For those who have lost a cherished, a funeral service is of extreme importance. Grief counselors will tell you that family and friends need a chance to get together to grieve for their loss and to share their love for and memories of the perished. It is very comforting to the family to have the company and sympathy of friends and relatives, especially during the first few days. The most appropriate expression of sympathy is the sending of funeral flowers, since flowers help the people to express feelings that are difficult to express. Flowers show respect for the dead. They also add warmth to the service and provide visual support. They create a pleasant atmosphere making the lamenters feel more comfortable. No matter what people say, no funeral service should be totally without flowers.
Flowers and greens have always played an important role in burial traditions. In ancient times family members used herbs to anoint the body of their cherished one, and they also held “wakes.” Family and friends would gather to guard the body. In some ancient cultures, “guarding the body” was necessary. In modern times the wake offers an opportunity for the grieving family to receive the condolences from friends and neighbors who might not be able to attend the actual funeral service or who might not get a chance to speak personally to the family members at the service. The wake also affords everyone an opportunity to view the flowers and read the enclosure cards.
Real Vs Artificial flowers:
The sender of the flowers usually makes the decision to use real or artificial flowers. Real flowers smell very sweet and give a comfortable feeling to the grieving. However, usually the sender states that they want a particular arrangement to go to a specific person and may want the flowers to last them for a while once in their home. Many times these flowers may have a candle or any other centerpiece included with them, which makes it ideal to choose artificial flowers.
If the sender knows if the person receiving the flowers likes real or artificial, that is a great way to solve that dilemma when buying sympathy flowers. The purpose is to give the grieving people something that can be enjoyed in their time of grief.
Best sympathy flowers:
The flowers that seems to be favored and have proven to be an adequate choice for sympathy flowers is those flowers that are composed of many different colors. It is amazing how many buying flowers for sympathy do not think of the colors of the flowers. Then again, there are many who do. Even something as simple as picking out your favorite colors can be adequate.
What is ideal is buying flowers that were the favorite colors of the perished, if that is known, and even finding out what their favorite flower was. If not known, pastels make a great choice and it is always safe to go with lilies and roses. A light pastel red makes a wonderful color of flower to show sympathy.
Best sympathy flowers are colorful flowers and it also should be a favorite flower of the perished. If not sure, then roses and lilies make a great choice. Whether or not to buy real flowers or artificial flowers depends on what you would like the recipient to use them for. If you wish to provide an comfortable environment , then the sweet aroma of real flowers can be quite soothing.
