When it comes to selecting a memorial gift to send for the funeral service, the specific types of flowers you choose can help convey your sentiments and send a meaningful message through the traditional language of flowers. Plants are also excellent choices because they provide a beautiful, long-lasting tribute to the lost loved one and also serve as a constant reminder of the love and affection you share to support the bereaved during the grieving process. Here are a few of the most popular funeral flowers and what they represent.
Lilies
Lilies are the flowers that are most commonly associated with funeral services because they symbolize innocence restored to the soul of the departed as well as the hope offered by the renewal process.
Roses
As one of the most iconic flowers, roses are a tasteful and beautiful part of an arrangement of funeral flowers. White roses evoke feelings of reverence, youthfulness, innocence, and humility while red roses convey respect, love, and courage. Other colors like pink signify appreciation, grace, love, and gentility while dark hues like crimson denote grief and sorrow. Yellow roses are often given by friends of the deceased as a way of symbolizing their strong ties. Including a single rose in a bouquet traditionally expresses everlasting love for the deceased.
Gladioli
Gladioli have a tall stem composed of multiple flowers that can measure up to four feet tall. Typically used in fan sprays, gladioli are classic and elegant in arrangements for traditional funeral services. The gladiolus embodies strength of character, sincerity, and moral integrity and are available in a range of color options from white to dark greens, oranges and reds. As a sympathy flower, gladioli is an excellent choice to send to the family because of its uplifting message during a time of loss.
Carnations
Carnations are long-lasting and fragrant, which makes them a popular choice for sympathy arrangements. Carnations are fragrant and hearty, making them ideal for services that last more than a few hours.Red carnations stand for admiration while pink carnations symbolize remembrance and white carnations denote innocence and pure love.
Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are another flower that is frequently included in arrangements for funeral services depending on what part of the world the deceased lived. In much of the United States, mums symbolize truth and are usually regarded as positive and cheerful, although New Orleans is a notable exception. In some European countries, chrysanthemums are symbolic of death and are only used for funerals or on graves. In China, Japan and Korea, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of lamentation and grief making them a wonderful choice when mourning with a family that has ties to Europe or Asia.
Orchids
Orchids plants express everlasting love. When giving an orchid plant as a gesture of sympathy, it is important to give consideration to color. Pink and white are traditional colors of sympathy. Varieties such as the phalaenopsis orchid and dendrobium orchids are varieties we suggest as appropriate plants to denote sympathy.
Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are large seasonal spring plants that are a nice and appropriate gesture to give to a grieving family. It can be enjoyed indoors after the service and can later be replanted in their garden. This hardy plant that will grow in almost any moist soil and will continue to bloom for many years.
Tulips
Tulips and daffodils are symbolic of renewal and fresh starts. They are an excellent choice to send as a sympathy gift to the family home of the departed because they are believed to bring encouragement and hope to a person who is grieving. Tulips represent grace and elegance. Yellow tulips represent cheerfulness while white tulips symbolize forgiveness. Purple tulips are reminiscent of nobility or royalty while red tulips represent perfect love.
No matter what message you are trying to convey with your sympathy flowers, Alfa Flower & Wedding Shop is here to help you select the perfect memorial gift for any occasion. Give us a call today at (414) 475-7080 to talk to one of our experienced floral designers and we will take care of the rest.
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