Bronze Plaques San Francisco

Most San Francisco families are buried outside the city, in Colma, Oakland, San Jose or the Contra Costa districts, and each of those cemeteries keeps its own marker rules. Cypress Lawn in Colma wants written approval before anything is ordered. Holy Cross sells flush granite markers and says nothing about outside vendors. Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland sets flat bronze on granite, and Mountain View, Oak Hill and Skylawn publish no marker terms. The fullest published rules in the Bay Area come from the Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen Union Cemetery District, which prints sizes, setting fees and who may set a marker. This page sets out each one, the state law that applies to the private parks, and why Golden Gate National Cemetery is not a place for a private plaque. We cast the bronze and ship it to any Bay Area address with shipping included; the base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery or a local monument dealer.

Colma: Cypress Lawn and Holy Cross

Cypress Lawn’s “Highlights of Rules & Regulations” (rev. 7.10.2025) put the order of events plainly: “Prior to ordering any markers, monuments or memorials”, the owners must secure “written approval of its kind, design, size, symbolism, inscribing, lettering, crafting, quality and material.” The cemetery reserves the right to prescribe all of that and the bases, will not place a memorial while charges are outstanding, and says its endowment care funds are not used for the repair or replacement of individual markers. Sizes and fees are only in the complete rules held at the office, (650) 755-0580, so send our free proof there and wait for the approval before you order. Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, run by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, lists “Flush Granite Markers: from $1712.50 (includes marker and setting fee)” on its January 2023 sheet and says monuments “may be arranged through the cemetery”. It makes no statement on outside vendors, and as a religious cemetery it is outside the state’s outside marker rule, so ask first.

Oakland: Chapel of the Chimes and Mountain View

Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, a NorthStar Memorial Group park, says “Flat bronze markers are cast in metal and set on a granite base” and that its team coordinates every phase of a flat marker installation. Its 2026 General Price List has no marker or setting items and no sizes, so ask for its flat marker sheet and its charge for setting a marker bought elsewhere. Mountain View Cemetery’s general price list, effective November 12, 2025, also carries no marker items, and its marker pages could not be read. Holy Sepulchre in Hayward is administered by Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services of the Diocese of Oakland, whose site could not be opened; ask that office directly.

San Jose and the Peninsula

Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose, a Dignity Memorial park, offers ground burial “with upright markers, flat markers and monument ledgers”, but no marker line items were retrieved from its price list effective July 29, 2026. Skylawn in San Mateo, another NorthStar park, publishes a General Price List effective May 20, 2026 with no marker items. Los Gatos Memorial Park, Alta Mesa and the Catholic cemeteries of the Diocese of San Jose publish nothing on outside markers. For all of them the request is the same: the flush marker size for your section, whether bronze must sit on granite, who sets it, and the setting fee in writing.

Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen: the Bay Area’s fullest rules

The Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen Union Cemetery District’s handbook, approved by its board in August 2026, says “Only a monument company and the District can set markers” and “Flat bronze plaque grave markers are required to be set in concrete or stone.” Every monument must be pre-approved by the district office before purchase, the approval lasts six months, and “All PRE-APPROVED Veteran and online markers must be delivered to, and set by a monument company.” Flat headstones must be 3 inches thick. Sections A, D and E take only flat standard markers of 30 by 20 by 3 inches; the Old Parts and Sections B and C take 24 by 12 by 3, as do cremation burials and infant graves in Section A. In Section F the appointment fee is $100 for a flat standard 24 by 12 inch marker, $200 up to 36 by 14 inches and $300 up to 40 by 24 inches (August 2026). Bronze niche plaques, by contrast, “must be purchased through a cemetery approved vendor”, so we do not offer niche plates there.

What state law adds for Bay Area families

Cypress Lawn, Chapel of the Chimes, Mountain View, Oak Hill and Skylawn are private parks, and where a cemetery is licensed and non-religious, California’s HSC 8300(b)(2) bars a rule that the marker be bought through it, while HSC 8276 makes its foundation and setting charges the same whoever sold the marker. The Bureau’s guide adds that a cemetery cannot charge a setting fee if the monument company sets the marker for you, which matters wherever a park lets outside companies set. Public districts such as Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen cannot sell markers at all. See our California page for the full law.

Bay Area cemeteries at a glance

Golden Gate National Cemetery

Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno has used both upright and flat marker sections, was at full capacity by 1966, and says floral items or decorations “may not be secured to headstones, flat markers, or trees.” As at every VA national cemetery, the cemetery orders and sets the government marker. For a veteran in a Bay Area private or district cemetery, the government marker is free but set at private expense, and Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen requires the district to sign the VA application; a family may instead choose a private bronze marker with emblems and a VA medallion. See veteran bronze grave markers.

What we supply in the Bay Area

We supply the bronze. Every plaque is cast in solid LG2 statuary bronze (85 percent copper, 5 percent tin, 5 percent zinc, 5 percent lead) with raised polished lettering on a textured background, a hand applied color and a clear protective coating. Cemetery markers are cast with lugs and fitted with 3/8 inch brass all thread studs, nuts and washers for bolting to a granite or concrete base; columbarium plates use 1/4 inch fittings. We publish the alloy openly and can supply a certificate of authenticity stating it, so a cemetery that has its own alloy rule can check our figures against it before you order; a few cemeteries specify a higher copper or lower lead content than LG2, and where a page knows of one it says so. The granite or concrete base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery office or a local monument dealer; we do not pour bases or install.

Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen’s 30 by 20 inch standard takes any designer size, up to 22 1/16 by 15 3/4 inches, or a 24 by 12 inch plaque at $1,697.45, on a stone base from a monument company. Where a section allows 24 by 12 by 3 inches overall, a 20 by 10 inch plaque at $1,407.68 leaves room for the base.

Our bronze plaque prices for San Francisco, shipping included

Here is what the plaque costs from us. These are the design tool’s own prices on 21 October 2026 for a plain rectangle with the default border and background, in US dollars, and delivery anywhere in San Francisco is already included in each one.

The cemetery fees described above are paid to the cemetery office and are not part of these prices, so the full cost of a finished marker is our plaque price plus the cemetery’s setting, permit or foundation charges. Enter your cemetery’s size in the design tool and it shows the price for that exact size straight away.

How to order

1. Ask the cemetery office for its written marker rules: the size it allows for your space, the base it requires, who may set the marker and the fee. Most offices email the sheet the same day, and several states require the cemetery to keep it in print for you.
2. Open the free design tool, pick the shape and type the width and height in inches. The price in US dollars updates as you go, shipping to any address in the continental United States included.
3. Add the names, dates and wording, choose a border and background, and add an emblem, motif or photo if you want one. Choose lugs with studs if the plaque will be bolted to a granite or concrete base, or a flat back for adhesive mounting on a wall or niche.
4. Save the design and order it from My Account. We send a written proof you can forward to the cemetery for approval, and nothing is cast until you approve it. Need the full 24 by 12 inch marker size? Tell us when you order; it is cast to order at the same price as the 22 1/16 by 12 inch size in the tool.

Allow six to eight weeks from payment to delivery. Casting, hand finishing and shipping from our foundry take most of that time, and we send a free written proof before anything is cast. If your cemetery sets markers only in certain months, order early enough for its next installation window.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Cypress Lawn’s approval before ordering a bronze marker?

Yes. Its 2025 rules require written approval of kind, design, size, material and lettering before any marker is ordered. Send our free proof to the office and order only once it is approved.

Can I buy a flush marker for Holy Cross in Colma elsewhere?

Holy Cross makes no statement on outside vendors and, as a Catholic cemetery, is outside the state rule for private parks. Its January 2023 sheet sells flush granite markers with setting from $1712.50, so ask whether it accepts outside bronze.

Who sets markers at the Brentwood cemetery district?

Only a monument company or the district. The August 2026 handbook requires flat bronze set in concrete or stone and pre-approval before purchase.

Can I put a private plaque in Golden Gate National Cemetery?

No. The VA cemetery orders and sets the government marker, and it reached full capacity in 1966.

What does a Bay Area cemetery charge to set a bronze marker?

Few publish it. Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen charges $100 for a flat standard 24 by 12 inch marker in Section F (August 2026); the private parks give their fee on request. It is paid to the cemetery, separate from our price.