How I add poignant personal touches to funeral flowers

Even if it is in the most subtle way, I am a true believer that funeral flowers should be personal and made in memory of your loved one. I’m also very aware that choosing flowers is just one of many decisions that you have to make at this time, and we are not always fortunate in having clear instructions and wishes left for us to work from. 

To help you with this, I’ve put together a list of my favourite ways for adding personal touches to funeral flowers - of course, you don’t have to include all of them but I hope these provide some inspiration and ideas for your final choices. 

Using meaningful flower varieties 

Did your loved one have a favourite flower? Is there a flower that holds a special meaning between you? Even if you don’t have answers for these questions - we can still work together to choose meaningful flowers. Flowers speak their own language and are used as symbols to represent feelings and emotions - a rose for ‘love’ for example is one of the most well known. In choosing the right flowers, you can convey such a personal message. Finally, flowers could even be used to tell a story about your loved ones life - one of my favourite examples of this was using hops in an arrangement for a man who loved brewing his own beer. 

Choosing a personal colour palette

This can be kept as simple as using your loved ones favourite colours to create the arrangements. Some people choose colours that symbolise their loved one - for example, I recently had a request for white and green for a man who was always proud of his Irish roots. On other occasions, we can use colour to even represent who they were - a bright, colourful display may suit a louder, vibrant personality or a more muted colour palette may better represent a person who enjoyed the quieter side of life. There are so many ways colour can be used to add a personal touch. 

Creating a design around a sentimental object

Do you have any special items that reflect your loved ones memory, hobbies or pastimes? Everything I make is bespoke, so it really doesn’t matter what it is - I will find a way to incorporate it, naturally and sympathetically. In the past, I have made designs that include walking boots, a gardener's trug, well worn hats, motorcycle helmets, bicycles, books and so on. The connection to your loved one is so tangible with these designs - they couldn’t be anymore personal. 

Using flowers from their garden or a special place 

Perhaps they were a keen gardener and have a beautiful garden they were so proud of. I have visited gardens in the past and taken cuttings from plants and shrubs to add to the design. A wonderful personal touch. Even if they weren’t green fingered - there may have been a special place they loved - a springtime woodland perhaps or a summer meadow. Although flower cuttings can’t be taken from the exact places (without the landowner's permission), I can use flowers to achieve the same look and feel, creating memories of happy days once spent.

Creating flowers to share with friends and family 

If your loved one was a generous soul who loved giving (or maybe they just couldn’t bear waste!) - the final personal touch I recommend is sharing the flowers after the service, perhaps re-using them at the wake or gifting them to family and friends. If you wish to do this, or it’s something that you know your loved one would have liked, I can create your design in such a way that it can be easily shared or taken apart - allowing you to enjoy the full life of the flowers. All of my funeral arrangements are made with eco-friendly methods and can be made to be fully compostable if required. 

Finally, please don’t be afraid to ask if there is something you’d like to incorporate in your flowers that I haven’t mentioned above. I might not have done it before but if something is particularly special to you - we’ll come up with a way. Providing beautiful flowers full of personal touches is so important to me and it truly is an honour to get to know a little about your loved one during the process of doing so. 

To find out more about my natural funeral flowers, you can visit the dedicated website page here or to discuss and order flowers, please do contact me by phone (07525 747704) or email delilahandherb@gmail.com