What to Do With Funeral Flowers After the Service

By the end of a funeral there are more flowers than any family can use: casket sprays, standing wreaths, baskets from people who could not come. Deciding what to do with them is one of the first practical questions after the service, and nobody has the energy for it. Here is what families do.

What goes to the grave

The casket spray traditionally stays on the grave after the burial, and many families leave a few of the other arrangements with it. Know that the cemetery will remove them within one to two weeks as they wilt; this is standard, and the sight of them gone on the first visit surprises people who were not told. Leaving one arrangement with the spray, and taking the rest, is the usual middle ground.

What goes home

Take one or two arrangements home, ideally ones from people who matter, and let the house have flowers for the week. Keep the cards; they are the record of who sent what, for thank-you notes later.

What to keep for good

• Dry a few stems. Roses, hydrangeas, statice and eucalyptus air-dry well hung upside down for two to three weeks. They keep for years.
• Press petals. Between the pages of a heavy book for two weeks, then into a frame, a locket or the front of a memorial album.
• Have them made into something. Florists and specialists turn funeral flowers into resin keepsakes, beads, ornaments and paper. It is a common enough request that most funeral homes can suggest someone.
• Photograph them. Before anything else. The photos are what most people look at later.

What to give away

Most funeral flowers are still fresh the day after the service, and there is no reason for them to go in the bin. Hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and churches accept them, and some cities have volunteer groups that collect funeral flowers and re-arrange them for hospital patients. The funeral home will usually deliver them if asked. Giving the flowers on is something the person would likely have approved of.

Standing sprays and wreaths

These are built on easels and foam and are the hardest to reuse. The flowers can be cut out and dried or given away; the frames go back to the florist or the funeral home. Ask the funeral director on the day; they handle it routinely.

Potted plants

Peace lilies, azaleas and orchids sent as sympathy plants are meant to be kept and can live for years. Take them home, or give them to a family member who will care for them. Planting a sympathy plant in the garden, or at the grave where the cemetery allows it, is a tradition in some families.

After the funeral flowers are gone

The grave is bare for the first time about two weeks after the burial, when the cemetery has cleared the funeral flowers and before the headstone has been set. This is the moment many families place the first lasting arrangement: a silk arrangement in a staked vase that stays through the months until the stone arrives. Our guide to the first visit after the burial covers what to expect.