You may associate flower meanings with declarations of love and caring. Indeed, you would be right. Assigning romantic meanings to flowers goes back at least to the 19th century. However, sympathy flowers can have meanings as well.
Carnations – Carnations come in many colors and look wonderful in a bouquet. The different colors can express different meanings in addition to sympathy. For example, white carnations symbolize innocence while pink carnation means remembrance.
Chrysanthemums – Chrysanthemums are a symbol of grief and loyalty around the world. They are used in Europe as well as Japan and Korea. Chrysanthemums come in many colors, which gives you many options on the meaning they express.
Lilies – Lilies are more associated with funerals and grief than any other flower. White lilies are the most popular. They symbolize purity and sympathy.
Orchid – Orchids means “I love you.” When you give an orchid as a sympathy flower, you are telling the recipient that they will always have your love and devotion. This is a great flower to give to a relative or close friend.
Roses – Roses are probably best associated with romantic occasions such as Valentine’s Day. However, they can be used as a sympathy flower as well. You again have many color options to choose from with roses, they smell amazing, and they look wonderful in arrangements. Roses brighten up any flower display, including sympathy bouquets or wreaths.
Sympathy flowers can be delivered any time you want to express your sympathy to someone. Funerals are the most famous use of sympathy flowers. We’ve all been to funerals glutted with beautiful bouquets of all types.
You don’t have to just send flowers for a funeral. Any time you want to express sympathy, you can send flowers. If someone has lost their job, is struggling with some other life event, or just feeling down, sympathy flowers will be appropriate.
You may be wondering about the etiquette for sending sympathy flowers. If you don’t know whether your gift will be appropriate or not, following these tips.
- You can send sympathy flowers at any time. Just make sure that the delivery does not happen during a funeral service.
- Always ask the recipient whether they would prefer flowers sent to their home or the funeral home. You don’t want to send sympathy flowers to the wrong location and create more problems for the recipient.
- Consider sending a regular subscription box of flowers. Doing so will show you care all the time, and not just in the person’s hour of need. If they are a flower lover, they will adore the variability of their monthly—or weekly—bouquet. Every delivery will be a surprise, and that may just be what the recipient needs to get through their time of grief and hardship.
The best way to get the perfect gift is to have the professional curate a selection for you!
Here at BloomsyBox, we pride ourselves on bringing you the best blooms in beautiful bouquets from our farm partners (who are all Rainforest Alliance certified and sustainable). Let us build a very special custom bouquet for you every month that conveys your sympathy perfectly! We promise it will always be unique and one-of-a-kind – and also that you’ll enjoy it, guaranteed.
Our bouquets feature hand-tied arrangements that typically focus on a single type of flower that inspires us for the month. It arrives thoughtfully arranged with greenery that highlights the beauty of the featured flower and is designed to last in a vase for weeks.
For another gift idea, why not send a memorial plant? BloomsyBox offers many one-of-a-kind flowers that may have meaning to the person who has lost a loved one. Perhaps you know the deceased’s favorite flower or color. Giving a live plant, to a recipient who feels up to caring for it, can provide a living memory of a loved one. To see our sympathy plant options, click here.