Flowers are one of nature’s greatest and most beautiful creations. They brighten our day even when we’re in a somber mood. Hence, flowers are given on all different sorts of occasions, one of them being when someone has died in a family. Funeral home flowers express our sympathy and condolences in a time of grief. Dolan Funeral Home in Chelmsford is a full-service, family-owned funeral home that offers cremation and burial services. In this blog post, we’ll review a bit about giving flowers when a loved one or friend dies. Contact us today!
HISTORY OF GIVING FLOWERS WHEN A LOVED ONE DIES
Giving flowers when a loved one dies stands as the world’s oldest form of human rituals, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. However, the use of the flowers has changed over time. Traditionally, flowers being full of lovely scents, were used as a way to mask the smell of decay at a funeral. As the art of embalming has improved, flowers now are a way for someone to express their condolences to the family of the deceased. Flowers are expressions of warmth and beauty and serve to brighten up the somber mood of a funeral. Flowers themselves symbolize the cycle of life and death and also just how fragile human life is.
HOW TO CHOOSE FLOWERS FOR A MEMORIAL SERVICE
Send a funeral wreath
Funeral wreaths are great flower arrangements to send for a memorial service because they can be set up on an easel next to the coffin. They complement larger floor flower arrangements well and are easy to place a banner around to more personalize the arrangements. Popular banner choices include “Uncle” or “Grandfather.”
Personalize the funeral flowers
Pick flowers you know the deceased would like. For example, if white roses where his or hers favorite flowers, then send a dozen white roses in a tasteful arrangement. If the deceased loved butterflies, throw in a couple of feather butterflies to the arrangement.
Bring fresh-cut sympathy bouquets to the funeral service
Fresh-cut flowers at the funeral service itself is a great way to express your condolences. These bouquets provide fresh scents at the funeral service, as well as are perfect to place on the casket itself at burial. White flowers such as lilies, white roses, orchids and irises symbolize purity and love and are popular choices for sympathy bouquets.
Choose potted plants
Once the funeral service is over, the family often keeps some of the funeral flowers as momentos, drying them out and saving them. However, you can give the gift of living flowers as a more permanent memory in the form of potted plants. Lilies, orchids, white azalea bushes, and gardenias are popular choices to comfort the mourners in the days following the funeral service.
Considerations
Nowadays, it is popular for families to ask for donations to the deceased person’s favorite charity. In this case, the family will choose a simple spray of flowers for the coffin only and keep the ceremony very low-key. When a family asks for donations, it is proper funeral home etiquette to honor these wishes. Sending a potted plant a few days after the funeral to a family member is acceptable if you wish to do so.
In the end, it’s the thought behind the flowers that matters, so don’t fret too much over your flower selection.
HOW DOLAN FUNERAL HOME IN CHELMSFORD CAN HELP
Dolan Funeral Home serves the greater Boston area for funerals. Our service area includes the greater Lowell and southern New Hampshire areas, including Chelmsford, North Chelmsford, Tyngsboro, Westford, Dunstable, Dracut, Lowell, MA, and Hudson, NH. As a full-service funeral home, we take care of your loved one from beginning to end, offering cremation services, celebration of life and memorial services, as well as burial services. Contact us today!