Graveside Flower Etiquette Analysis

If you have never been in charge of a funeral before, it is not surprising that you don't know much about graveside flower etiquette rules. It is something one generally learns about through experience. If you are currently in charge of planning a funeral for a loved one, this quick guide will help you quickly learn the most essential graveside flower etiquette tips.

During The Burial

During the burial, you can bring all of the flower arrangements from the funeral home to the burial site. Your funeral home may even assist you with moving the flowers to your loved one's burial site. If your funeral home does not offer that service, see if a family member or friend with a larger vehicle could be placed in charge of moving the flowers for you.
If you have other family members buried in the same cemetery, you can place the extra flowers on their gravesites. You can also ask your family members and close friends to take home the extra flowers. Finally, if neither of those options appeal to you, you can arrange for someone to drop off and donate the flowers to a local hospital or nursing home. Both of these locations accept flower donations for sick patients and for lonely residents who need a little cheering up.

Fresh Cut Flowers: One Week Later

Most fresh cut flowers, when the water is not changed on a daily basis, tend to last for about a week. Between seven to ten days after the burial, you should return to the graveside and remove the flowers. You can just remove the flowers that are starting to die if you know you will be back in the next few days to clean up the remainder of the flowers, or you can remove all the flowers during this visit if you know you will not be back.

Some cemeteries will clean up the flowers once they start to fade for you. Be sure to ask the caretaker at the cemetery what their policy is on removing flowers. If they will do it for you, you may not need to do this task