Ten Important Things to Know When Ordering Funeral Flowers
PrintDescription: Avoid mistakes by acting purely on impulse and emotion. If you need to order sympathy flowers and want to make sure that you get the best flowers at the right price, then read the ten insider tips presented in this article.
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If you need to order sympathy flowers and want to make sure that you get the best flowers at the right price, then read these ten insider tips.
1. If there is a service at a funeral home, it is most common to send flowers to the funeral home for the viewings, and you should try to get the flowers delivered for the first viewing, as there may only be two viewings.
2. It is acceptable and customary to send funeral flowers, plants, or fruit and gourmet baskets to the funeral home
3. If you are sending flowers to a residence, do not send funeral flowers such as a funeral spray, a cross, or a funeral basket. Funeral arrangements are typically one-sided and designed to be placed against a wall, and are not suitable for a residence. Instead, it is traditional to send white flowers in a vase or a plant.
4. If the family is Jewish and the family is sitting Shiva, you should send a Shiva basket, which is basically a fruit-and-gourmet basket that should be kosher, unless you know it does not matter. You can also send a green plant, but you should not send flowers or blooming plants.
5. Funeral flowers that go to the funeral home are generally large and showy. Pieces like crosses, hearts, and large funeral sprays can cost hundreds of dollars. Even if you find something to send for forty dollars, you need to consider that your arrangement will be placed next to all the others and many people will spend more. I would send no less than a fifty-dollar arrangement to a funeral home. This would be for plants and floral arrangements.
6. The card message is personal, but some ideas are 'our thoughts and prayers are with you' or 'with deepest sympathy'. It is also typical not to address the card specifically to anyone, as the funeral director will collect all the cards and give them to the family. When you send a sympathy piece, the card should clearly indicate who is sending the flowers (last name and or company name if appropriate), as it can be confusing to the family during a stressful time. You should also put your address on the card to make it easier for the family when they send out thank you cards.
7. If you are placing a banner on the piece, it should state your relationship to the deceased. Customary banners are 'Beloved Mother', 'Dearest Friend', etc. Many times a florist does not offer this, as it is not something that they charge for and it costs them money. It will make the sympathy flowers you are sending look special, so you should consider if it is appropriate for you.
8. When you send flowers to a funeral home, the family generally does not take them home. If you want the family to have something for their home, it would be better and more convenient if you sent the flowers to the home directly.
9. If you contact a funeral home that is trying to sell flowers, you should politely say 'no thanks'. Many of the mom and pop funeral homes have been purchased by a just a couple of very large companies. These companies maintain the local name, but they operate very differently. The funeral directors working for the funeral homes get commissions on flowers that are sold. The funeral home also keeps some of your money as commission on your flower order instead of it going into the sympathy flowers. Worse yet, the funeral home employees don't know anything about flowers, what is in season, or what is in stock, so you are paying a premium for lousy service.
10. Beware of websites pretending to be funeral homes, or websites acting like funeral home guides that are selling flowers. These sites are not associated with the funeral homes they pretend to be, and I would not recommend dealing with them.
About the Author:
Ava Rose is the professional FTD Florist that was raised in a flower shop. Ava seeks to share some of her vast floral-related experience with everyone. Ava will give you the inside information so you can order flowers like an old pro. Article Source: Eulogy Site - http://EulogySite.com