How much do funeral and sympathy flowers cost?

When someone dies, flowers are one of the few things people far away can do. It helps to know what each type of arrangement is for, because the right piece depends more on where it’s going than on what you want to spend.

Where the flowers go changes what you send

• To the funeral home or service: standing sprays, wreaths, and arrangements made to be displayed. These are usually sent by friends, coworkers, and extended family.
• On the casket: a casket spray. This is traditionally chosen by the immediate family, so check before ordering one yourself.
• To the family’s home: a bouquet, a basket, or a plant. Smaller and more personal, and it doesn’t depend on the service schedule.

Real prices we found

These are the “standard” sizes. Larger versions of the same design cost more.

Delivery: timing matters more than usual

Service flowers have to arrive before the service, at the right address, with the right name on the card. A few things help:

• Get the funeral home’s name, address, and service time from the obituary or family.
• Order at least a day ahead if you can. If you can’t, check same-day cutoffs. Teleflora’s is 2 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone on weekdays and noon on weekends, for $2.99 extra [Teleflora]. FTD’s standard same-day cutoff is 2 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone, with earlier cutoffs in some areas and during holidays or weekends [FTD].
• Consider ordering from a florist near the funeral home. Many have worked with that home before. Teleflora’s service fee exists because it passes your order to a local florist anyway [Teleflora].

Kind and affordable alternatives

• Send to the home a week or two later. The house is often full of flowers right after a death and quiet afterward.
• Go in on a spray with coworkers or friends and sign one card from everyone.
• Check the obituary for “in lieu of flowers.” If the family asks for donations instead, honor that.

Where to look

• Teleflora standing sprays ↗
• 1-800-Flowers sympathy plants ↗

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