Funerals and Flowers: Sending your Sympathies
Sympathy floral arrangements for a funeral - designed by AWAKE.
Why do we send flowers to funerals?
The placement of florals around and among our departed is said to be one of humankind's oldest recorded tributes. Mentions of flowers at headstones and placards can be seen in stories, letters and poems written hundreds of years ago, and remnants of flower fragments have even been found in ancient burial sites that date back thousands of years.
All throughout history, flowers have been used to symbolize many different milestones throughout a person’s life: from birth, to marriage, sickness and death. Looking even beyond the symbolism of floral colours, botanical names, and species, a cut flower as a whole can perfectly represent human life itself—because like a flower, life is beautiful but sometimes fragile, and always finite.
There is also something to be said about the intrinsic values of funeral and sympathy flowers when contrasted with the dark feelings most of us associate with death. The smells, memories and colours that are provided by flower arrangements can aid in balancing our emotional responses to grief. Beautifully arranged florals can also help create a warm and welcoming environment for all of those present at a funeral service or celebration of life.
The giving and receiving of flowers still holds a significant place in contemporary after life traditions—and for good reason.
If you’re choosing and arranging flowers, the act can guide your mind and body into a more positive and meditative state while in the early stages of grief, which can bring a profound sense of relief and reprieve (if only for a short time).
If you’re sending flowers, think of it as extending a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen without needing to fumble for the right words (though we do suggest including a brief note).
And if you’ve received flowers, we hope you find some solace in knowing someone is thinking of you.
-Rev. Lauren
Everything ends in flowers - Hélène Cixous
For further reading, check out: http://www.inlieuofflowers.info/index.php?s=4