M&S Mother's Day "funeral" bouquet

Silk

The main picture just shows the flowers in a vase not the bouquet ....however in one of the pictures it does in fact have a black ribbon



It also mentions it in the details

• 5 x Pink premium oriental lilies
• 3 x Soft ruscus
• Packaging Detail: 1 x Map bag (L70 x W100cm)
• 1 x Satin black ribbon (L70cm)
• 1 x Autograph™ map tag
• 1 x Safety first label
• 1 x Autograph™ frosted cello (roll wrapped)
• 1 x Black organza ribbon (L100cm)
• 1 x Rose flower food
• 1 x Autograph™ box (L74cm)
• 1 x Insert

tomtontom

peachyprice wrote: »

I have never seen black ribbons on funeral flowers, ever.

The only time I have seen black ribbons at all at a funeral is for armbands, nothing else.

Same here - I even did a Google image search and had to look a long way to find one with a black ribbon. Most are pink/ blue/ purple etc to match the flowers.

(Looking closer the one with the black ribbon is actually a wedding posy!)

marliepanda

Aren't lilies generally funeral flowers anyway, or am I being odd? Surely if simply the colour black is threatening to bereaved people lilies would be the worst idea?

firesidemaid

i hate lillies and also associate them with being funerial flowers.

on an aside, when i had to complain to sainsbury's pet insurance as they had still not paid my claim 3 months after our dog had died they (unexpectedly) sent flowers - but they mostly contained lillies as it was a 'sorry/for your loss' bouquet.

not only was it a bit late and a waste of money (i'd have rather them have sent a donation to an animal charity), most pet owners have more than one pet and lillies are poisonous to them - so i had to bin them anyway!

Torry_Quine

I love lilies and the longer before they open the longer that they will last. It clearly states that it's a black ribbon and I haven't come across black ribbon as the norm for funerals

whitewing

I love lilies too but I have known people despise them because of funeral associations (that's mainly the generation older than me though).

I don't think I have ever checked ribbon colour on a bouquet I was sending, and I definitely wouldn't have thought to check for black ribbon, which could be upsetting for a recipient. (Funerals and Get Well Soon). Maybe M& S could offer a choice of 2 ribbon colours that the buyer selects.

geerex

Fraze wrote: »

Hi Thanks so much for all your comments, the threatened thing may be from watching too much !!!!! movies (it was my husband who said it was threatening actually) - but I see what you all mean maybe over-reacting - grief can do that to you. Thanks to those who make fun of my post for putting me back on track if in a rather unsympathetic way..and big thanks to those who stand up for me. (Can't believe that one person does not believe that funeral flowers have black ribbons.) Yes of course I don't know what colour the lilies are, they are still not open and yes of course I have raised the colour issue with M&S, and yes I know that the ribbon issue is not something they care about either legally or morally. But I was trying to warn other BEREAVED people about the possibility of upset NOT get a refund.

Legally? Morally? Are you SERIOUS?!

This has to be a troll post, nobody can honestly believe that a black ribbon is a moral or legal issue.

Look, some people may think that a black ribbon goes well with pink flowers, I certainly do.
More fool you for not reading the description.

Perhaps you should ask to try their meatballs next time.

samanthaknd

geerex wrote: »

Legally? Morally? Are you SERIOUS?!

This has to be a troll post, nobody can honestly believe that a black ribbon is a moral or legal issue.

Look, some people may think that a black ribbon goes well with pink flowers, I certainly do.
More fool you for not reading the description.

Perhaps you should ask to try their meatballs next time.

Thats a bit harsh TBO, but yes, I like the idea of lilies with a black ribbon. I love lillies and pink and black goes well together, so maybe that is why M&S chose the colour scheme. But the OP is upset thats not for us to sneer at or put her down because of her feelings. Everyone has different opinions and kindness goes a long way.

Pollycat

Fraze wrote: »

I received a gift of a Mother's Day bouquet from M&S - my daughter had ordered a cheerful bunch of pink lilies, I got a bunch of closed green/white lilies tied up with a black ribbon! As someone who's been recently bereaved it was upsetting to say the least - if not a little threatening! M&S say all Autograph bouquets come tied with black ribbons - apparently this information was in the details section of the website but the picture did not support it! SO WARNING! if you are buying flowers from M&S and they are going to someone who may be offended by funeral flowers and black ribbons I suggest you think again and perhaps try a supplier that is more up front about what they are selling. By the way, four days in and lilies are still closed and ugly!

M&S aren't exactly hiding what they are supplying with their Autograph flowers.

You just need to click on 'View more details' and it tells you what colour ribbon is supplied.
This is what your daughter should have done before ordering the flowers and if she was aware that a black ribbon would cause you such distress, she could have ordered from an alternative supplier.

Fraze_2

OOOoooo! You do get heated, I will answer some posts I read before I realised that this was a mistake... I do wonder if you would you have said these things to my face?

I have seen black ribbons at 95% of funerals I have attended (and sadly for me there have been quite a few this year WHICH IS WHY I WAS UPSET you might not have been upset by ribbons but I was - GET IT)

By the way I did not order the flowers, my young daughter did and checking details like ribbons is not something a young girl is likely to do. Can't believe someone actually went to the website and posted the listing - whatthe...? For a mad moment I wondered if some of you are on M&S payroll??? You do seem to think they are wonderful.

Gosh did you really search online for ribboned bouquets and funerals???

I said it was NOT a moral or legal issue but that my original post was a courtesy post hoping to prevent others feeling upset.

Final update: Lillies not open at all, my friend had same bunch (she was not grieving so therefore not upset re ribbon) but they have died unopened.

Do as you will, send these bouquets to all your bereaved friends and I am sure some won't care and others just might, I really hope you never have a bad bunch of flowers from anywhere and complain because trying to help others is clearly a bad idea.

I will use local florists from now on and if anyone out there actually understands what I am saying then I suggest they do the same.