The iconic, casket flower arrangement has become a staple in our funeral flower traditions. Open or closed casket, the large spray of lush flowers and foliage has a way of calming our spirits in a time of loss. Beautiful flowers have a way of enhancing the atmosphere at somber events. Additionally, it gives guests something to talk about that is comforting and uplifting.

But what if there is no casket?

What if the deceased chose to be cremated, can you use flowers on a funeral urn? Absolutely! Florists everywhere are creating magnificent floral displays for funeral urns that are equally as impressive as the traditional casket spray.

Cremation flowers can be personalized to celebrate the life of the departed by using the their favorite flowers and colors. Incorporate favorite hobbies and pastimes into your flowers. If they were an avid gardener or loved to fish, use some of their equipment within the flowers to better represent them. Treat flowers for cremation urns just the same as you would in planning for casket flowers.

Below, Robbin Yelverton of Blumz… by JR Designs in Detroit & Ferndale MI walks us through creating flowers for cremation urns.

Continue reading "The Importance of Flowers For Cremation Urns" »

First of all, let's think of the purpose of funeral flowers: to show one’s love, and support for the family and the departed. Flowers comfort and soothe us as we say our final goodbyes, but why stop there? Creative florists everywhere are using funeral flowers to construct personalized tributes to fallen friends.

What Kind of Personalized Funeral Flowers Are Available?

The limit is your imagination. Consider your lost friend and the biggest loves in their life. Perhaps they were an avid fisherman, loved bowling, or were closely involved in an organization. Use their favorite hobbies, passions and accomplishments as inspiration for their final tributes. Funeral flower tributes spark wonderful memories of times past, and lift the mood with stories and laughter about time spent together.

How Do I Purchase Custom Flowers For Funerals?

That's easy! First, find a local florist in your area, or in the location of the funeral. (Flower Shop Network makes it easy with our real, local florist directory. Find local florists in any city in the US & Canada.) Next, call your florist directly and discuss your ideas for the funeral tribute. Explain their favorite hobbies or affiliations, and let them know their favorite colors and styles. If you have something specific in mind, find a picture of it or something in a similar style. Send that to your florist to make sure they can create exactly what you're wanting.

(Let FSNfuneralhomes.com help you find a funeral home.)

Funeral Flower Pictures Inspiration

Here are pictures of unique funeral flowers from local florists all across the US.

Hobby – Themed Funeral Flower Photos

Airplane Funeral Flowers
"A funeral design, for a pilot about 5 years ago."
Buds 'n Bows Flower Shop in Crawford, GA

Gardening Funeral Flowers
"For an avid gardener. I got complimentary calls from the family, the minister (who had never seen anything so beautiful) and the funeral home on this one. :)"
The Petal Patch, McFarland, WI

Gardener Funeral Flowers
We actually made this for the funeral of a dear friend and floral mentor of ours as our tribute. :-)
Charlotte's Flowers, Cresson PA

Continue reading "Creative & Custom Funeral Flower Trends" »

In most early African religions, life did not end in death, but transitioned toward a new realm where they could reconnect with their ancestors. Life itself was thought of as simply an increase or decrease of an energy that flowed through them all. When there was sickness, they would say "we are living a little," and when misfortune struck, it was described as, "reduction of vital life force."

After death, the personality and individuality of the person would not end or even alter. They continued to live on in the form of ancestors, or people who live on within the community and communicated with their own families. Death began a deeper relationship with nature and the beginning of communication between the visible world and the invisible worlds.

African funeral traditions were extremely well organized. It was believed that if the proper funeral rites were not performed, the deceased would actually return to the living as a wandering spirit. The goal of these African funeral rites was to detach the deceased from the world of the living and help smooth their transition to the next life.

It was customary to place the deceased's personal property, including eating utensils, walking sticks, blankets, and other useful items, in the grave. In some areas, dancing would take place at the funeral, providing the deceased with light feet for their journey to the spirit world.

After the funeral, everyone would gather at the deceased's home for a funeral meal. Often there would be a cleansing ritual before you step foot onto the property in efforts to remove any dust of the graveyard before entering the house. Sometimes pieces of cut aloe would be placed in the water, which was believed to remove bad luck.

Some family members would cut or shave their heads after the funeral. They believed life was concentrated in the hair and removing it symbolized death. It's regrowth indicated the strengthening of life.

African funerals are community affairs in which the whole community feels the grief of the bereaved and shares in it. The purpose of the activities preceding the funeral is to comfort, encourage and heal those who are hurting. Continue reading "Looking To The Past For Inspiration: African Funeral Tributes" »

Funeral flowers are not what they used to be, and for good reason. We have become so used to personalization, why not customize our final tribute to a lost loved one? People everywhere are opting for sympathy arrangements with a more personalized feel.

Above you see an incredibly detailed floral guitar set piece made by Hart Floral in Modesto, CA. This is a great custom funeral design for someone who was known for their love of music. Perhaps they were sent by someone in a band with the deceased. What a great way to honor those memories they shared together. Custom set pieces* are great to pay tribute to the deceased favorite hobby or interest.

Tribute symbols are also popular in funeral flower design. Whether a heart, cross or peace sign, these symbols can have a calming effect in the minds of those attending the funeral. If you know the deceased favorite color, use flowers in shades of that color in your memorial design to create a more personal final tribute (like the heart arrangement above, by Hart Floral.).

In life, the things that make us the happiest are often our hobbies and interests. Even the colors Hart Floral used are the favorite football team's colors. I'm sure this sports fan would be beaming with pride over this sports themed funeral wreath.

The above couch casket display** has been perfectly personalized for any fisherman to love. Even the mossy greens and flowers used reminds me of underwater lake photos with fish swimming in the aquatic plants. This great casket piece was created by Every Blooming Thing in Akron, OH.

So, even if it's as simple as the deceased favorite color, or as elaborate as a full tribute set piece, funeral flowers like this remind us in the final moments of precious memories together that do live on forever.

*Set Piece – the custom shaped funeral flower pieces, such as the guitar in the top photo.

**Couch Casket Display – the large floral design that sits on top of the casket.

This article is brought to you by Flower Shop Network – A Network For Local Florists.

You'd be surprised how many people do not include a return address when sending sympathy flowers. This could be for many reasons and no one is at fault. However, including an address with sympathy flowers has many benefits. The next time you send flowers to express condolences, ask your local florist to include an address where you can be reached in the future. Here's why:

• "That will make it seem like I want to be thanked." Not really. It's a very courteous gesture that will not be perceived as polite and prudent In fact, it's somewhat expected.
• Once the family has had a few days to grieve, most tend to send "thank you" cards to those who have expressed their sympathies. Whether or not this seems necessary to the sender, it is polite to include an address just in case.
• In lieu of "thank  you" cards, many people try to contact the sender by phone or in person. Though they probably have this information, including an address and perhaps phone number will make it easier for the recipient to contact you after the services have ended. If your address is included with the sympathy flowers, the recipient will not have to go far to find your information whether he or she has it or not.

This kind of simple convenience goes a long way to someone who has just lost someone that they love. It's a hassle to do even the slightest chores. Even though things have usually settled by the time this type of contact is made, it is still easier to have things laid out nice and neat in front of them.

If you are a florist, remember to ask for an address where the sender can be reached. This is not a must-have as far as sending sympathy flowers goes, of course. However, there will be far fewer troublesome phone calls after the service. Many who do not receive word that the flowers were received like to call the florist to verify delivery. Some call the recipient. Making sure to include an address with the enclosure card is one way to avoid this hassle for everyone.

Ok, maybe "cool" is not the word but it's definitely interesting.

I was reading the blog of Belvedere Flowers, a florist in Havertown Pennsylvania, when I discovered their clever tip for creating an arrangement of funeral flowers using calla lilies and Bells of Ireland. I never really figured calla lilies for sympathy flowers. I always saw calla lilies as a wedding flower or great for Easter and altar flower arrangements.

However, after seeing this grandiose sympathy arrangement from Belvedere Flowers, I'm inspired by the calming appeal of these flowers. They are so peaceful and beautiful. The light green Bells of Ireland just added to the placid nature of the arrangement. It doesn't overwhelm the senses with bold color. These aren't forceful flowers which announce their beauty to the world. These are very subtle, gentle and beautiful flowers which, when put together by Belvedere Flowers, are a very respectful showing of condolence.

You may also enjoy viewing this arrangement and reading more of the Belvedere Flowers Blog.

Funeral services are taking on a very different tone these days while the desire for funeral flowers remains constant. Funeral services today, though not always religious in nature, reflect the long-held traditions of many religious memorial services that celebrate the life of the deceased moreso than mourn a passing.

The family of my sister’s boyfriend recently celebrated ten years in the funeral home industry. My sister’s boyfriend Josh and I stumbled across a recent Ramblin’ Jan blog article that outlined some of the recent changes that help to personalize a loved one’s funeral service—a practice that is gaining popularity largely due to its help in expediting the healing process. Josh confirmed the personalization of funeral services and less rigid practices of mourning.

Josh was also able to offer very valuable news, that is, that funeral flowers are still in high demand and used in a wide variety of ways during the funeral service. According to Ramblin’ Jan, funeral flowers were used to decorate a Steinway and Sons piano during the non-traditional funeral for a concert pianist. Though personalized memorials are becoming the practice of the future, a traditional funeral service still requires traditional memorial gifts, i.e. funeral flowers. Sympathy baskets, casket sprays, funeral arrangements and more will long remain accepted and respectable choices for sympathy gifts or adorning funeral parlors.

Local funeral home directors and florists will be able to guide you in selecting an appropriate sympathy arrangement for the funeral service of a friend or loved one. Whether a traditional funeral service or a personalized memorial service, contact your local florist for information about which funeral flowers or arrangements are appropriate.

Back in December, Central Square News (the Central Square Florist blog) addressed the issue of "In Lieu of Flowers" concerning funeral flowers. It seems the question concerning the appropriateness of sending sympathy flowers surfaces over and over again. The 2003 Flower Shop Network newsletter – In Lieu of Flowers addressed the importance of flowers in the bereavement process. In fact, there have been many studies that prove the importance of flowers during times of emotional stress. But, I realized that the reason this question comes up, time and time again, is that people are uncomfortable with funerals and don’t want to make any mistake when it comes to showing their sympathy and support.

Understanding some of the terminology used in obituaries can help elevate some of the questions people have concerning funerals and what is appropriate. As Central Square Florist explains the term "in lieu of flowers" gives you the option of sending a donation instead of flowers – it is acceptable to give both, flowers and a donation. This phrase, however, does not state that the family does not want flowers. If flowers are not wanted at the service, the term "please omit" will be used.

Flowers are one of the most thought ways to express your sympathy, but ordering funeral flowers can be a frightening experience for some. Not all families deal with funerals the same way. When I was growing up, my parents didn’t believe that children should be exposed to funerals. As a result, I was unprepared the first time I needed to send flowers to a funeral. I was in college and a friend was killed in a car accident. I remember calling the local florist shop; I rambled on about needing flowers, not knowing what was appropriate or what information the florist needed; luckily the florist was very patient – walking me through all the steps and making suggestions. It would have been helpful to have some kind of guide.

As always, Flower Shop Network tries to give it’s reader pertained information about anything concerning flowers. In fact, the FSN Funeral Flower Etiquette newsletter discusses everything from the types of funeral flowers to the appropriateness of sympathy flowers based on culture. Although the newsletter is very helpful, I found that InLieuOfFlowers.info had a couple of really neat tribute guides. The Tribute Preference by State lists five types of floral sympathy categories (baskets – sprays – arrangements – wreaths, hearts & crosses – green and blooming plants) and then lists the categories in order of frequencies for each state. The Tribute Guide by Relationship lists the type of floral piece and which is appropriate to send by relationship.

So although "In Lieu of Flowers" is an option when you need to convey your sympathy remember it doesn’t mean no flowers. Flowers truly touch the heart and give comfort, so don’t be afraid to send flowers. If you are unsure of what kind of funeral flowers to send,

Talk to a local florist, read the FSN newsletters or check out the sympathy guides at InLieuOfFlower.info. If you have funeral flower questions, I’m always here to answer them. Remember, the funeral flowers you send will give convey a message of comfort and support in a difficult and emotional time.

Did you know, you can use FSNfuneralhomes.com to find a funeral home anywhere in the US and Canada.