Value Engineering in Monument Design: How to Get the Most Memorial for Your Budget

When most families start shopping for a monument, they expect the same experience they've always heard about: vague pricing, estimates that shift, and a final bill that's hard to predict. At Gifford Monument Works, we've built our entire purchasing process around the opposite — and we borrowed two powerful concepts from the construction industry to do it: value engineering and the design-build approach.

What Is Value Engineering in a Monument Context?

In construction, value engineering means analyzing a project to deliver the same (or better) function at a lower cost — without sacrificing quality. In the monument industry, we apply that same thinking to granite selection, monument sizing, and design choices.

Here's how it works in practice: instead of starting with a blank quote and building up from nothing, we start with clearly defined packages. Each package has a Not-to-Exceed (NTE) price — a ceiling that you'll never go above. Then, during the design session, our artists often find ways to optimize the design that bring your actual price below the package maximum.

That's value engineering: you know the worst-case number upfront, and the process is designed to save you money, not spend more of it.

What Is the Design-Build Approach?

The traditional monument process separates design and purchasing into two disconnected phases. You pick a general style, get a quote, approve it, and then hope the design matches your vision. The design-build model integrates them:

• Design and budget are established together — your $250 deposit locks in the package price before a single design decision is made
• A single team handles everything — from rough draft to final proof to installation
• You approve before anything is cut — no granite is ordered until you sign off on the final design proof

This is exactly how Gifford's Design-Build Agreement works. After your deposit, we send a formal agreement that outlines your Not-to-Exceed price, the design scope, and the timeline. It protects you legally and gives you peace of mind before the artisans begin.

The 3-Step Process

Our hassle-free process was designed specifically to reduce the burden on grieving families:

1. Rough Draft: You share what you'd like to incorporate — design ideas, photos, inscriptions, symbols — and our artists create a rough draft that captures your loved one's memory.
2. Final Proof: We refine the rough draft into a polished final proof for your approval. Revisions are included. Nothing moves forward until you're completely satisfied.
3. Installation: We engrave, fabricate, and install your monument on a concrete pad at the cemetery. Once it's set, we'll email you a completion photo.

Why a Not-to-Exceed Guarantee Matters

The NTE guarantee is the core of value engineering in monument purchasing. It means:

• Your package price is your ceiling — the maximum you'll ever pay
• After design approval, the price can only stay the same or go lower
• You receive the NTE in writing via the Design-Build Agreement before any work begins
• Many families pay less than their package price — not more

The 6 Decisions You'll Make — and When

There are really only six decisions to make when purchasing a memorial:

1. Color of granite — from light gray to jet black, each color group has different pricing
2. Design artwork — emblems, scenes, portraits, or custom designs unique to your loved one
3. Shape — serpentine top, flat, peaked, heart, arch, and more
4. Finish — typical polish (front and back) or upgraded all-polish (all edges polished)
5. Text and information — names, dates, inscriptions, scripture, military branch, custom phrases
6. Add-on options — vases, ceramic photos, laser-etched portraits (black granite only), or enameled steel inserts (all colors, lifetime guarantee)

Our design team walks you through each one at the pace that's right for your family.

How Gifford's Package Pricing Works

Rather than custom-quoting every monument from scratch, Gifford's value engineering approach pre-calculates pricing across all combinations of monument type, tier, and granite color group. The result is a catalog of over 240 packages — every one with a transparent, locked NTE price.

You can browse packages online at giffordmonument.com/value-engineering, see real prices for your exact selections, and start the process with a $250 deposit that's fully credited toward your final balance.

Serving Oklahoma and DFW Families

Gifford Monument Works has operated out of Ada, Oklahoma since 1936. We regularly work with families across Oklahoma — Ada, Ardmore, McAlester, Oklahoma City — and serve families in the Dallas/DFW area through our Wylie, Texas location. Long-distance families are welcome. Our remote design process handles everything by phone, email, and virtual call.

Ready to Start?

If you'd like to see exactly what a monument for your loved one would cost — with a locked Not-to-Exceed price — browse our package catalog or call us directly at (580) 563-4413 (Ada, OK) or (972) 544-6305 (Wylie, TX).

There are no surprises. Just a transparent process, expert artists, and a team that's been doing this since 1936.