Custom headstones Kansas City families ask for are not a Pinterest dump dropped on a crate. Custom means a stone that fits the cemetery first, then carries the artwork, porcelain portrait, and lettering you actually chose. Dash Monument is a Liberty shop that builds those designs with mockups, so you can see the face before anyone cuts granite.
If you only remember one thing: custom still has a footprint. A heart, a cross, a portrait, or a long verse is only “custom” if that section will set it.
What “custom” means at Dash (and what it does not)
Custom is not a different legal product from a marker or an upright. It is the work on top of a allowed shape.
Dash’s monument buying guide lists the shapes they start from: grass markers, bevels, slants, and uprights (oval top, serp top, flat top, half serp top, wing, tablet with a vase notch, teardrop, double heart, single heart, tablet with bench, cross, boulder). Custom is choosing inside that list, then adding carving, symbols, a portrait, and wording that still fit the face.
Custom is not:
- A size the cemetery forbids
- Marble you saw in another state
- A catalog stone with no one to file the drawing
- A 40-year company story (Dash the company started in 2022; Melissa’s background is cemetery and monument work)
You are not required to buy from the cemetery or the funeral home. Dash’s published comparison is that prices average 10% to 30% lower than cemetery or funeral home memorial prices. Shopping elsewhere does not waive portrait or artwork limits on the lot.
Cemetery first, then the art
Kansas City cemeteries write their own packets. Some limit portraits, vases, benches, or how far a carving can extend. Some lawn sections allow only a flush marker. A beautiful custom upright is still the wrong product on a grass-only row.
Dash checks size, shape, color, and bronze versus granite before anyone falls in love with a sketch. They handle communication, approvals, and paperwork. You should not have to learn which clerk to call.
For the rules layer (who writes them, what happens if you skip them), see cemetery headstone rules. This article is the design layer on top of that yes.
Dash only quotes granite colors they carry and the cemetery will accept, including options such as American Black, Jet Black, Barre Gray, Cloud Gray, Missouri Red, and Blue Pearl (the full list is on the buying guide). Color can be restricted even when granite is allowed.
Artwork that still fits the face
Artwork is carving, etching, and emblems on the granite: flowers, crosses, prayers, hobbies, military symbols, a shared phrase. The limit is the face, not your photo album.
What families get wrong:
- Treating a flush marker like an upright canvas. A grass marker holds less.
- Stacking a verse, two portraits, and a vase on a narrow tablet.
- Picking a scene that will not read from a few feet away after a few Kansas City winters.
Dash will help you fit names, dates, a quote, and artwork when the stone size allows it. They will not promise a mural on a plate. Religious symbols are often fine. A cemetery with a specific affiliation may have extra limits. Confirm before you pay for a design that office will reject.
Floral carving is common. So are simple emblems. “Meaningful” is the one symbol a visitor can still see, not five competing ideas.
Porcelain portraits and headstone photos
Porcelain portraits and photo work are a named Dash offering. Homepage reviews mention Melissa helping with a headstone picture. Bo’s background includes memorial portraits. That is why families bring a photo to the Liberty showroom instead of mailing a file into a catalog.
What to bring:
- The clearest photo you have (face large in the frame, even light)
- Permission among the family to use that image
- Honesty about cemetery rules. Some sections limit or forbid portraits.
Do not assume every lawn garden allows a ceramic oval. Ask. If portraits are allowed, Dash will talk through size and placement on the stone you already qualified.
This post is not the full outdoor-photo article. Treat the portrait as one custom choice that can add time. Average timing from first meeting to installation is 12 to 16 weeks. Custom carving and portraits can sit on the longer side of that window. For when you can start (you do not have to wait a year), see when to order a headstone.
Do not name unofficial partner businesses. Porcelain urns and portraits come through connections Dash has already made. You order through Dash.
Mockups are how custom stays affordable
A mockup is a drawing of the actual face: shape, granite, lettering, artwork, portrait placement. Dash builds mockups so you can compare options that fit a budget. That is a published part of how they work, and it is how families avoid paying for a design they cannot live with.
Use mockups to decide:
- Which line of text to cut
- Whether the portrait crowds the names
- Whether a heart or cross still leaves room for dates
- Whether a cheaper granite still reads the carving you want
You do not need a finished design on day one. You need a cemetery yes, then a mockup you can mark up. Walk-ins are welcome at 943 W. Liberty Dr., Liberty, MO 64068. 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.
Flexible payment plans exist. Terms are set in the shop. Dash does not publish a public dollar menu.
How Melissa and Bo run a custom job
Melissa and Bo run Dash Monument as a family-owned monument shop, not a funeral home and not an online warehouse. The process they publish is:
- Cemetery requirements first (size, shape, color, bronze versus granite).
- Then granite and design, including mockups.
- Then production and setting.
Installation cost is typically included in the estimate. The cemetery may still bill its own foundation, permit, or inspection. Those fees should be named before stone is cut.
Dash’s resources and FAQ page states they handle accessories so you are not ordering vases or portraits as a second scavenger hunt. If a stone is damaged during their delivery or installation, they say they will make it right. Years-later weather or cemetery-equipment damage is a repair conversation, not a rewrite of the original design.
A VA-furnished marker is a different product. A private custom stone 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, confirm both before you lock artwork.
What to bring so the first mockup is real
Cemetery name and city. Section or lot if you have it. Burial or cremation. One name or two. A photo if you want a portrait. Any must-have: cross, heart, verse, hobby emblem. What you can drop if the face is too small.
Pre-need is allowed when the cemetery will accept a stone now. Companion stones can list both names, with space for a later date. Custom artwork still follows today’s packet.
Mistakes that waste a custom order
Designing online, then asking the cemetery later. The office can refuse to set it. You pay to change it.
Buying a “custom” crate with no one to file the drawing. If the seller cannot say who gets approval, you do not have a complete project.
Treating two graves as unlimited canvas. Width and height still apply.
Copying a stone from another state. Granite color, bronze rules, and portrait policy may not transfer.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a custom headstone in Kansas City?
A memorial designed to your cemetery’s rules, then to your artwork, lettering, and (if allowed) portrait. The shape still comes from what Dash and the cemetery can set.
Do we have to buy from the cemetery to get custom work?
No. You must still meet their design and installation rules. Dash designs to those rules and typically includes setting.
Can every cemetery take a porcelain portrait?
No. Some sections limit or forbid them. Confirm before you attach a photo to the mockup.
How long does custom take?
Plan on the 12 to 16 week average from first meeting to installation. Portraits and extra carving can add time. Dash gives a timing estimate when the design is scoped.
Can we change the mockup?
That is the point of a mockup. Change it before granite is cut.
Who files the cemetery paperwork?
Dash handles communication, approvals, and paperwork.
Design what the cemetery will let Dash set
If you want custom headstones Kansas City plots will actually accept, with artwork, a portrait if allowed, and a mockup you can see first, visit the Liberty showroom or send a Monument Inquiry. Call 816-736-3736. Bring the cemetery name and a photo if you have one. You do not have to decide on the first visit.
