 weeks unless Dash gives you a different range for that stone.
- Add the final date later if this is pre-need or a companion with a blank.
You can stop after step 3 if you are not ready to design. The cemetery check does not expire the same week, but rules can change. If you wait a long time, Dash should confirm the document again before stone is cut.
Frequently asked questions
When should I order a headstone?
Whenever you want, if the cemetery allows a memorial on that lot. Dash does not require a one-year wait. Plan 12 to 16 weeks from the first meeting if you care about a setting date.
Can we order before the funeral?
Yes. The funeral and the monument are different jobs. Starting the cemetery check early does not lock you into a design on day one.
Can we order before anyone has died?
Yes, when the cemetery will accept a pre-need stone. Companion stones can list both names now, with space for a later date.
What if we wait two years?
That is fine. You still need a cemetery check. Styles and rules may have shifted. Bring current lot information.
Do we have to buy from the cemetery to get a sooner setting?
No. You must still meet their installation and design rules. Dash typically includes setting in the estimate and handles the paperwork. Their calendar is still the cemetery’s calendar.
Will winter stop the order?
It can affect setting, not your right to start design. Ask Dash for a timing estimate when the stone is scoped. This blog will not guess a freeze date.
Start when you are ready, then count the weeks
If you want help deciding when to order a headstone for a Kansas City area plot, visit the Liberty showroom or send a Monument Inquiry. Call 816-736-3736. Bring the cemetery name if you know it. You do not have to decide on the first visit. You do need a start date that respects the 12 to 16 week path, not a year you never owed.
