Return to Sender Caskets

10/02/2026

At funerals, something powerful happens:
You often learn who your person was beyond your relationship with them.
A colleague shares how they mentored them.
A neighbour describes their quiet kindness.
A friend tells a story you’ve never heard and suddenly you see them in a new light.

One son said after his father’s funeral:
“I didn’t realise how many other lives he’d touched.”

A funeral doesn’t just mark an ending…
It shows the meaning of a life.
If you’ve ever wondered whether a farewell is “worth it” — this is why it is.

Talk with your local Funeral Directors Association member firm about creating a service that truly reflects the life lived. https://funeraldirectors.co.nz/arranging-a-funeral/find-a-funeral-director/

10/02/2026

⚡Tuesday Tonic Tickler: Just when you think nothing could shock you… a Crematorium installs a defibrillator ⚡

20/01/2026

It was our pleasure Morrisons Funerals to be part of such a fantastic weekend at the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Festival! Our Woodstock casket fit right in with the classics 🚘, simple, rustic and unpretentious 🌿🪵, made from rough sawn pine and ready to roll. With sturdy rail handles for the traditional six pallbearers, it's built for the long haul just like the timeless cars on display 🏁🏎️. You could say it really “Wood-stocked” along with the festival 🎶🎉.
Thank you for featuring our casket and including us in such a memorable event 💚🖤💚

07/01/2026

🪦 Transcendental Thursday Titters 🪦

“Do you know where you’re going when your life is over?”
Sure do, and a little pre-planning means you’re not just dead certain about the destination, but also about the details.

Whether Beachcomber casket by the shore,
for those with salt in hair and who loved the ocean’s roar,
or our Voyage casket, simple, pure, and true,
for natural rest or sacred view.

Or our Artisan Nīkau, shaped with pride,
Tasman, with waves and rope beside,
each crafted here with care and heart,
Aotearoa’s spirit in every part.

With care you can trust and guidance we extend,
Choose your casket with thought,
for farewells that peacefully transcend 💚🖤💚

06/01/2026

23/12/2025

Return to Sender Caskets is closing the door
From Dec 24 to Jan 5 we’ll be back once more.
✨ Stay safe, stay merry, enjoy the cheer ✨
We’ll see you again in the New Year! 💚🖤💚

16/12/2025

A gentle share. This RNZ article looks at an Auckland funeral home caring for some unclaimed ashes from past decades, often because of miscommunication over time. Shared with care 💚🖤💚

An Auckland funeral home has reunited unclaimed ashes with about a dozen families, but still has over 800 remaining unclaimed after a call-out before a mass interment.

Full story ⬇

16/12/2025

Dried petals from a casket spray inside a christmas bauble will help one family remember a treasured mum this Christmas. Yellow and pink were her favourite.

08/12/2025

❤️ This Christmas, give yourself permission to set boundaries and protect your heart. Grief is hard enough without the pressure of “shoulds.”

Sometimes, that means choosing rest, saying no, or simply taking time for yourself. Just like Return to Sender Caskets honour the journey of loved ones we’ve lost, we can honour our own needs by sending back the expectations that don’t serve us 💚🖤💚

07/12/2025

✨ HE HAERENGA KA WHAKAKITEA ANŌ I TE RĀ O TE POROPOROAKI ✨
🌊 The Memories We Don’t Hear Until the Farewell 🌊

Some stories are so personal they deserve to be reflected in the details. Funerals often bring forward memories we have never heard before. Small moments shared by friends, neighbours and whānau can suddenly reveal the deeper story of someone’s life.

The FDANZ Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand message in the image captures this beautifully. It reminds us how gathering, sharing and remembering can strengthen our sense of connection, whakapapa and aroha.

At Return to Sender we have been exploring how personalised design can support that same meaning and help express a person’s haerenga through life. Inspired by Aotearoa’s relationship with moana, whenua and taiao, our Artisan concepts offer different ways to honour identity, place and mana:

🌊Haerenga ki te Moana
Voyage Over the Waves. A waka guided by the stars symbolising resilience, guidance and a safe passage home.

👣 Tidal Footprints
Footprints in sand acknowledging the impact someone leaves on hearts, whānau and community.

🌀 Nautilus and Spiral Tides
A form shaped by whakapapa, growth and the natural cycles that continue beyond us.

🌺 Coastal Whenua and Pohutukawa
A coastline scene anchored by a flowering pōhutukawa representing strength, remembrance and our enduring connection to whenua.

🐚 Underwater Sanctuary
A peaceful world beneath the waves that reflects continuity, calm and quiet beauty.

These personalised concepts show how symbolism can help whānau gather, reflect and celebrate the fullness of a life lived. They offer gentle ways to acknowledge the places, values and moments that shaped someone’s journey.

05/12/2025

🐘 Even elephants know a respectful send-off is never over the top, it’s all in the right trunk of the matter 💚🖤💚

Fun Fact Friday! - Did you know elephants have been observed holding what appear to be funerals?

03/12/2025

🔥 Thursday Tater Tale Tickler 🔥
Today’s lesson in frontier-era dramatics: Sometimes the family dinner table feels like a life or death situation… although in our line of work, we prefer to keep things a little more straightforward😌⚰️

At Return to Sender Caskets, we savour a good Thursday chuckle, especially one mashing history, hunger, and frontier flair. This family's supper standoff is pure spud devotion 🥔
We have seen folks who would sooner face their final farewell than an empty potato plate. Nothing comes between a Kiwi and their rīwai 🇳🇿🥔

"Give me potatoes or give me death" is not historical like Patrick Henry’s 1775 speech, yet it fits right in at Return to Sender, where we craft eco caskets from natural NZ pine that do not cost the earth 🌲♻️ Like those hearty spuds, our designs return to the soil sustainably, complete with a tree planted for every sale via Trees for Survival. 🌱🌏

“Give me potatoes or give me death” may have worked for Patrick. For us, with our Artisan Casket even featuring spuds, we say: always choose the potatoes. Wishing you a terrific Tater Thursday across Aotearoa✨💚🖤💚