Offer Heartfelt Sympathy with this Most Inspirational Stylized Urn Garden

When a Minnesota family experienced the loss of their son, Linda Pawlik CFD shared her heart by using her design talent, experience and the beauty of flowers to bring comfort to a grieving family. The call to design flowers for the young man’s memorial came from the funeral director. The style of design was left to her discretion. Linda, of Anytime Flowers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, created a beautifully stylized garden of flowers to encircle his memorial urn.

Signature style

“My personal investment in the style of this design showed that I really cared,” says Linda. Later, she submitted a photo of the arrangement to the OASIS Floral Products Inspire Floral Design Showcase 2015. Her design was chosen as the Most Inspirational Urn Display Floral Design. Some designers have a strong signature style that customers can identify with. “Our tagline ‘Helping you express yourself is our business’ says it all,” explains Linda. Sympathy is an emotion and flowers speak the language of emotion. Click the link and you can see the resulting advertisement.

Flowers comfort the living

A memorial without flowers feels sadly bleak and incomplete. For florists, it’s rewarding to know that the beauty of flowers can help families celebrate the life of a loved one. Designing a lovely floral arrangement communicates the empathy we feel for them in their grief. Linda created her vibrant design in an 18″ OASIS® Mache Wreath wrapped in aspidistra leaves. “I enjoyed creating this design because I could do my own thing,” she shares. ‘I personally love orange and enjoy manipulating foliage. I was able to incorporate both of those elements in this design.” She used gerbera daisies, roses, bells of Ireland, flax, hydrangea and green trick to complete the youthful, yet masculine display.

Expressions of sympathy

Sympathy flowers serve a purpose. They express visible, emotional support for grieving friends and family. Decorating the casket with flowers has long been a part of traditional funeral services. It’s important to remind consumers of the emotional value of flowers for all types of services. The color and fragrance of flowers add warmth and beauty to a room uplifting spirits.

Cremations on the rise

Interpretation of Linda Pawlik’s design by Kevin Ylvisaker AIFD, PFCI The number of cremations has doubled in the past 15 years. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA.com), that number is projected to climb higher each year with a projected 71 percent by 2030. These numbers vary from region to region, as the practice is more acceptable in some areas than others. With an increased number of cremations, requests for flowers surrounding memorial urns have increased as well. Flowers can be an intricate part of the healing process for those experiencing grief.

Flowers inspire conversation

In their sadness, people at a loss for words often find flowers to be a safe subject. “When the designs stand out in a crowd, customers notice and comment even more.” Personalized sympathy flowers can bring a special joy as they may trigger fond memories and loving, even joyful, conversations of shared and treasured times with the deceased.

Offer exceptional designs

Interpretation of Linda Pawlik’s design by Kevin Ylvisaker AIFD, PFCI Sympathy flowers should connect with the emotions of the viewer. Too often we think of sympathy flowers as funeral flowers and lose our creative edge. According to Linda, “Sympathy designs will be seen by more people than flowers delivered to homes. Create designs that stand out, and people will surely notice.” That’s good for building repeat business. “People often want something different, but they don’t know what to ask for,” Linda says. “On my website, I present both traditional-with a flair and stylized designs. The customers choose stylized designs more often when they can see them.” “Occasionally, I have the opportunity to catch my customer’s attention with a real showstopper, in my own signature style. I really enjoy that!”

Share your passion

“I love tall asymmetrical designs. I also enjoy creating unique stylized arrangements,” Linda says. “I look to nature for inspiration. I am forever collecting sticks that I love to incorporate in designs. My mom knows this and saves pieces of bark and branches that she finds as well.” “On Facebook, I often scroll to find the designs that stand out to me and study their lines. That really inspires me to try new techniques in my own designs.”

Encourage the gift of flowers

The tradition of sending the beautiful flowers to honor the deceased and comfort the family with flowers will continue to be important. Flowers are always an appropriate and tasteful choice for honoring the deceased. Sending flowers that we love to others is a way of sending our love.