"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends"
By Anneleen Naudts

With their delicate beauty, flowers can offer solace during a difficult time.

Florists can provide guidance in choosing suitable flower creations, and can offer insight into adding personal touches, selecting flowers, and ordering arrangements.

More and more people strive to personalize flower arrangements. Integrating personal items and using a person's favorite flowers or colours creates personal touches, which provide people with "a last impression of who someone was," said Robert Vivieros of The Flower Workshop. Rather than selecting arrangements from a catalogue, discussing ideas with your flower designer will result in beautiful, personalized creations, he added.

When thinking of funerals, carnations, gladiolas, roses, mums and palm leaves come to mind, but florists agree other flowers have been making an upsurge in arrangements. Carmela Hummingbird of Hummingbird Flowers said people are opting for more tropical flowers. Choosing a particular shade of one colour results in a more contemporary look than using a palette of colours, said Vivieros. A notable trend is the rising popularity of an assortment of white flowers, which looks "tranquil and peaceful," remarked Hilltop Flowers owner Shelley Cormier.

When sending flowers, it is a good idea to check with the florist to ensure flower arrangements are coordinated, suggested Vivieros. Cormier reported non-family members tend to opt for less traditional pieces, such as a European garden, which can be taken home by family members. Around15 to 20 per cent of people now opt for mixed plant baskets as an alternative to sending cut flowers, said Hummingbird.

Cormier suggests keeping the length of visitations and funerals in mind when choosing flowers. Nearly any flower shop will fix up flowers arrangements prior to a funeral, but they need to be notified when extra care is needed, she said.

Notifying your florist as soon as possible is a good idea, allowing time to order appropriate flowers and for designers to develop a vision for the arrangements, said Vivieros. This way, flower arrangements "become works of art."