Why are flowers at a funeral service important?

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Sympathy flowers make a difference in the atmosphere at a funeral.  They can be a fitting tribute to someone’s life.  They comfort the grieving and allow others to express their love and compassion.

Funerals are designed for the survivors and to commemorate the deceased person’s life, interest, and passions.  They also help the survivors deal with their grief.

My great grandfather was a funeral director in Royse City and my great grandmother was a florist in Dallas.  Both instilled the importance of flowers at a funeral.  Because of this great importance that has been passed down through the generations, Wylie Flower Shop sends a spray of flowers to every deceased at our local funeral home.  We call it a “temporary spray” until it is replaced by a casket spray ordered by the family.  If a casket spray is not ordered, then at least, the deceased will have some flowers.

Years ago, funeral services took many days to plan and carry out.  Today funeral services are rather quick.  Our website, www.wylieflowershop.com has become very convenient for families and friends, being spread out, who cannot always pack up and go to a funeral.  Photographs of sympathy work can help a person, who usually hasn’t had to deal with this event before, pick out a floral tribute just perfect for their loved one.

What does a person send to a funeral service?  That depends.  There are more and more cremations today.  There may be a regular service with the visitation (viewing the deceased) and then afterwards, a cremation or afterwards, the traditional burial.  As a florist it is important to know, so that the appropriate product can be sent.

Traditional designs, such as easel sprays, hearts, crosses, and round wreaths, prevail as the favorite products if there will be a burial.  However, those traditional styles would not be appropriate if there is to be a cremation.  A plant or pretty arrangement,  that can be taken home, by a family member would be a better choice of product.  The small flat sprays have fallen by the wayside, however plants have become one of the favorite gifts because it is a living memorial to the deceased.

We have many gifts that can be incorporated into the floral tribute {such as photo frames with their picture or a favorite ball team’s emblem, plaques, angels, religious icon and figurines, memory lamps} or that can stand alone as an appropriate sympathy expression.  We can and will also incorporate items of the deceased, such as a favorite cap or a cowboy hat, the family brings in.  Wylie Flower Shop has the ability to create customized shape pieces such as guitars, sports themes, tractors, rainbows, tweety bird and so forth.

We offer advice after listening to stories of memories of the love one.  We try to promote flowers as an expression of your feelings toward the surviving, which in turn will help them through the grieving process.  We accommodate the customer’s special flower and color requests.  We often pull flowers from the cooler to give families as much visual assistance as possible.  The families are provided a private consultation area to make their selections of the perfect tribute.

Because, flowers truly do convey emotions, my one request would be that instead of using the words “in lieu of flowers” in the obituary, the families and funeral directors would use the following words “in addition to flowers, donations may be made to…”.

Thanks so much,

Pam

The Powerful Language of Flowers During Times of Sympathy

Flowers symbolize the life cycle of humans from birth through death. Both humans and flowers have fragile lives and both need proper conditions to grow and thrive. In death, flowers symbolize how the beauty of creation is temporary, just as life is temporary. Flowers have special aesthetic value for their beauty helps balance our emotional response to the perceived ugliness of death.

In older days, the sweet fragrance of funeral flowers would mask the decomposing body odors. Today people send flowers to funerals because it is a visual expression of love, sympathy and respect; it’s a way of sharing the burden of grief and community support for those grieving. Flowers’ warmth and beauty add to the dignity and consolation of the funeral service. After the funeral service, the bereaved is left with a “memory picture” of the final tribute of their loved one. The more comforting the “memory picture” is the more easily it is to recall the final tribute, thus the more vivid is their reality of loss.

The bereaved never see in their “memory picture” flowers that wither and die, but always recall the beauty of the final tribute. People who have attended funerals with no flowers have expressed the feeling that something was missing and the funeral was depressing. Finally flowers are not only for the living , they are for the dead too. Flowers help express respect for the dead which in turn honors the dead and consoles the living.

Gathering and arranging flowers around our dead is society’s oldest form of mourning and honoring those we have lost.

Thanks for visiting our blog,

Pam