Showcasing plastic-free funeral flowers
A strong spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm ran through our photoshoot morning at Waseley Hills Crematorium in Birmingham. Photo: Andrea Gilpin.
As florists, we’re always on the lookout for new inspiration and ideas so as part of our launch week for The Farewell Flowers Directory, we decided to join forces and capture lovely images of funeral flowers that might in turn inspire you.
We had a wide array of different styles of arrangements on the day and many are pictured here being carried into the crematorium building. A simple but very effective sheaf of flowers (a large tied bouquet) by Flowers by Anna Brian is used to decorate the coffin in the photo above. Photo: Andrea Gilpin.
Changing perceptions of funeral flowers
By demonstrating just how beautiful naturally designed funeral flowers can be without the use of floral foam or single use plastic, we aim to change perceptions of funeral floristry and get the plastic out of funeral flowers for good. With this in mind, our photoshoot at Waseley Hills Crematorium in Birmingham brought together florists from the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Somerset.
Since opening the Directory to sign ups at the start of March, we’ve already recruited 140 florists from across the UK so we’re delighted to see that the word is spreading and it was great to see florists from so many different places taking part in the photoshoot - not bad for an 8.30 start on a Friday morning!
We want to make it easy for you to find gentler alternatives for funeral flowers, and to bring them out from behind the curtain into the spotlight to change ideas of what ‘funeral flowers’ are – in reality, they can be anything you want them to be.
Florists and their flowers, with Fran from A Natural Undertaking and their electric Nissan hearse. L to R: Lisa, Gate House Florals; Gill, Fieldhouse Flowers; Ruth, Oversley Flowers; Karen, Green Daisy Florals; Katherine, Zinnia Floral Design; Fran, A Natural Undertaking; Jackie, Jackie Davis Flowers; Jacki, Flowers from No.8; Suzy, Earth Blooms; Anna, Flowers by Anna Brian; Sarah, Severn Valley Flowers; Melissa, Bunch.
To help us showcase the different forms that funeral flowers can take, we asked each florist to bring along a different style of arrangement and I think everyone left the day filled with inspiration and new ideas. We hope that the photos from the session have the same effect on all who see them, and that we encourage more florists and funeral directors to seek out alternatives to floral foam.
The linen Bloemenband is an attractive way to soften the appearance of the coffin, even before it is filled by mourners placing flowers into it. Pictured here with a personal tribute featuring a gardening hat by Camomile and Cornflowers. Photo: Andrea Gilpin.
One of the great successes of the day was the linen Bloemenand which we used to dress a plain Pauwlonia wood coffin and filled with gorgeous spring flowers. This Dutch creation by https://bloemenband.nl is a fabulous alternative to a floral garland to a coffin – it’s beautiful in itself and looks spectacular when filled with flowers that mourners can place in it as part of the ceremony.
A large plastic-free arrangement in a Sussex trug, by Gate House Florals, sits on top of the coffin. The Bloemenband filled with seasonal, locally grown cut flowers by Tuckshop Flowers. Photo: Andrea Gilpin.
We were delighted to be able to borrow a Bloemenband from A Natural Undertaking who also kindly supplied us with the wooden coffin and allowed us to photograph its arrival in their new white electric hearse. It was also great for our florists to be able to ask undertaker Fran lots of practical questions on the day and find out more about what issues there are around flowers from an undertakers’s point of view. We all now know to check the clearance between the top of the coffin and the roof of a client’s chosen hearse as this can vary considerably according to what creative transportation is used to bring the coffin to the funeral! It’s a good idea to tell your florist if you’ve chosen something other than a traditional high topped black hearse.
Anna, Flowers by Anna Brian, and Ruth, Oversley Flowers, deep in conversation with Fran the undertaker as she explains more about funeral details. Anna’s sheaf arrangement makes a lovely statement on this simple coffin.
Thanks to our florists and supporters
We’d like to thank Waseley Hills Crematorium and the Westerleigh Group for their hospitality and generous support in allowing us to use their location for our photoshoot, to our wonderful photographer Andrea Gilpin who captured the day so brilliantly, to Gill of Fieldhouse Flowers for her travelling woven coffin, and to the generous florists who gave up their time and flowers and shared so much enthusiasm on the day.
Florists:
Bunch
Camomile and Cornflowers
Earth Blooms
Flowers By Anna Brian
Flowers from No. 8
Fieldhouse Flowers
Green Daisy Florals
Green Gate Florals
Jackie Davis Flowers
Oversley Flowers
Severn Valley Flowers
Tuckshop Flowers
Zinnia Floral Design.