Losing someone you love is one of the hardest things you can go through in life.
Whilst you grieve for your loved one and come to terms with the fact that they won’t be around anymore, the last thing you need is the stress of organising the funeral and choosing the flower arrangements.
So why not allow us to help? Here the team at Brunel Funeral Directors talk through the different types of funeral flowers, their meanings, and explain more about the arrangements we can provide.
The meaning of funeral flowers
Whether fresh or dried, funeral flowers often convey a message of love, sympathy or respect.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular flowers used for funerals:
Carnations
Carnations come in an array of beautiful colours. Before you make your choice, it’s worth knowing that each one holds a symbolic meaning.
For example, white is for pure love and pink symbolises remembrance and gratitude.
Yellow denotes sadness and remorse, whilst red represents love and affection. And purple is for wealth and success.
Chrysanthemums
In the UK, these beautiful flowers are the birth flower of November and symbolise optimism and joy. However, much like carnations (and the other sympathy flowers mentioned below), the different colours represent different things.
Take pink chrysanthemums, for instance. These symbolise longevity and are perfect for sending a message to let someone know that you’re thinking of them at such a difficult time.
Like all things red, scarlet chrysanthemums represent love and passion.
Yellow was a colour that previously had negative connotations – representing sorrow and neglect. However, it’s now recognised as a cheery hue, as is orange, that can reflect the personality of your loved one.
White chrysanthemums are traditional funeral flowers. They symbolise purity, devoted love and loyalty.
Lilies
Lilies are often associated with funerals.
These strongly aromatic blooms have a significant meaning behind them but, as with any other type of condolence flowers, it varies depending on the colour.
White lilies are the most popular. These represent peace, purity and harmony and look lovely in all kinds of arrangements.
Lilies also come in orange, pink and yellow. Orange lilies are symbolic of passion and wealth. Pink represents prosperity, and yellow is for good health and thankfulness.
Orchids
An orchid resembles your everlasting love for the deceased.
No matter what colour you choose, they convey the universal message of “I love you now and forever”.
However, if you’d like to include orchids in your loved one’s flower arrangements, or you’re giving them to the bereaved family, consider the pink or white variety. These colours are both symbolic of mourning and grief and will offer sympathy and compassion.
Roses
Roses are incredibly versatile flowers that often serve as sympathy flowers.
Though they’re typically associated with love and Valentine’s Day, the meaning behind each colour can vary.
For instance, the red rose is widely recognised as a symbol of eternal love and courage. Dark crimson roses represent mourning and sorrow, making them an excellent option for funeral flower arrangements.
Pink is a colour that represents appreciation and gratitude, whilst orange is for loyalty.
Yellow roses symbolise friendship and joy. They’re typically sent by the deceased’s close friends either directly to the family or via the funeral home.
White roses are symbolic of humility, innocence and purity, which makes them a perfect fit for funerals.
Tulips
Tulips make for lovely funeral flowers.
Whilst they’re considered to bring hope and positivity to the deceased’s family, each colour of tulip comes with a unique meaning.
If your loved one had an upbeat personality, yellow tulips will reflect this perfectly as they represent cheerfulness.
With their deep hues, red tulips evoke feelings of love and passion.
And white tulips are symbolical of peace and forgiveness.
The different types of flower arrangements
Here at Brunel Funerals, we offer a comprehensive range of flower arrangements – including traditional funeral flowers and bespoke designs to reflect the life and requests of your loved one.
These include:
Coffin sprays
Sprays are similar to hand-tied bouquets, only they’re designed to lay flat on top of the coffin.
These are supplied in various lengths and colours and are carefully created using the freshest flowers.
Though we offer several examples on our website, we can provide a bespoke design to reflect either your loved one’s personality or the season.
If you’d like us to use any specific flowers, please let us know.
Wreaths
Whether it be to adorn the coffin or to place at the graveside, wreaths are a popular funeral tribute.
Their circular shape symbolises never-ending love and eternal life.
Funeral wreaths usually incorporate a combination of funeral flowers, including white chrysanthemums, lilies and roses with foliage. However, we can create a tribute that includes your loved one’s favourite colours and flowers.
Posies
Renowned for their delicate dome shape, posies make the perfect gift for bereaved families – offering a token of remembrance and respect.
They can also be used for the funeral – either to place on top of the coffin or beside the memorial plaque.
Whichever blooms you’d like to use, and however you’d like your flower arrangement to look (i.e. formal and neat or wild and natural-looking), we can assure you that all our posies are expertly crafted to suit your requirements.
You can leave posies at our funeral home and we’ll transport them on the day of the funeral. Or you can arrange for them to be delivered to the family’s house or directly to the crematorium or church.
Heart tributes
What better way to show your affection for the deceased than with a heart-shaped funeral tribute?
Lovingly created using only the finest flowers, our heart tributes are tailored to suit the needs of the deceased’s immediate family.
That means you can decide what type and colour of flowers are used and whether you’d like an open heart (with flowers around the outside only) or a closed heart (filled with flowers), a single heart or a double.
Our specially-shaped flower arrangements guarantee a sentimental tribute – ensuring only the best for your loved one.
Letters
Using flowers to spell out your relationship to the deceased (i.e. Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandad, Friend, etc.) is a lovely way to express your condolences – not to mention give your loved one a personalised send-off.
Each letter usually stands 30cm tall, and you can choose their favourite flowers and colours to make it more special.
Letter tributes will accompany the coffin in the hearse to the church or crematorium before they will be placed on the grave or at the memorial plot.
Want to know more about funeral flowers?
The team at Brunel Funerals are always willing to go above and beyond for bereaved families – offering guidance and support in making both the funeral and flower arrangements.
If you’d like to discuss the different types of funeral flowers in more detail, or you can’t decide between a coffin spray and letters to adorn the coffin, don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’d be more than happy to share our expertise.
Either call us on 0117 374 2002 or email admin@brunelfd.co.uk and we’ll get back to you.
You can also discuss your funeral flower arrangements face-to-face with our funeral directors.