Two different services, two different floral logics
Cremation and burial services are both attended by family and friends, both feature a casket, both involve floral tributes — but the underlying logic of what happens to the flowers is fundamentally different. A burial service ends with flowers placed at the graveside, often in the ground. A cremation service ends with flowers either taken home, donated to the chapel, or left at a memorial garden. The choices appropriate to each are not interchangeable.
This guide walks through the practical differences and the floral conventions for each.
Burial services: what happens to the flowers
A traditional burial in London follows a recognisable choreography. The service is held at a church, chapel or other venue; the cortège proceeds to the cemetery; the casket is lowered; the family places earth or flowers on the casket; the principal floral pieces are arranged at the graveside.
The flowers play several roles in this sequence:
- At the service: the principal pieces (casket spray, family wreaths, letter tributes) are displayed near the casket.
- In the cortège: the principal spray and sometimes secondary pieces travel in the hearse with the casket.
- At the graveside: the casket spray is placed on or beside the casket as it is lowered; some tributes (typically smaller posies) are dropped into the grave by mourners.
- After the service: the family decides what stays at the graveside and what is taken away. Wreaths and large standing pieces typically remain at the cemetery for a few days; the family may return to collect personal pieces or to dry select stems.
This logic shapes the choice of tribute. For a burial:
- Casket sprays are the principal piece — composed at full length (90–120 cm), built to weather an outdoor service.
- Standing wreaths on stands are appropriate for both the chapel and the graveside. Built to remain in place for several days.
- Large floral hearts and crosses are particularly common at burials — they read well from a distance at a graveside, and they hold their shape outdoors.
- Letter tributes (MUM, DAD, NAN) are placed at the graveside before the service and remain after, often photographed by the family for the order of service.
Materials matter for outdoor placement. Our florists build burial pieces on robust foam frames with weather-resistant ribbons; we avoid silks or papers that wilt in rain. London cemeteries — particularly the Magnificent Seven (Highgate, Brompton, Kensal Green, Nunhead, Abney Park, West Norwood, Tower Hamlets) — are exposed sites; the piece must hold.
Cremation services: a different logic
A cremation service is typically held in a crematorium chapel — Honor Oak, Mortlake, Golders Green, Putney Vale, City of London, West Norwood and Eltham being the principal London venues. The service is shorter than a burial, the chapel smaller, and the floral choreography is different.
Crucially: most crematoria do not allow large floral tributes to be cremated with the casket. Reasons range from environmental (foam frames release toxins when burned) to practical (the cremator capacity has limits). Most crematoria insist that tributes are removed from the casket before it is committed.
This means tributes at a cremation typically:
- Are displayed in the chapel during the service, often on stands beside the casket.
- Are removed before the committal, either by the funeral director or the crematorium attendant.
- Go to one of three places afterwards: taken home by the family, placed in the crematorium's memorial garden, or returned to the funeral director.
This shapes the choice of piece. For a cremation:
- Casket sprays are still appropriate, but consider that they will be removed before cremation — many families prefer a smaller, more personal piece they will take home.
- Standing wreaths and chapel pieces sized to the venue are ideal — many crematorium chapels are smaller than cathedral or parish church spaces.
- Hand-tied bouquets and posies are common, easier to take home as keepsakes.
- Floral hearts in the family's preferred palette work well, and are kept by the family.
If the family wants flowers to be cremated with the casket, this needs to be agreed in advance with the crematorium. Most will accept a small posy or hand-tied bouquet inside the casket; large outer pieces are removed.
What happens after the service: practical choreography
After a burial, the family typically returns the next day or two to the graveside to take personal pieces. The cemetery groundskeepers remove larger tributes after a week or so to compost or dispose of. Standing wreaths and letter tributes are often photographed by the family before they are taken down.
After a cremation, the choreography is more variable. The family decides on the day:
- Take home immediately — small, personal pieces usually leave in the family car.
- Donate to the chapel's memorial garden — most London crematoria have a garden of remembrance where tributes are placed and slowly decompose.
- Take to the family home for the wake — coordinated by the funeral director, particularly if the wake is held nearby.
- Drying and pressing — increasingly popular. Our florists collect on request and return a small framed pressing of the most personal stems two weeks later.
What about direct cremations?
Direct cremations — where the body is cremated without a service, and the family holds a separate memorial event later — are increasingly common in London. The flower convention here is simple: there are no tributes at the cremation itself (no service, no public moment), so flowers are sent either to the family home in the days after the death, or to the memorial event held later.
For a memorial event held weeks or months after a direct cremation, the floral palette is often more celebratory than at a traditional service: colour palettes that the deceased would have liked, hand-tied bouquets that guests can take home, and pieces composed for indoor venues rather than chapels. Treat the memorial as the floral moment.
Cost considerations
A common question: do cremations cost less in flowers than burials? In our experience, slightly. Burial services tend to involve larger pieces (casket sprays sized for the graveside, letter tributes scaled up for outdoor visibility). Cremation services tend to be smaller in scale, though a family who wants to take pieces home may invest more in fewer, more personal compositions.
That said, neither service is "cheaper" — the cost depends on what the family chooses to send, not on the type of service. A simple white wreath is appropriate to either; an elaborate composition is appropriate to either.
One final principle
The flowers are for the people present at the moment of farewell — and for the family in the days afterwards. Choose pieces that fit the venue, that the family will recognise as appropriate, and that do not need explaining. If you are unsure, ask the funeral director: they will tell you what fits the chapel, what travels well in the cortège, and what the crematorium will accept. Our florists do this every day; a short message settles the question.
