Funeral Flowers: What Kind Of Arrangement Should I Get Delivered?

 

If someone you know died recently and a funeral is taking place shortly, you are probably wondering what kind of floral arrangement you should send to the funeral home. Funeral flowers send your expressions of compassion, respect and love through the beauty of flowers. Since funerals are often awkward and you don't always know what to say, a gift of sympathy flowers help express your sorrow and give people at the funeral something to admire and talk about.

People often wonder which funeral flowers they should send to the funeral. The type of arrangement you need to send will largely depend on your relationship to the deceased. If the person is in your direct family, your choice should be different than if the deceased is a friend or a business associate. Also, if the funeral is an open casket versus a cremation urn, this will change the type of appropriate funeral flowers you could be sending. Another option is to not send any flowers to the funeral home but instead to send a fruit and treat basket to the home. This is a perfectly acceptable gift for the family of the deceased also.

If you do decide to send flowers, here are some ideas. A direct family member will need to select a casket spray for any type of funeral where a casket will be present. A casket spray is a large floral arrangement that will drape the top of the casket to decorate and highlight it. When the casket is open, this casket spray will usually need to be smaller than if the casket is closed. Make sure to mention this to your florist when picking which casket spray will be most appropriate. Casket sprays are usually done up with the deceased's favorite flowers or colors. Additionally, it can be a nice touch to make a themed casket spray. Let's say the deceased enjoyed playing cards immensely, there could be focal points of cards in the casket spray. Gardening, golf, nature and music are other popular themes for floral sprays for the top of the casket. Some people also theme the casket spray according to the deceased's religion or career.

Floral wreaths, crosses and other shapes are a traditional and formal gift to send to the funeral home. These formal tributes are usually presented from the family such as sisters, children of the deceased, aunts, brothers or from business associates. Wreaths, hearts, crosses and other tribute shapes are presented on an easel close to the casket and so they really stand out. They usually feature a ribbon draped along the front of it with an inscription reflecting the relationship to the buyer of the floral gift. For example: Dearest Sister, Dear father, etc... These are very time consuming for the florist to make and therefore are not cheap even though they are stunningly beautiful.

A nice alternative to floral shapes that is usually less expensive are floral sprays. These are free form arrangements that are also designed to hang close to the casket and also feature a ribbon with a message on it. These are also formal and reserved for close family members.

If you are not a direct family member, here are some appropriate options.

Floral baskets: These floral baskets can be given by anyone and are appropriate for funerals with a casket or for funerals with a cremation urn.

Garden baskets featuring a variety of tropical plants, blooming and green is a great choice to send to the funeral home or to the bereaved's workplace or home. They last a really long time and so they are an ideal choice for those who enjoy live plants. Many times a ceramic angel or religious statue will be included in the plant basket as an extra thoughtful gesture.

As for the colors of your sympathy flowers, they should be somber and respectful. You could stick to all white with greens or you could go with 3 colors such as purple, yellow and white. Some people though prefer a sympathy bouquet that does not look "funeralish". This is usually as a tribute to the deceased's vibrant life and personality.

While sympathy flowers are usually sent to the funeral service or to the bereaved's home shortly after the service, it is also ok to send flowers a week or two after the funeral to remind the loved one that you are still thinking of them.

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