Wilmington
Nichols Funeral Home
Wilmington funeral flower delivery and service-specific ordering details.
Funeral flower card message guide
Funeral Flower Card Messages: 40+ Examples That Keep It Simple
Most funeral flower cards need two things: a short line of sympathy and a clear signature. A personal thought is optional. "With deepest sympathy, the Ryan family" is complete.
Short is not cold. Simple wording is often better than trying to explain a loss or fill every inch of the card.
A funeral tribute should feel personal.
Sympathy floral work from Designs By Don Florist.
Keep the card simple
What do you write on funeral flowers?
A funeral flower card does not need to explain the loss. It should give the family one sincere line and make it clear who sent the flowers. If you knew the person well, add a personal thought. If you did not, simple sympathy is enough.
A useful formula is sympathy + optional personal thought + your name. "Thinking of your family, the Martins" is already a complete funeral flower card.
Part 1
A short line
"With deepest sympathy" or "Thinking of your family."
Optional
One personal thought
Add a memory or relationship if it feels natural.
Part 2
A clear signature
Make sure the family can tell who sent the flowers.
Something families often do differently
Do funeral flowers always need a card?
No. Family pieces often skip the card entirely.
The casket piece usually comes from the parents, the spouse, or the children, and it often has no card on it at all. When the last parent passes, the casket piece is typically from the kids. In those cases the family knows who sent it, so a card serves no purpose.
A lot of family arrangements use a banner or ribbon instead. "Beloved Mom," "Our Loving Dad," "Beloved Papa." The wording sits on the ribbon rather than a card tucked into the flowers.
Families often coordinate this. Each member orders a piece, they agree on a color scheme that runs across all of them, and the pieces read as a set at the service. The basket from the sisters, the spray from the grandchildren, the casket piece from the parents.
If you're ordering a family piece, ask about ribbon wording before you write a card. You may not need one.
Messages for Mom or Dad
What do you write for a parent's funeral?
Messages for a parent are often written directly to Mom or Dad. They do not need to sound formal. A few words that sound like the family are often stronger than a long quotation.
For ribbon wording:
"Beloved Mom," "Our Loving Dad," "Beloved Papa," and "With Love Always" are enough. Ribbon wording should usually be shorter than the flower card.
Husband, wife, or partner
What do you write for a spouse or partner?
Many spouses don't put a card on their piece at all. There's often nothing that can be said on a card, and the family knows who the flowers are from. If that's where you've landed, that's a complete choice, not a gap.
If you do want wording, keep it short. These are usually the shortest and most personal messages we print.
The card does not have to carry the whole message.
Sometimes the family piece does not need a card at all.
A useful rule
Write like a person, not a greeting card company.
If a sentence would feel strange coming out of your mouth, it may feel strange on the card too. Funeral flower messages do not need polished language.
"With love," "Thinking of your family," and "You will be missed" are all perfectly usable messages.
Less formal is fine
What do you write for a friend?
A friend's card can sound like the friendship. Mention a laugh, a memory, a quality you admired, or simply say you will miss them.
Workplace and group messages
What do you write on funeral flowers for a coworker?
Workplace flowers often come from a department, office, or entire company. "From your friends at [Company]" is the most common wording we print for business orders.
Larger companies often name the department instead, something like "your crew in fab" or the specific team rather than the whole organization. That's usually clearer to the family than a company name they may not recognize.
Keep this especially simple
What do you write for a child's funeral?
No message can make this loss smaller. A few gentle words that show love and presence are enough. Avoid explaining the loss or telling the family how they should feel.
Make the sender clear
How do you sign a funeral flower card?
Sign it in a way the family will recognize without having to guess. A first name may be enough for close family. If your connection is less obvious, add your last name or relationship.
From a family
"With love, the Martin family" or list the immediate family members.
From a couple
Use both names. Add a last name if the family may not immediately recognize you.
From a workplace
"Everyone at Acme" or "The Accounting Team at Acme" is clearer than a long list of names.
If they may not know you
Add context such as "Dave Miller, your dad's neighbor on Grove Street."
What to leave off the card
What should you not write on funeral flowers?
Avoid wording that tells the family how to feel, assumes beliefs you do not know they share, describes how the person died, or turns the message into your own story.
"They're in a better place."
Use religious wording only when you know it fits the family's beliefs.
"Everything happens for a reason."
It tries to explain a loss that does not need an explanation.
Details about the death
Leave medical details, accidents, and circumstances surrounding the death off the card.
"Stay strong."
The card does not need to tell someone how to grieve.
Anything that's more about you than them
The most common thing we steer people away from is a message that turns into the sender's own story. A brief shared memory is welcome. A long one shifts the focus off the family.
Religious and cultural customs
What do you write for different faiths?
Religious language can be appropriate when it fits the family. We also try to keep arrangements culturally appropriate wherever we can. If you tell us the family's background, we'll work within it.
Christian and Catholic services
Religious wording can be appropriate when it fits the family. "Rest in peace" or "Keeping your family in our prayers" are common examples.
Jewish funerals and shiva
Flowers are typically not sent to a Jewish funeral or shiva. Food, meal support, or another form of support may be more customary. "May their memory be a blessing" is widely used.
Chinese, Korean and other East Asian services
White and yellow are traditional colors. Bright colors and red are generally avoided. When we know a piece is going to an Asian service, we steer the whole arrangement toward white and yellow rather than just adjusting the card.
Personal wording can be part of the tribute.
Cards are printed for legibility, and family pieces may use ribbon wording instead.
What actually happens in the flower shop
Who writes the card, you or the florist?
Cards are printed, not handwritten. Printed is more legible and there's less room for error, which matters when the card is going to be read at a service.
You can order online or call it in. Either way, our shop reviews the message before it's printed. Simple typos are common when people are writing these, and we'd rather catch them and check with you than print a mistake.
The funeral flower card has a 200-character limit. If what you want to say is longer, call us and we'll help you decide what belongs on the card and what might be better left for a personal sympathy note.
Step 1
You give us the wording
Enter it online or call the shop.
Step 2
We review it
We look for obvious typos or anything that may need clarification.
Step 3
We print the card
Printed cards are clearer and easier to read at the service.
Personal funeral pieces
Can you put something personal in the arrangement?
Yes, and it's often what families remember.
We've built pieces around shamrocks, playing cards, fishing, golf, hockey, motorcycles and guitars. Sports baskets. Anything that was specific to the person.
Last week we made a piece for a man who grew sunflowers and served in the Navy. Sunflowers, with red, white and blue. It turned a sad occasion into something closer to a celebration of his life.
Custom pieces usually come with a story attached, which is the part we like. If there's something the person was known for, tell us and we'll work it in.
You do not need to know how to design it.
Tell us about the person. A hobby, profession, favorite flower, military service, sport, color, or something everybody remembers about them can be enough to give us a direction.
Custom funeral pieces need more lead time than a standard basket or vase arrangement, so call as early as you can.
Local funeral and sympathy flower delivery
Ordering sympathy flowers in Wilmington and nearby towns
Designs By Don Florist creates sympathy and funeral flowers at our Wilmington shop and delivers to funeral homes, churches, memorial services, family homes, and other destinations throughout the surrounding area.
Wilmington
Billerica
Burlington
Tewksbury
Reading
North Reading
Woburn
Andover
Bedford
Lexington
Stoneham
Wakefield
Winchester
When do funeral flowers need to arrive?
Earlier than most people think.
If the service is the next day, we try to deliver the night before so the funeral home has time to set up.
For a morning service, work backwards from when the family arrives, not from when the service starts. Families typically get to the funeral home an hour before. For a 9am service, the family is there by 8, which means flowers need to arrive by 7:30 at the latest.
After that you're walking into the family's quiet time before the wake, and nobody wants that.
We deliver to local funeral homes every week. Each has its own preferences, and we know most of them. If nobody's there to receive an arrangement, there's often an agreed spot such as a flower room or garage. If we're not sure, we call and ask what time they want the flowers.
Examples of local funeral homes our shop delivers to
These are a few of the funeral homes we serve regularly, not the full list.
Tewksbury
Farmer & Dee Funeral Home
Funeral flower delivery and service details for Farmer & Dee in Tewksbury.
Billerica
Sweeney Memorial Funeral Home
Local funeral flower delivery from our Wilmington floral team.
North Reading
Barile Cota Funeral Home
Sympathy and funeral flowers prepared for North Reading services.
From the people behind the flowers
A note from our shop
Designs By Don Florist has been serving local families since 1989. Learn more about our Wilmington flower shop.
More funeral flower questions
A few practical questions that come up when people are choosing the flowers and deciding what belongs on the card or ribbon.
What color flowers do you send for a funeral?
White, cream, and green are traditional choices, but funeral flowers do not have to be white. Color can reflect the person, the family's request, favorite flowers, a military or school connection, or the tone of the service. If you are unsure, a soft white and green arrangement is a safe choice.
What do you write on funeral flowers for family?
Family messages can be direct and personal. "We love you," "Always in our hearts," "Thank you for a lifetime of love," or "Forever loved and remembered" are enough. Some immediate-family pieces do not need a card at all and use a ribbon instead.
How long is a funeral flower card message?
Our funeral flower cards have a 200-character limit. Most messages are one or two short sentences plus the sender's name, which is usually plenty.
Do you sign a sympathy card with your last name?
Use your last name when the family may not immediately recognize who you are or may know more than one person with your first name. Close family and friends can often use first names only. When in doubt, add your last name or a short connection such as "your dad's neighbor."
What do you send instead of flowers?
A handwritten card, food for the family, a meal delivery, a plant, or a donation requested in the obituary can all be appropriate alternatives. For a Jewish funeral or shiva, flowers are typically not sent and food or another form of support may be more customary.
Do you need a card on a casket piece?
Usually not. Casket pieces come from the immediate family, who do not need to identify themselves, and many use a ribbon or banner instead of a card.
What's written on a funeral flower ribbon?
Short wording only. "Beloved Mom," "Our Loving Dad," "Beloved Papa," or "Forever in Our Hearts." A ribbon is not the place for a full message.
Need help choosing the flowers too?
Tell us who the flowers are for. We can help from there.
If you know the relationship, your budget, the service details, and what you want the flowers to express, that's enough to start. You do not need to know the names of the flowers before calling.
