Choosing your own funeral flowers - a personal view

by Emily Westall, The Shropshire Flower Company

Emily photographs one of her shareable funeral flower arrangements made with the best of the Spring cutting patch.

I’m relatively new onto the floristry scene but one thing I’m very clear on already is that floral displays in any context, be it weddings or funerals, simply don’t need to be full of plastic. I see wonderfully inspiring florists all round the country avoiding floral foam, using locally grown British flowers and producing stunning work. I’m therefore aspiring to the same high standards in my own work. And as such I've already told my family that my own funeral flowers will absolutely have to be sustainably sourced and plastic free.

But what do I mean when I say sustainably sourced? Imported cut flowers can have problematic sustainability credentials. The sheer distance they have travelled across the globe to reach us means that many have a massive carbon footprint, plus the practices used in their production may involve a great deal of chemical use and/or poor working conditions for the people who've produced them.

I know that British grown cut flowers won’t have travelled far because there are now small scale growers all over the UK. The flowers available during the UK growing season will be a beautiful reflection of the true season around us. Flowers produced on a small-scale, local basis are grown outdoors, more often than not using a chemical-free approach, and they are priced to pay a fair wage to the grower. These seasonal, local and sustainable flowers are the ones I love and are what want for my own funeral.

And plastic free? Definitely! As a British flower farmer myself I’ve chosen to use sustainable floristry techniques such as moss, chicken wire and twine to achieve beautiful designs, as this fits best with my overall business ethos. I don’t have formal floristry training so haven’t been forced down the route of plastic floral foam or endless plastic vessels and tape by any exam curriculum. To me, it therefore seems bizarre to step backwards to floristry techniques from the 20th century and introduce foam and tape into my own funeral flowers when I go. A happy and relaxed spray arranged into moss will be just fine thank you…. or maybe even a spray that can be deconstructed and shared amongst family and friends after the service. That surely would be the ultimate in low waste? Rather than abandoning the arrangement at the crematorium, I'd love it if people could bring it back to an after party (a departy?) for those gorgeous joyful blooms be enjoyed for even longer!

After the funeral, Emily’s large casket spray can be shared as it’s made up of tied bunches. Here at The Farewell Flowers Directory, we love flowers with an afterlife!

Obviously I can't do the flowers for my own funeral, but for as long as I’m here, I’m delighted to offer them to others who share my passion for sustainable plastic free funeral flowers and are looking for a fitting farewell tribute for someone they loved.

Find out more

See more about The Shropshire Flower Company and Emily’s funeral work

Find out more about the plastic problem in funeral flowers

If you’re looking for more sustainable plastic-free funeral flowers, visit our directory listings to find a florist near you.

Sharing Spring. Eco-friendly farewell flowers are exactly what Emily would wish for her own funeral.