Sometimes there are questions that are not easy to answer. The question of choosing flowers for a funeral is one such question that does not have an 'obvious' answer.
There are many factors that go into choosing appropriate funeral flowers, including the age and gender of the deceased, religious affiliations, cultural background, family preferences and traditions, seasonality, and the number of people being honoured at the service that may influence your decision.
In general, there are two types of funerals, a visitation funeral where friends and relatives gather either in a funeral home or at another location before being taken to their final resting place and a funeral service that takes place in a church (or other place of worship) or cemetery.
The choice of flowers for a visitation is somewhat more limited than the choice of flowers for the funeral service. The flowers should convey the appropriate messages for both types of service, but as mentioned above, each situation has its own special factors to consider when choosing the right arrangement.
Funerals and other memorial services honour and celebrate someone we have lost, and our gift of flowers can play a major role in how we express ourselves to family and friends who will gather to share their memories and grief.
To know what message you are sending with your gift, ask yourself 'What am I trying to achieve?' Make sure you understand your purpose before ordering online or from a florist.
If you are paying tribute to the deceased, but you know that he or she did not like carnations or lilies, do not send these flowers out of respect for the deceased. If the gathering is more formal than usual, it would be appropriate to pre-order tasteful funeral flowers online so that your order arrives fresh and on time.
On the other hand, if there is no visitation before the service and friends can come to the church or cemetery during or after the service, it may not be necessary. However, by doing so, you can ensure that your gift does not go to another family member by mistake.
How do I choose funeral flowers? When choosing flowers for a visitation funeral, keep in mind that, although one colour may prevail, it is best to choose a different colour of flower for each participant in the service.
For example, if a dark red carnation is sent in honour of a son or daughter, you can send a different coloured flower to the spouse and another to the parent(s) of the deceased. The same rule applies to sending funeral flowers for elderly people of ethnic origin who may have been married more than once.
In this situation, it is often appropriate to send two or three different colours of flowers: one colour for each marriage.
A visitation arrangement can be designed in any style that conveys your message, including an all-white spray with white lilies, a pink and green casket pillow, or a traditional 'T' spray of roses.
Although you can often send an all-white funeral flower arrangement, this may not be the best choice if the service is held in a church that requires you to wear white or black shoes. If it has been determined that there should be some colour in your arrangements, flowers such as lilies and carnations can help your funeral flower selection process.
These classic choices would even be appropriate for a Catholic mass, as they are both traditional and universally accepted as appropriate floral selections for funerals.
If you are in any doubt, the selections from online florists in their 'mourning flowers' section or the advice of your florist will ensure that you do not make a mistake.
Express-Flowers.co.uk
