Funeral flowers: built to survive a warm room
Most gift arrangements live in a cool hall and then in a vase of water. Funeral flowers do neither. They spend their working hours in a closed room full of people, under lights, sometimes outdoors in sun or wind, and they have to look composed for the whole of it without anyone tending to them.
That single condition explains most of how they are made.
Foam, water and heat
Wreaths, baskets and standing arrangements are built on floral foam soaked through before the stems go in. Each stem drinks from the block rather than from a vase, which is what lets the piece stand at any angle and travel upright in a van. A block that was soaked in a hurry has a dry core, and the stems pushed into that core wilt hours ahead of the rest.
Warmth is the other half of the problem. A room filling with people warms up fast, and every open bloom takes that as a signal to finish opening.
Florists answer it by choosing flowers that hold. Chrysanthemum and carnation stay presentable long after roses have softened at the neck. Lilies are usually set slightly closed so they come into full flower during the service rather than the day before it. Foliage does quiet work here too, since eucalyptus and leatherleaf keep their shape when the petals around them have started to go. None of that is a matter of taste, and a florist who works funerals regularly will steer you towards the same few flowers whatever the season happens to offer.
Cut stems generally give you one to two weeks in cool water. In a warm hall, count on considerably less, and judge the piece by how it looks on the day rather than by how long it might last afterwards.
The main formats
A wreath is a closed ring on a stand, made to be seen from a distance and from the side. Its outline and the evenness of the packing carry it. A single fine head does nothing for a wreath viewed from across a room.
A basket or a table arrangement sits on a flat base and goes on the floor beside the coffin or on a surface nearby. Nothing about it needs a vase, and nothing tips over in a draught.
A standing spray is a one-sided piece on a tall tripod that fills vertical space where floor space is short.
A sympathy bouquet is the odd one out. It is hand-tied, wrapped and sent to the family rather than to the ceremony, often once the funeral itself is over.
Colour, briefly
White carries almost any case and asks no questions of the sender. Deep red belongs to a spouse, a child or a very close friend. Purple and burgundy read as age and respect, and they need something pale worked through them or the mass turns heavy.
For a child, arrangements stay white with a little pale blue or pale pink, in small heads rather than large ones.
What to leave out
Glitter, lacquered film, gold spray and novelty picks come from gift work and have no place here. Ribbon stays plain, in one colour, with lettering in a single tone.
Scent deserves a thought of its own, because a dozen lily arrangements in one closed room become overpowering within an hour, and the pollen marks clothing, so the stamens are removed before assembly.
Ordering is short and practical: who has died and roughly what age, who the flowers come from, where and by what hour they need to arrive. If the sender is not in Shanghai and cannot check the venue, give the funeral director's number rather than an address alone.
