A fresh look at funeral arrangements

We've had a busy week of funeral and memorial work. What an honor it is to help a family commemorate and celebrate the life of their loved one with fresh flowers and botanicals. Clearly, this inevitable life event is not a happy time and is something that most of us would rather not think about. The fact is at some point we'll all be in a position to deal with the passing of a loved one. The details can be overwhelming when plans need to be finalized in such a short period of time. When ordering flowers consider sharing with your florist some of the things that were most important to your loved one or friend. This week we created a beautiful "pie" in fresh flowers for a family whose mother was a well know baker of pies. Arranged in a ceramic pie dish we included a rolling pin all artfully displayed with deep red roses and apples. The family chose the arrangement to be showcased with their mother's photo at the wake because it represented her so well. For another family we selected a sap bucket filled with sunflowers, curly willow and other rustic branches for their loved one who was an avid outdoorsman. For such a deeply personal event there is no reason your flowers can't be personal as well.

3 TIPS when meeting with your florist for memorial flowers:

• Bring in personal or meaningful objects to incorporate in the arrangement(s)
  
• Describe your loved one's personality and ask how it might be reflected in flowers
  
• Share some things that were particularly meaningful to them (cooking, gardening, fishing, art, music, etc...)