It’s hard to lose someone who has been a regular part of your life, which is why funerals are usually somber occasions. This is exactly why flowers for funerals are so important. Words are sometimes hard to find when a friend or loved one passes. Often, flowers better express the sympathy we feel for the family and our lost friend.

Flowers do so much more during a funeral than just be beautiful:

• It’s proven that color has the power to change and enhance moods.
• Flowers give guests cheerful conversation alternatives.
• Flowers can be pressed or preserved in other ways as keepsakes.
• Potted plants can be kept for years to come as a memorial to the lost friend.

Types of Funeral Flowers Available

Flowers also set the tone of the occasion. Instead of ordering traditional white sympathy flowers, order what you think the departed would have enjoy the most.

• Beautiful sympathy tribute in all their favorite colors, either in an urn, vase or easel.
• Custom funeral tribute themed for their favorite hobbies or occupations.
• Patriotic themed flowers for passionate patriots or military veterans.

No matter what you choose to send, always use a real local florist when placing your order.

Ask The Expert:

Does anyone know were I can get the green wire easels shipped to the UK? None of the florist suppliers in the UK stock them and I’ve been asked a few times for tribute flowers on them lately. I can get them shipped from China, but minimum order is 4000 I don’t think I will need that many.

Regards
Daiseychains

Flower Shop Network Reply:

One of the best places to turn when looking for any type of floral supply is our sister site, FGmarket. It is an invaluable resource to find trusted vendors for florists all over the US. (Some ship internationally, for our UK and other far-away friends.) Each company provides great resources just for florists and gift shops.

I have called the wholesalers who ship easels and Johnsen Wholesale Florist was willing to ship to the UK. They have a large selection on easels and hopefully you won’t have to buy 4,000 of them! Good luck!
Continue reading “Help! Where Can A UK Florist Find Floral Easels?” »

Just got word from the Texas Funeral Directors Association of a new scam going around that is perhaps the most sinister scam we’ve seen since telephone and e-mail scams began over 5 years ago.

A family is contacted by an individual claiming to work for the funeral home, and rudely informs them that they have a balance due on their loved one’s funeral. They are asked to pay immediately by credit or debit card. Our guess is that they get the funeral home information from the obituary and the phone number from the telephone or internet phone directories because the funeral home would not release this information.

Please warn your families, when you are making arrangements, not to be taken in by this scam. The family who reported this had paid in full, but someone who did have a balance might actually pay. Not only do they get taken, but the funeral home gets a bad reputation.

This has started in West Texas, but we know that once a scam takes hold, it can quickly travel across the nation. FSN Funeral Homes has tips on handling and protecting yourself from funeral scams.

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” »

We post a TON of great articles here on the Bloomin’ Blog, and we realize it might be a little hard to keep up. That is why we’ve created this post — the Best of the Best articles from 2010! (Just in case you missed one!) And if you’re not one of our great subscribers, then do it now! You won’t be sorry!

FLOWER FUN AND FLORAL TRENDS

Matching Corsage To Prom Dress
(April) The hottest trend in prom fashion, wild and crazy corsages that show off the teen’s fun and funky dresses. Check out great prom corsage pics along with the dress they go with from a REAL high school prom. (Good ideas for next year moms & teens!) Probably my favorite post of last year, definitely a must see!

Design Inspiration Challenge
(September) We had SO MUCH FUN this summer with our Design Inspiration Challenge. How it worked: we selected an ‘inspiration’ or brilliant photo of art, architecture, butterflies… all sorts of things, and florists created an amazing flower arrangement ‘inspired’ by each photo. We got some very interesting submissions! Check them ALL out in this post, including our winner!

Floral Pocket Squares Trend
(October) This was a fun post because many people have never heard of a floral pocket square or how they are used. We made several designs in our studio to share with you. Floral pocket squares make perfect accessories to grooms who just can’t do boutonnieres.

Trend Alert: Sushi Flowers
(September) For those who know me, know I had to choose this as a favorite. I love sushi! When I saw the sushi designs from this summer’s floral conventions, I couldn’t help but create this post!

BEST HOLIDAY POSTS

The Romance of Flowers (Valentines Day)
(February) Sure, the title may sound a little cheesy, but this loaded with GREAT info on romantic flowers.. and not just roses! This article will guide you through selecting flowers for your honey based on flower meanings, flower appearances, and even flower color! Great not only for Valentines Day, but for birthdays, anniversaries, or any time you need to send flowers. Continue reading “Flower Shop Network’s Best of the Best 2010” »

As florists, if we are lucky, we sometimes get those unique and unusual design requests that give us the freedom to be creative. As peers have told me, it is always best to leave the designing to the designer.

Harley Davidson Funeral Flowers Request

I got a call from my best friend, she said she had a special request. She told me about the loss of a dear friend of hers. The friend loved Harley Davidson motorcycles, so I was thinking, Okay, logo.

She continued on to say that she wanted not only the logo, but also wanted to use black and orange flowers, some accents of cream, and definitely some silver to represent the colors of Harley Davidson. My mind came to a complete stop, while my mouth said, “Sure I can do that.” I hung up the phone and thought, Okay, what am I going to do now? How do you make black and orange look sophisticated and not look like Halloween.

Can Black & Orange Look Sophisticated And NOT Like Halloween?

For starters, I work out of my home, and live in a small rural town. Supplies are limited, to say the least. Like most of us, I started brainstorming and headed to the internet in hopes of finding anything to get me started. Nothing! Not many want to share their designs.

I always aspire for my floral designs to stand out and make a statement. I wanted people to remember my flowers and this order was no different. Who wouldn’t want their flowers to stand out and be the best, or at least make us feel that we have done our best.

Go Above & Beyond — Think Outside The Box

So here we go with the design. I started at an auto parts store to try Continue reading “Above & Beyond: The Quest For Perfect Personalized Funeral Flowers” »

Ty Leslie AIFD gives a little insight into his presentation The Art Of Dying. This was a fascinating presentation about revitalizing the old traditions and funeral customs from the Victorian Age and transforming them into something new and beautiful. Sympathy flowers are important and vital role in a florists’ industry and should not be overlooked!

Ty talks about establishing a relationship with your funeral directors, working with customers to personalize funeral tributes, early symbolism in the 19th Century funeral monuments and much, much more.

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.