One of the most common ways people express their condolences is by sending flowers to a funeral or memorial service. Following a funeral, you may be left with an abundance of floral arrangements and bouquets. While certainly beautiful, you may not have the space in your home to find a place for them all. And as we all know, left in their current state, the flowers will eventually die and need to be disposed of, ending the enjoyment of the pretty petals. There are many wonderful ways you can repurpose them into keepsakes to remember your loved one, gifts for other people, or opportunities to pay it forward.
Spread Joy
After the funeral, if the flowers are still in good condition, you could consider donating them to a nursing home, or skilled rehabilitation center. Make sure you take the signs/tags off of the flowers so that you know who to send thank you notes to. By giving the floral arrangements to others, you brighten up their day, and can feel good that you are honoring your loved one by brightening up the day of others.
At the conclusion of the memorial or funeral service you can also encourage your family and friends to take the flowers home to remember your loved one by. Be sure to approach those closest to the deceased first. This is a great way to repurpose the flowers and add beauty to your loved one’s homes.
You can also donate your flowers to others who are grieving. Check in with your funeral director to see if any later services could benefit from floral arrangements. You can also take the flowers with you to a cemetery and leave flowers at the gravesites of other loved ones.
If you’d like, bring the flowers to your church or workplace. It’s like bringing a piece of your loved one with you to inspire beauty in the lives of all those around you. Bringing flowers to your work can also shine a light on your everyday life, especially if you are struggling after your loved one’s passing, seeing the arrangements can bring you comfort.
Get Crafty
As you may already be well-aware, there are plenty of creative ways to incorporate the blossoms and enjoy them long after the funeral is over. There are different avenues of methods to preserve the flowers, and many things you can use them in.
The tried-and-true method of preserving flowers involves either drying them or pressing them to begin with. Air drying flowers is very simple, many tutorials can be found online, and you probably already have the materials to do it. You basically need to remove the leaves, tie the stems to a stick or board, hang upside down and wait 4-5 weeks for them to dry - easy as can be!
If you'd like to press them, there are two main ways to accomplish this. You can use a heavy book to place them in - be sure to put paper on each side of the flower so the petals will not stain the book. Close the book, place a heavy weight or other book on top, wait a few weeks, and you’ll have beautiful pressed flowers. You can also purchase a wooden flower press and follow the instructions included.
After pressing or drying the flowers, you can keep them simply as-is, placing them in a memory box or putting them out to display. You can also use them crafting thank you notes by hot gluing them to cards to send out to attendees of the funeral.
Another meaningful way to repurpose the flowers is by turning it into potpourri! This is another simple process, that involves the flowers being dried out and incorporating essential oils to the blossoms. Once made you can place into satchels or other containers. This would be a nice gift to other friends and family, providing a sense of comfort whenever they smell the fragrant blend.
You may also consider creating beautiful centerpieces and wreaths with your flowers.
Other Ideas
There are companies that will take care of the preservation for you. The Isle Co. can turn your flowers into candles. Other companies, such as Flowers Forever, can turn the flowers into jewelry, so that you can always keep a piece of your loved one there. You may also be interested in contacting local florists, to see if they can assist you in repurposing flowers so that you may always enjoy the beauty of the life of your loved one.
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