Planning Ahead: Talking with a Director About Funeral Plans

When someone you know loses a child, it's a heart breaking situation for everyone involved. If you want to show them some support during this trying time, a lily bouquet may be a good option for a funeral arrangement. It will help bring them a little joy during the funeral and show that you are there for them.

Why Choose The Lily?

Lilies are flowers that are typically used in funerals because they symbolize the restoration of innocence. This is what makes them so appropriate for a child's funeral, as it can represent the child being restored to a state of innocence in the afterlife. However, you can also integrate other flowers that symbolize youth, like daisies, if you like, but focus on lilies.

However, try to avoid flowers like roses or rosebuds when making a bouquet. Although roses symbolize innocence and youth, they also symbolize energy, joy, and even romantic sentiments. These feelings may not be appropriate for the delicate situation.

Caring For The Lilies Before The Funeral

A day or two before the funeral, purchase your flowers from a trusted shop and care for them until the funeral. Buying them a few days before ensures that you get flowers in great shape, instead of buying lilies at the last second. Caring for lilies requires the following steps:

• Cut one to two inches off the bottom of each stem
• Carefully remove the leaves that will be under the water
• Fill your vase with clean water
• Add some floral preservative to keep the flowers in good health
• Put your flowers in the vase and place the face in direct sun

When you are preparing to take the bouquet to the funeral, tie a ribbon around the stems and on the ribbon add a small paper tag. This tag should have a loving poem printed on the front that expresses the remorse and sadness you feel for your friend's loss. Also make sure to include the name of the child on the tag. This little extra detail will make the gift more heartfelt.

Presenting The Flowers To The Parents

When approaching parents who have lost a child, you need to understand that they are going through a grief that is hard to imagine. Most in that position say that only people who have lost children will understand their emotions and that their feelings of grief and sorrow never truly go away, just abate. So you need to approach them when they are calm and during a moment when things aren't hectic at the funeral.

A small gift like a bouquet of lilies might not seem like much, but they need every small bit of kindness they can get. So hand them the bouquet, making sure they see the tied on ribbon with the poem and the name of the child printed on it. This small gift will mean the world to them and they will cherish it as long as they can.