After the final farewell to a loved one – the question is – what do you do with the flowers?

I have found it varies from client to client – sometimes close family members take one of the tributes to enjoy at home in the garden – or place in a fireplace – sometimes they donate to a local assisted living residence ..

However, a sustainable option available, we have discovered, is to dry the funeral flowers – and then request a florist arrange them into a memory wreath.

*Memory wreath with roses, astile, lavender and wheat*

One recent client – dried the flowers from her father’s coffin spray – no specialist treatment was necessary to dry them. The stems were carefully removed, and then bunched up into individual varieties with rubber bands (this allows shrinkage, but still keeps the stems together). The flowers were then hung up to dry in a cool (not damp) dark room, away from heat and direct sunlight – this is known as air drying. More professional floristry tips regarding drying flowers can be found here.

Once we received the drieds – we got to work in creating three delicate dried memory wreaths created in dried tillandsia and a recyclable copper ring - a fitting and suitable design in memory of their loved one – for the three close family members.

*Foliage sprayed gold with delicate thalaspi*

All the flowers were in excellent condition – which helped to create a naturally beautiful design. We added some extra dried flowers to create a fuller design with matching colours - making each memory wreath a little more individual.

To keep dried flowers everlasting – they do not need water – in fact water can make them weak and encourage mould. Keep the flowers away from humidity – this can cause the flowers to sag or wilt. Also keep them away from stoves or heaters, the extreme heat can make them paler or disintergrate. The flowers can occasionally be lightly dusted with a small paint bruch or hair dryer on a cool setting.

The wonderful thing about these particular dried flowers is that they are everlasting (if cared for properly), as well as characterful, providing a touching timeless memory of a much loved family member – and providing some comfort to remember a loved one.