Advice please about a funeral bouquet

Abbafan1972

My dear old Nan passed away at the weekend. The funeral hasn't been arranged yet, as I believe my Mom is waiting for the death certificate.

My question is, I want to buy a flower arrangement, but I don't know what to buy. The last funeral I went to was years ago and my Mom arranged the flowers for me, but she's got enough on her plate with my Nan's arrangements.

I have looked at a couple local Florist's websites, I was going to get a wreath, but prices seem to be around £60 :eek:. My budget is going to be about £20 -25. I won't order anything yet until I know what date I need it for. What would be nice flower(s) to include, I don't know if my Nan had a favourite colour/flower.

Thanks in advance.

Bloomin_Freezing2

Sorry for your loss, I'd suggest that as you are unsure, take yourself down to the florist, tell them how much you have to spend and they will tell you what they can do.

Think about your nans personality, was she vibrant and fun loving? if so go for bright flowers, anything to represent her personality. Otherwise just choose something that you like the look of.

Bloomin_Freezing2

Just to add, you can get some lovely bouquets in the supermarkets, and from experience they last a lot longer than flowers from any florists I've had before.

peachyprice

Go to your florist and ansk them for a bouquet in your proce range, don't tell them they're for a funeral, that seems to bump the price up.

If you don't know your Nan's fave colour purple is the traditional funeral colour.

McKneff

If your nan lives a good way away from you, ring a florist near to where she lived, get them to do a spray and deliver it.
(tell them how much you have to spend) Usually a lot cheaper than web site flowers.

LisaW123

Condolences on the loss of your Nan.

Have you got brothers or sisters? Perhaps you could pool your resources to buy a wreathe for your Nan from you all? If not, and it's down to you to get something, I would do as another poster has suggested and visit a local florist to see what they can provide within your budget. If they can't do anything, you could, as BloominFreezing suggests, buy the flowers from a supermarket. If you do this, however, make sure you remove the supermarket packaging and tie them yourself with a large ribbon or some raffia. Supermarket flowers in their packaging can seem a bit cheap at a funeral. With regards to the flowers themselves, I would opt for something subtle and tasteful, roses and lilies in white, cream or pale pink but you will know best what your Nan would have liked. You would definitely not get something like this from a florist on your budget but I saw a lovely "luxury" white rose bouquet in Morrisons for under £20 the other day. I think something like that would be eminently suitable, so long as the packaging is removed.

paddy's_mum

You might want to think about a donation to a charity close to your Nan's heart in lieu of flowers - which eventually end up in the council's composting pit.

I can assure you that nobody will be going through the wreaths and bouquets on the day checking to see who did and who did not send flowers and if, by some rare chance, a question was asked, your Mum will already know the answer.

Many death notices in the newspapers these days do say 'Family flowers only..donations to such-and-such charity' so I would suggest that to opt for a donation is nowadays an entirely acceptable way to commemorate a loved one.

LisaW123

But the OP is family.

peachyprice

paddy's_mum wrote: »

I can assure you that nobody will be going through the wreaths and bouquets on the day checking to see who did and who did not send flowers and if, by some rare chance, a question was asked, your Mum will already know the answer.

I have to disagree, unless the family has specifically expressed a wish for no flowers then they do read who they are from, not to comment or ask questions but for the comfort of knowing people are thinking of their loved one.

OP, it doesn't matter how much you spend, it's the thought. When times have been hard I've picked flowers from my garden and dressed them with a nice ribbon, nobody ever commented on the fact that they weren't 'shop bought'.

paddy's_mum

My error! I meant to convey that either flowers or a donation is an acceptable action these days. The last funeral I went to had only one large spray upon the coffin that had been bought by and on behalf of all the family members.

I'm quite sure that the OP's mother would welcome whichever form of commemoration was offered. Many people feel that spending what is often quite a large sum of money on something so short-lived as flowers is wasteful and prefer to use the money to do some good for the less fortunate among us.

My husband is attending the funeral next week of a relative. I shall make up a small spray and attach to it a card stating that a donation has been made to the charity chosen by the deceased's children. To my mind, that's an acceptable compromise and should not cause offence to anyone.

Abbafan1972

Many thanks for all of your helpful replies.

I can't multiquote everybody but I will try and clarify everything.

I don't have brothers or sisters, but I have 5 cousins on that side of the family. To be honest, we haven't really spoken for years, so I can't see us communicating about buying flowers between us.

My Nan lived in a nursing home, which is close to my Mom's house, so I would assume that the family gathering will take place at my Mom's, so I was going to choose a Florist close to there, so I could either have it delivered there or pick it up on the way there on the day. We are not a large family, I live less than 3 miles from my Mom, but the rest of family are dotted around Birmingham, one is in Tamworth and another in Coventry.

The idea of Supermarket flowers is a fantastic idea, as, like you say they do tend to be good quality and last a fair while. Of course I would remove all the packaging and arrange them suitably. It would have to be either from Tesco or Asda, as they are the two Supermarkets close to me. I am not close to Morrisons unfortunately.

My brain is doing overtime now!