Funeral Flowers

This article will focus on funeral flowers as expressions of sympathy by defining certain types of arrangements and some reasons for having flowers.

The three main types of flower arrangements most often associated with funerals are the casket spray, standing spray and interior casket piece.

The casket spray is the arrangement that goes on top of a casket. In the case of cremation prior to a funeral service where an urn or a picture of the person is present, florists can do a smaller version. The casket spray is most commonly from the next of kin, whether it is a spouse or possibly the children honouring their loved one. If there is burial at the time of the funeral service, the casket spray is usually taken to the cemetery and left at the grave. 

A standing spray is an arrangement that hangs from a tripod stand. They sometimes come in the shape a cross or wreath and are typically sent from the next-in-line family members after a spouse or children. The standing spray is a very traditional arrangement, and is seen less and less because there is really not much that can be done with them following a funeral. Our local florist instead makes what they call a "fireside basket" or table arrangement to match the casket spray. The nice thing about these arrangements is that after the funeral they can be brought home or delivered to a church, nursing home, or hospital and enjoyed for a number of days as they doesn't look like they just came from a funeral.   

An interior casket piece is a small flower arrangement that can be placed inside the casket in the top corner. This style of arrangement tends to be from grandchildren and/or great-grandchildren and can also be made up to match the other family pieces.

Flowers have long been associated with funerals. In fact, archeological evidence shows that flowers were buried with Neaderthal remains. Historians believe that flowers symbolize the cycle of life, from seed to sprout, to blossom to eventual death. That many flowers carry seeds with them is also believed to be symbolic in the sense that, even though the deceased is no longer on earth, their spirit and memory remains with the living. The use of flowes also has a practical aspec -- before modern embalming methods were created to preserve the body of the deceased, the scent of flowers would mask the odour.

In regards to the debate to send flowers or to not send flowers, there are those who have the opinion that flowers are a waste because they do not last.

Having been involved with funerals that had wall-to-wall flowers and funerals that had no flowers, I feel there can be a healthy balance. In St. Marys, I find that there is a healthy balance between memorial donations to charities and flowers. In my opinion, flowers act as symbol of instant sympathy -- when a family walks into a visitation room and sees flowers, they immediately know people are thinking of them, while memorial donations, which give needed help to worthwhile charities, are an after the funeral reminder to families of their support network, which is also very comforting.  

There was a study done at Washington State University in August of 2000, with two test groups: one group was put in a room with plans, and the other group, in a room without. The subjects in each room were asked to place a hand in a bucket of ice water, and sure enough, the subjects in the room with plants were able to keep their hands in the ice water longer. Horticulturalists Virginia Lohr and Caroline Pearson-Mims, who helped conduct the sutdy, gave the rationale of "because we as humans have evolved with nature and are part of nature, we have an innate reaction to plants that we may or may not be aware of."

Finally our town of St. Marys is very fortunate to have two high-quality florists. The Flower Shop And More (formerly Rath's Roses) and the Little Falls Florist who consistently create funeral arrangements that do not look like traditional funeral flowers. By incorporating plants, flowers that last longer than others, adding items such as teddy bears and using unique containers, their arrangements can be enjoyed long after the funeral both as a memory of the deceased and an affirmation that life, in all its forms, goes on.