The decline of Funeral Flowers is becoming a massive problem to the Floristry Industry. Today less and less people are sending fresh flowers to funerals. Twenty years ago it was expected that you would send flowers to a funeral. As an industry, we need to act on this matter.
Has anybody been to a funeral with no funeral flowers? It really is quite depressing. Today some people ask for no flowers but donations to local charities. This is fine and of course anybody would respect these wishes but I do wonder how many people do send off a cheque. In fact the stats are showing that the majority are doing nothing. Therefore not ordering flowers or supporting a charity.
Floristry funeral work is on the decline in England, America and Australia. Yet in many parts of South East Asia and China they are very active in displaying floral wreaths for the deceased.
Obviously florists' have a problem; we can't make large wreaths for our shops every day. This simply is not cost effective. Yet we do have a great medium to show them off. That is our web pages. You could photograph the funeral work and create an online photo album. This way the public can see the difference between a funeral with flowers and a funeral with out flowers.
In Asia funeral wreaths are displayed on bamboo tripod stands and these wreaths are massive in size. Printed satin ribbon is a usually feature of these items.
What are you doing or what is your shop doing to combat this problem?
James
I am from Asia and yes, sending a funeral wreath is generally expected especially if one is related to the deceased. It's a sign of respect and not to be confused with the issue of donating to charity.
PS it could be great if people actually send a wreath and donate to the decreased's favourite charity as well!!!
We have a bit of a "drought" with funerals of late. We blame the doctors who are prescribing far too many drugs to keep people alive these days.....Please.., that is said with tongue in cheek. Sorry if i offend.
We find that with our local funeral directors, they are persuading the families of the deceased to donate to charity or no flowers by request.
Perhaps this is the starting point of a discussion with the director and try to "upsell" the casket sheaf to the bereaved family. Tell the directors that a funeral without flowers is a very depressing funeral indeed.
It is very much a trend though, so lets try and turn the tables around and bring back more flowers at funerals.