Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Sympathy Flowers

I am taking a Sympathy class in which I am learning how to make floral arrangements for Sympathy work. I didn't think it was going to be something I would be making right away but here I am, making arrangements for two young individuals who passed away within two weeks of each other. One was a tragic accident and one lost a battle to cancer. I was sad but honored to be the one to make some flowers for them. I made sprays of red and white flowers for one and green, red and white for the other. I also made a casket piece, a cross, a small doorway arrangement and a broken heart. :(



Much to my surprise, Funeral work is exactly like making wedding flowers. I don't particularly like that the flowers are so even-steven and so I tried not to space so much, but rather tried to group together a bit more. But in all the books I researched this is the style in which they are made. Good old fashioned western design.


So when it came time to making something I could just make as a freestlye, I chose to go with my Ikebana principles: less is more.

4 comments:

Adizat said...

very nice. I like the calla lily arrangement. I'm not sure if this is part of the symparty arrangement. But it also looks like an arrangement that can be easily used at home or at a wedding. You are on a roll girl.

Bree said...

Yes, it was meant for them to tuck away somewhere in the funeral home or in their house since people typically come over.
But yes! Its the same thing, all we would need to do is change up the colors and you have a corporate or wedding arrangement. :)

Sprout said...

Try to find your own way with funeral work! I struggled for years trying to do "the standard" look, finding it unsatisfying and not representative of what I really do.

Now I describe my funeral work as just larger versions of our regular arrangements. And I refer folks to other florists if they aren't familiar with us and want something more standard. A funeral is not the time for most people to try something new.

Bree said...

Thanks Sprout, I was hoping someone would say that! I can't help but hate the way most of the florals in funeral work are arranged but I did come across some cool contemporary books, but you are right, trying something new at a funeral is definitely not the time, hehe.