Choosing the Right kind of Funeral or Sympathy Flowers
Sending sympathy flowers to a loved one at their funeral service is a common way to show your condolences. Expressing your emotions in words can be difficult at times. The meaning when sending flowers is clearly understood. When someone sends sympathy flowers to a service, it demonstrates their respect, sympathy and love. Sympathy flowers represent these emotions. Aside from showing your feelings, sympathy flowers provide a sense of beauty and warmth and the funeral or memorial service.
Choosing the right sympathy flowers should convey a message of sympathy, sorrow and love. The type of flowers you pick out should relay a meaningful message of your feelings. We’ve provided a list below of several varieties of common sympathy flowers and what they symbolize to help you make your choice.
Iris: Representing the Goddess Iris linking heaven and earth. For hundreds of years, Purple Iris were planted over the graves of women in order to summon Iris the Goddess to bring their souls to heaven. It’s a popular choice with florists because of the bright color leaves and the flowers.
Carnations: The story of carnations is that they appeared on earth from the tears of the Virgin Mary. Carnations signify undying love. Each color of a carnation signifies something different. A white carnation signifies innocence and pure love. A pink carnation signifies remembrance and a red carnation signifies admiration.
Lilies: Often known to represent innocence which has been restored to the soul of the departed. A simple white lily symbolizes purity and majesty while a white stargazer lily expresses sympathy.
Tulips: Symbolize grace and elegance although the different colors also have meaning. White tulips symbolize forgiveness, yellow symbolize cheerfulness while purple tulips symbolize royalty. Perfect love is symbolized by a red tulip.
Nasturtium: These beautiful flowers symbolize patriotism.
Chrysanthemums (Mums): These are part of many assorted arrangements. White mums are often believed to symbolize truth.
Roses: Are a great choice as part of an arrangement. Red roses symbolize love, grace and courage. Pink roses express gentility. White roses express youthfulness, reverence and innocence.
Marjoram: Expresses consolation and comfort.
There are many ways to arrange flowers depending how you would like them displayed.
Baskets: Are a great keepsake. A unique alternative to the usual traditional pieces. Baskets can be quite long lasting gift which can also be sent to a private home. Baskets generally start at about $40.
Wreaths: Lillies, Snap Dragons, Gladiolus as well as roses are often used to prepare a wreath. Wreaths are often placed on the side of the funeral casket. Wreaths are more expensive than baskets and generally start at $130.
Sympathy plants: These are lasting tribute, and a continuous reminder of friendship and support you would like to offer during the grieving process. Plants start at $30.
Sprays: Come in both small and large sizes. Combining small flowers in shapes such as hearts and are often placed inside the casket. Half and quarter caskets sprays are generally placed on the lowered lid of an open casket. Spray of this size start at $120. A full casket spray will cover the entire casket, whether it is an open casket or closed casket and these start at $160.
Keep in mind that sympathy flowers are meant to honor the deceased while consoling the living.
