Send meaningful sympathy and funeral flowers from our Wilmington, MA shop. Sympathy flowers are typically sent to the family’s home, while standing sprays, wreaths, crosses, casket flowers, urn arrangements, and other funeral tributes are designed for the service.
Most people ordering sympathy flowers have not done it before and are trying to get it right while dealing with something hard. Below is what we tell people on the phone every week: what goes to the funeral home, what goes to the house, who usually sends what, and roughly what each costs. We have been doing this from 52 Main Street in Wilmington since 1989.
The words get used interchangeably, but they go to different places and they look different. Getting this right is most of the decision.
Designed to be seen across a room. Standing sprays on easels, casket pieces, wreaths, hearts and crosses, large floor baskets. They are built tall or wide on purpose so they read from the back of a chapel.
These are timed to the service. We deliver ahead of the wake or the funeral so everything is in place before the family arrives.
Smaller, built for a kitchen counter or a hall table. Vase arrangements, plants, dish gardens. They are for the person, not the room, and they do not need anyone to carry them anywhere afterward.
These are often the better choice, and they are the ones people underuse. The week after a funeral is when the visitors stop and the house goes quiet. Something arriving then lands harder than anything at the service.
There is no rule, and nobody at a service is keeping score. But people ask us this constantly, so here is the honest version of how it usually breaks down.
Almost always the immediate family: spouse, children, parents. There is normally one, and it sits on the casket, so it is coordinated by whoever is arranging the service. If you are not immediate family, this is not the piece to send. See casket sprays.
Extended family, close friends, coworkers, clubs and organizations. These stand on easels around the room and there can be several. If you want to send something visible at the service and you are not immediate family, this is the usual choice. See standing sprays.
Same group as standing sprays, chosen when the shape means something. A cross for a religious family, a heart from grandchildren, a wreath from a group. We can add personalized ribbon lettering at no extra charge. Wreaths and hearts.
Friends, neighbors, coworkers. Easier to move than an easel piece, which means the family can take it home or to the graveside afterward instead of leaving it behind. See sympathy baskets.
Anyone, sent to the house rather than the service. A plant keeps going for months, which some families find comforting and others find like a long reminder. Both reactions are normal. Dishgardens and plants.
The relationship changes what fits. These are the conversations we have most often.
Send to the house, not just the service. Her kitchen, her table, her garden were the places she lived in, and that is where the absence sits.
If you knew her, say one specific thing on the card rather than something general. "I still think about the way she answered the phone" does more than a line about sympathy.
People default to something restrained and masculine here, and that is fine, but it is worth asking what he actually liked. We have done sunflowers, Red Sox colors, garden flowers, whatever was his.
A plant for the house works well if the family is going to be dealing with the estate for months.
The service is crowded and then it is not. Flowers that arrive two or three weeks later, when the calls have stopped, are the ones widows and widowers tell us they remember.
If you want to do that, order it now and tell us the date. We will hold it and deliver then.
If you were close to the person who died but do not know the family well, a standing spray at the service says you were part of their life. If you are closer to the family, send to the house.
You can do both. A lot of people do.
People are often embarrassed to make a fuss about a dog or a cat, and they should not be. We get asked for this regularly and we take it seriously.
Something small for the house, usually. See pet sympathy.
Flowers at the service are how you are present when you are not. Tell us the funeral home and the time and we will get it there ahead of the family.
If the timing has passed, send to the house afterward. It is never too late and it is often better.
We deliver Sunday for funeral and memorial services when it is arranged in advance. We design the flowers on Saturday and deliver Sunday. Call 978-988-0044 by Saturday morning.
Most flower shops are simply closed Sunday, so if a service falls on one, this is worth knowing. Our shop is not open to walk-ins Sunday. The delivery is arranged, not spontaneous.
Many sympathy arrangements ordered by 1 PM can go out the same day, depending on what you want and the route that day. For a custom piece or a casket spray we prefer about 48 hours.
If your timing is tight, call rather than ordering online. We will tell you in thirty seconds what is possible instead of you finding out later.
We deliver to funeral homes, churches, gravesides and family homes across Wilmington, Tewksbury, Billerica, Burlington, Woburn, Reading, North Reading, Andover and the surrounding towns.
For a service, give us the funeral home and the time of the wake or funeral and we will deliver ahead of it. We have pages for the funeral homes we deliver to most, with addresses and what fits each chapel.
Funeral flowers go to the funeral home or church and are built to be seen across a room: standing sprays on easels, casket pieces, wreaths, hearts, crosses and large floor baskets. Sympathy flowers go to the family's home and are smaller, built for a kitchen counter or hall table: vase arrangements, plants and dish gardens. Many people send both, one for the service and one to the house afterward.
Send to the funeral home if you want it present at the service and you can meet the timing. Send to the house if you missed the service, if the family asked for donations instead of flowers, or if you want something that arrives after the visitors stop. The week after a funeral is quiet and that is often when flowers mean the most. If you are not sure, call 978-988-0044 and tell us the situation.
Yes. Sunday delivery is available for funeral and memorial services when arranged in advance. We design the flowers on Saturday and deliver Sunday. Call 978-988-0044 by Saturday morning. Most flower shops in the area are closed Sunday, so if a service falls on one it is worth calling us rather than assuming nothing is available.
The casket spray is almost always from the immediate family, spouse, children or parents, and there is normally only one. Standing sprays come from extended family, friends, coworkers and organizations, and there can be several around the room. If you are not immediate family, a standing spray, wreath or floor basket is the usual choice. Casket sprays start at $350 and standing sprays at $175.
Flowers at the service are how you are present when you cannot be there. Give us the funeral home and the time of the wake or service and we will deliver ahead of the family. If the service has already passed, send a vase arrangement or a plant to the family's home instead. That is never too late and it often lands better, because it arrives once the crowd has gone.
Send something to the house rather than only to the service. A vase arrangement or a plant for the kitchen or hall table works well, starting at $80. If you knew the person who died, write one specific thing on the card rather than a general line about sympathy. A detail they will recognize does more than a formal message.
Yes. Vase arrangements and dish gardens for the family's home start at $80 and are entirely appropriate from a friend, neighbor or coworker. Service pieces like standing sprays and casket sprays cost more because of their size, but nothing about a smaller arrangement sent to the house reads as less thoughtful. Plants in particular keep going for months.
Yes, at no extra charge. Tell us the wording when you order. We can do a relationship, a first name, a nickname or a short phrase, and we will match the ribbon color to the flowers. If you want a specific color, say so.
Respect that for the service itself. Many people still send something to the family's home in the week or two afterward, when the house is quiet and the visitors have stopped. A plant or a smaller arrangement is appropriate then and is usually more appreciated than anything at the funeral home would have been.
Yes, and people should not feel awkward asking. Losing a dog or a cat is a real loss and we are asked for this regularly. Something small for the house is usually right. We keep a pet sympathy selection for exactly this, and we can write the animal's name on the card.
Tell us your relationship to the family, the funeral home and date if there is one, and roughly what you want to spend. We will tell you honestly what fits. Designs By Don Florist, 52 Main Street, Wilmington, family owned since 1989.
