Home Shop Flowers Bloomin' Blog Find Florists About FSN Contact FSN Florists Only!
Find Your Local Florist:
Home Shop Flowers Bloomin' Blog Find Florists About FSN Contact FSN Florists Only!

Fireman Sympathy Tribute

Fireman Sympathy Tribute Flowers Fireman Sympathy Tribute Flowers

Beautiful sympathy flower arrangement by Petal Pusher Diva Flower Studio in El Cajun CA. This was created to celebrate the life of a devoted fireman. Below, the florist explains the thought behind their creation:

Reflection: The white hydrangea reminds me of the smoke plumes at the start of a forest fire; the green Trachelium soft and wet grass rolling on the hills. The red gloriosa burst out flames while the Dahlia are stationary and contained. This is my interpretation of a fireman’s sympathy piece.

So much thought and care goes into creating each and every sympathy tribute. Especially when your florist has some insight into the life of the departed. It doesn’t have to be a literal ‘firetruck’ out of flowers; they can still incorporate many thoughtful elements of their life as a fire fighter into the design, just as they did here.

Tell us your floral story! Whether you are a florist or flower lover, you can share your floral story with the rest of us on the Bloomin’ Blog. Simply Share Your Story here.

Bingo! The Perfect Funeral Flower Memorial

Funeral Flower Tribute - Bingo!

Jean Everly of Heart to Heart Flower Shop in North Cape May, NJ shared with us the story of a recent sympathy tribute. Who says flowers for a funeral have to be the same? This lady loved her weekly bingo game. This beautiful floral memorial is a great way to lift spirits at such a somber occasion. It is a perfect conversation starter for reminiscing the best memories of the departed.

“She loved her Bingo game. Every week she was there until  her illness took her away. Her friends decided this was the only flower arrangement proper for her service.” – Jean Everly

Have an interesting story from your flower shop or about flowers? Share it with us!

Florists On Facebook – Friday Recap

TIGI FRIDAY! You know what that means — time for our weekly recap of pictures sent in to us from florists all across the nation. Each week we see just what florists have been up to. From weddings to holidays, your local florist is busy creating beautiful arrangements for all of life’s occasions, both happy and sad. This week it seems to be more towards the latter with quite a few funeral tributes in this week’s collection. Without further adieu, let’s get to the pictures!

Libby's Flowers, Gifts & More, Elberton GA

By Libby’s Flowers, Gifts & More, Elberton GA

“Flower arrangement for my Church. Borrowed my husband’s tool box & tie. We love to make it personable in celebration of all the wonderful fathers out there.”

Turner Flowers & Country Store

By Turner Flowers & Country Store, Ottawa KS

Doc “A horseshoe of yellow roses I did for the memorial service of a long-time veterinarian and quarter horse owner.”

[Read more…]

Celebrate Life With Flowers

Flowers To Celebrate Life

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:

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.

Help! Where Can A UK Florist Find Floral Easels?

Sympathy Wreath On EaselAsk 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!
[Read more…]

SCAM ALERT – New Telephone Scam

Scam AlertJust 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 Importance of Flowers For Cremation Urns

Cremation Urn FlowersThe 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.



[Read more…]

Creative & Custom Funeral Flower Trends

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. Click below to find local florists in any city in the US & Canada.


Find a Florist

 

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

Pilot Funeral Flowers - By A Local Florist

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 Gardeners

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

Garden/Gardener Funeral Flowers

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

[Read more…]

Looking To The Past For Inspiration: African Funeral Tributes

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.

African Funeral FlowersIt 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. [Read more…]

Flower Shop Network’s Best of the Best 2010

Best of the Best 2010

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!

Matching Your Prom Dress To Your Corsage

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 [Read more…]