Monthly Archives: February 2023
The Symbolism of Common Cemetery Flowers
Have you ever wondered about the significance of common flowers brought to cemeteries in Charlotte, NC? From weddings and births to deaths and funeral home services, flowers have a rich tradition of symbolism in many important life events. What do common flowers represent?
Like many flowers, carnations come in different colors. Each color has a different meaning. For example, red carnations depict admiration, white connotes innocence and pure love, and pink carnations convey remembrance. In the United States, chrysanthemums sometimes called mums, represent truth. But in parts of Asia and Europe, these flowers represent death, mourning, and grief and are therefore only used at funerals and memorials. Tulips are generally a spring flower, harkening thoughts of renewal and rebirth. However, these flowers can also be associated with forgiveness worthiness, and love, making them ideal for use at a funeral or memorial.
Lilacs, like lilies, often signify youth and innocence. This symbolism makes lilacs a common choice for the funeral or memorial tribute of a young person or someone who had a childlike nature or good heart. With its signature floral scent and youthful appearance, lilies signify purity and innocence. They are often brought to funerals and memorials to represent the idea that the deceased’s soul has become peaceful and innocent in death or that the deceased will be reborn in a new life.
There’s also the hibiscus. Often thought of as a feminine flower, the hibiscus symbolizes delicate beauty and fertility. Therefore, its often used at services for beloved wives or partners. Because of its prominence in several island cultures, the hibiscus can also signify an association with Hawaii or Haiti. You can’t forget about roses or forget-me-nots. Simply put, roses symbolize love. While different colors of roses have other meanings, the most common theme is one of love. White roses are very common at funerals because they represent rebirth and renewed love as well as pure love. Like their name suggests, these flowers are all about remembrance. Forget-me-nots signify lasting love for the deceased and the idea that the love will always live on in your memories, heart, and mind. This symbolism makes these flowers ideal for funerals and memorials.
The gladiolus flower is very common for funerals and memorials as it symbolized strength, moral integrity, and faithfulness. What about orchids? Orchids are recognized as symbols of everlasting love all over the world. Perhaps this idea comes from orchid’s rarity or maybe from their incredible beauty. But no matter the reason, orchids are always a great choice for a funeral or memorial service to represent your everlasting love for the deceased. What about camellia? With its delicate petals and soft scent, the camellia is a perfect representation of excellence, refinement, and perfection. These flowers are often brought to funerals and memorials of someone respected in their community.
We hope this information was helpful so you can choose the perfect bloom to bring to a funeral, memorial, or any other kind of service. Do you want to learn more about memorials, funerals, or Charlotte, NC cemeteries? Call or visit us today.
Special Tributes for Your Special Loved One
Your lost loved one was incredibly unique, so they deserve an incredibly unique tribute after their funeral or service at a cemetery in Matthews, NC.
Modern families often seek ways to make a service more personalized for the deceased, such as honoring what made the deceased special by celebrating their interests or hobbies. Take this list of niche tribute ideas as inspiration so you can plan a personalized service to honor and remember your lost loved one.
Did your lost loved one enjoy boating or being out on the water? Celebrate that interest with boat-themed touches at the service. For example, you can have the service at a beach or dock, or even on a boat. You could also play tracks of ocean waves, display boat models, or display a large piece of sail cloth for attendees to sign or notate memories of the deceased. If the deceased was a big fishing fan, celebrate that in the service by serving fish at the reception, donating fishing kits to local charities in honor of the deceased, or displaying photos of all their great catches.
Don’t forget about gardening. Flowers and other plants are always welcome at services, especially if the deceased loved to garden. Celebrate their love of gardening by filling the service with flowers, giving guests seed packets, displaying a casket or an urn with a flower motif, or using a memorial tree urn or casket to bury the remains. What about photography? From snaps on a smart phone to old-school photo shoots, there are many ways to be interested in photography. Similarly, there are many ways to celebrate the life of someone who loved photography, like displaying pictures the deceased took, playing a slideshow of their work, or encouraging attendees to snap photos and share them. Did your lost loved one like golf? You can easily celebrate golf!
If your loved one was a golfer, there are many ways you can include the golfing theme as part of the service, from having the service at the country club and setting out their golf bag as decor to setting up a golf memorabilia table with scorecards, collectibles, photos, and more. There’s also antiquing! Many people get into antiquing as an expression of their love of decorating, the enjoyment of the style of a particular era, or as a fun way to make a little side money as they discover, fix up, and resell antique furniture and collectibles. If your loved one was into antiques, showcase the hobby at the service by creating an antique scrapbook or decorating the space with some of their favorite pieces.
Are you feeling inspired? The service should be just as unique as the person its honoring, so we’re here to help if you want more information on planning unique services with niche tributes or Matthews, NC cemeteries. Call or visit us today to learn more about what we can do for you in your time of loss or preplanning.
Committals Services at Cemeteries
Committing your lost loved one to the earth or another burial location is a wonderful way to say goodbye at a cemetery in Huntersville, NC. A committal service is a graveside service in which you commit the body to the ground, or bury the body.
Committal services are generally the final goodbye for the family before the deceased is buried. The origin of the phrase “committal” in this context is thought to have been derived from a burial sermon in the Book of Common Prayer that states, “We therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.” As the ritual is usually brief, about 15 to 20 minutes, many families choose to have a committal right after the funeral service, but you can have a committal without a funeral or memorial.
Ready to plan a committal? Here are some tips. First, pick a burial site. Does your family have a plot with other family members? If so, call the office and reserve a plot for the deceased. If not, do some research and choose a cemetery in which you’d like your loved one to be buried. You can often buy a plot directly from the cemetery or from an individual.
You also need to connect with the cemetery sexton. The cemetery sexton is the person in charge of running the cemetery’s day to day operations. As such, he will take care of the details for the commitment ceremony like making sure the grave is dug and prepared, bringing the casket or urn to the grave and placed on a lowering device, and getting the surrounding area ready for the service with chairs and other decorations. Choose a flow for the service. You must find an officiant to run the committal, whether that means your pastor or priest or even a family member, friend, or other loved one. Once you gave an officiant, work with them to choose what you want to service to include, such as readings, prayers, eulogies, or a sermon. If you don’t want a formal service, that’s ok. You can just have attendees say a few short words about the deceased. Finally, keep an eye on the weather. As committals are usually outdoors, the weather plays a big role. Be sure to plan for heat, snow, rain, or wind.
It’s important to note that you can have a committal service for cremated remains. You can commit the cremated ashes to the ground in a burial urn, or have them inurned in a columbarium niche. In fact, cremation committals often look and feel almost exactly the same as a service for a full body. The urn is often set on a table before the commitment, and some families choose to decorate the table with flowers, photos, and memorabilia.
Do you want more tips on committals or information on Huntersville, NC cemeteries? We are here to help. Call or visit us today to learn more about our services.
2023 Trends in Funerals and Cemeteries
In 2023 more than ever, a new year will certainly bring new trends in Charlotte, NC cemeteries, cremation services, memorials, and more. Here is a list of funeral home trends for this year to inspire your planning and preplanning as well as provide interesting insights.
To begin, unique, creative personalization of the funeral service has become the new norm. This means you’re free to choose the services, products, and traditions you want for the deceased’s funeral or memorial, whether that means hosting a celebration of life or putting them to rest in a cremation urn that will turn into a tree.
There will also be a lot of virtual services and personalized services. Virtual funerals, wakes, and memorials became popular in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we predict they will remain popular well into 2023 as virtual services offer many benefits from ease of scheduling to allowing out-of-town family members and loved ones to easily attend. Funerals have slowly been moving away from tradition and becoming more and more personalized to the deceased and their loved ones.
What about memorial gardens or preplanning? A memorial garden is a community garden dedicated to the deceased. Oftentimes the dedication is made official through donations and made known through a plaque or a memorial bench. These gardens are becoming more and more popular as ways to remember the deceased and honor them for generations to come. Preplanning or advance planning funeral arrangements is a great trend as preplanning offers many benefits including savings, reduced stress, more control over your own funeral, and the ability to plan a more personalized service.
Direct cremation and at-home funerals will be popular, too. Direct cremation is when the body is cremated directly after death without any embalming, wake, or other services. Direct cremation is the most affordable body disposition method, which is perhaps why its gaining popularity. Beyond savings, it also allows the family to hold a memorial, scattering, or any other kind of service whenever they want as opposed to right after the death. DIY is moving from home improvement to funerals and memorials. An at-home funeral is when the memorial or funeral service is held in the home rather than in an official facility. A home funeral cuts down many of the common funeral costs and can be much more eco-friendly, but there are still many benefits to hosting a funeral or memorial at a funeral home.
There will also be more natural burials. Unlike more traditional burials with embalming, heavily decorated caskets, and imported flowers, natural burials are all about keeping things simple. They use simple biodegradable urns, bamboo caskets, or cotton burial shrouds to minimize environmental impact and increase the speed of decomposition. As consumers, we’re becoming more aware of the affect we have on the environment. This has led to an uptick in sustainable or environmentally friendly funeral and cremation services like green burials, eco-friendly cremation caskets and runs, and a general increase in sensitivity surrounding sustainability and renewal after death.
Do you have more questions on industry trends or cemeteries in Charlotte, NC? We are here to help. Call or visit us today to learn more.