Farewell Flowers
Farewell flowers are about a life being remembered in a way that is meaningful to those who are grieving. Flowers provide a sensory language to commemorate your loved one with colour. Every Green Feather farewell design is unique, just like the person you are saying goodbye to.
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Our farewell tributes are deeply personal and reflective of your loss, while keeping the process straightforward for you, and being respectful of this planet we call home. Please click on the flowers below to open our simple PDF guidance on your options:
Farewell Guidance
But what do the flowers look like?
Your tribute will come with its unique floral story which explains each creative decision that has been made to truly reflect the person you are remembering. Please see below for past examples of Green Feather Farewells. Images and floral stories are shown with full permission from the families for whom the tributes were created.
Farewell to M
May 2023
M’s sociable nature and passion for a good time are represented through bright pink and plum ranunculus, whose symbolic meaning is ‘I am dazzled by your charms’. Horticulturally they have a short season, where they spring up, burst into layers of blowsy beauty for a few weeks and then disappear; representative of the short but social time of her life. Wild grass, vibrant fern, acidic cypress, yellow sprawling euonymus and glossy laurel make up the foliage elements and are all present to add to the bright appearance that was characteristic of her. Purple alliums add their orbs of tiny stars to the frivolity and fun, while symbolising tears that may be shed through this loss. Tulips and Sweet William are used to bring a pop of her significant colour red to the design, hellebores for a deeper shade of purple. The backbone of each sheaf is herringbone cotoneaster, which forms their informal and unique outlines, while also adding a twinkle of pinky red from their forming flowers.
Farewell to S
May 2023
Encircling the spray are seed pods from the mock-orange poached from Kew by K, the ringleader of S’s early years. S’s colourful upbringing is shown by the purple, pink, yellow and green edge. Pink achillea is nestled in here and at intervals throughout the spray, representing her love of animals, as it is a flower adored by wildlife.
Her family life appears at one end of the design: Honeysuckle represents ‘devoted love and a contented home’, hydrangea (a favourite of S) symbolises gratitude, a feeling expressed by J for all the exciting, unpredictable opportunities that being her husband gifted him. These encounters are shown by the inclusion of asters, which carry the meaning ‘variety’. Sprigs of mint and bay give a nod to her time spent cooking. When at restaurants with J, S was particular and notorious for sending food back, so the dahlias in this section symbolise her ‘good taste’. A small piece of holly cut from the family home conjures the stern look that may have been received from her, followed by a pause to find out if it was a telling off that was coming… or she was having a joke with you.
S brought her keen focus to her work both as a secretary and in pathology, as well as to her knitting and of course tennis. These areas are represented by 3 clear segments of colour within the design: 1 purple, 1 yellow and 1 pink. Grasses appear in each of these sections as they stand for the perseverance she demonstrated in all these pursuits (as well as in her family life, where they also feature). Weaving between sections are another of her favoured flowers, clematis, which carry the meaning of ‘mental prowess’, as well as some of the blooms being appropriate to the purple of Wimbledon.
Tennis features throughout the spray, as it was so significant to S, known to her grandchildren as ‘Nana Tennis’. Wimbledon purple is also shown through clary sage, phlox and mint flowers, while the deep green is provided by ivy. The yellow pom-poms of zinnias are included as bouncing joyful tennis balls, as well as holding the symbolism of ‘daily remembrance’, which is and will be experienced by S’s family following their loss.
