When and where to send sympathy flowers

Pick the day before the service as the delivery day for flowers going to the funeral home. Delivery times are estimates, so flowers sent on the day of a morning service may arrive after it. Order by 2 pm Eastern on the day before the delivery day. There are no deliveries on Sundays, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

Flowers for the family can go to their home in the days or weeks after the funeral. Memorial Park Funeral Home in St. Petersburg, Florida, suggests sending a note, gift or flowers within two weeks of the funeral, and says later is fine as long as you feel it would be helpful rather than painful. If you learned of the death too late to send anything sooner, say so in the card.

Sympathy after the funeral, from Memorial Park Funeral Home

Flowers for the service go to the funeral home. Call the funeral home to confirm the service date and when they accept deliveries, then pick a delivery day before the service. Put the name of the person who died and the service time in the card message so the staff place the flowers correctly.

Flowers for the family go to their home. These can arrive in the days or weeks after the funeral, when the first wave of visitors has passed. A potted plant lasts longer than cut flowers and needs little care.

Send flowers to a celebration of life, a memorial service or a visitation only when the family or the venue confirms it takes deliveries, and ask when someone will be there to take them in. Otherwise, send them to the family home.

Places of worship differ in how they take deliveries and where flowers can stand, and some cemeteries take no deliveries at all. A celebration of life at a restaurant, a park or a private home suits a smaller piece, such as a bouquet or a potted plant the family can take home afterward.

An order left with a reception desk or with venue staff counts as delivered.

• Hospitals, funeral homes and businesses

Where to send funeral flowers, from Funeral.com

Our sympathy bouquets and plants cost $68 to $125, plus the $14.99 delivery fee.

A Funeral.com guide published December 22, 2025, citing CostHelper, puts a basic bouquet in a vase or basket at about $40 to $80, and larger bouquets at $90 to $250 or more. It gives about $30 to $90 or more for a potted plant, and about $125 to $350 for standing sprays and wreaths, which we do not sell.

Funeral flower costs, from Funeral.com

White lilies, white roses and hydrangeas are traditional for a service. For a home, an orchid plant or a soft-colored bouquet works well.

True lilies can cause fatal kidney failure in cats, and hydrangeas are toxic to cats and dogs. If the family has pets, send the Phalaenopsis orchid plant instead. The ASPCA list marks Phalaenopsis orchids as non-toxic to cats and dogs, and the plant comes in its pot with no other flowers or greenery.

• Flowers and plants non-toxic to cats and dogs

Pet toxicity from the ASPCA Animal Poison Control plant list

Most rabbis discourage flowers at a Jewish funeral. Friends give to a charity instead, often one the family names in the obituary. Flowers are not brought to a shiva home either. Food is the usual gift during shiva, so check first whether the family keeps kosher.

Islamic scholars differ on flowers after a death. The Mufti of the Federal Territory in Malaysia calls flowers on a grave a recommended practice but rules against placing them on a coffin, while Darul Ifta Birmingham rules against placing flowers on a grave. Some Muslim families prefer none.

If you are unsure, ask a close friend of the family, or send a meal or a donation instead.

• Flowers at Jewish funerals, from My Jewish Learning
• What to bring to a shiva home, from My Jewish Learning
• Flowers on a coffin or a grave, from the Mufti of the Federal Territory, Malaysia
• Flowers on graves, from Darul Ifta Birmingham

It means the family would rather you give to a charity than send flowers, so make a donation instead, to the charity the obituary names if it names one.

Most online donation forms have a tribute section where you can give in memory of the person who died and enter the family's address, so the charity can tell them about your gift. You can mention the donation in a card, without the amount.

If you sent flowers before you saw the notice, you do not need to send a second gift.

How memorial donations work, from Funeral.com

Sign with your first and last name, or your family's name, so the family can place you. Leave out questions about the cause of death.

• What to write on a sympathy flower card