Our Monthly Tip: Create a Memorial Wreath

Memorial wreaths can be hung on doors or windows, or set on coffee tables.
Credit: Pinterest

Our Tip of the Month

While flowers are often abundant at funerals, the coming days can be devoid of their comforting scent, color and cheer. If your friend has lost a spouse or another dear loved one, making them a memorial wreath can be one way to honor that person’s life while simultaneously caring for your friend during the grieving process. A memorial wreath can be hung on a door or window, or laid out on a coffee table, where it will bring comfort and encouragement and evoke fond memories.

How-to Suggestions:

Find fresh flowers: Visit a local florist or farmer’s market and check for wholesale prices, or seek out options in your garden. Choose some of the loved one’s favorite flowers or roses to symbolize love. Greenery carefully spaced around the flowers can make the colors pop, while strings of flowers symbolize the bond between the grieving person and the one they’ve lost. Silk flowers are also available from craft stores or online, and will last all year.

Memorial wreath bases come in various shapes, including circles, hearts and crosses.
Credit: One Allium Way

Buy a base: Visit Michael’s or another craft store to find a base for your wreath, or order one online. Options include wire, grapevine or foam. Choose a material that you feel comfortable working with, and a color that matches your flowers, as bits and pieces of the wreath base will likely peek through.

Create the memorial wreath: Form small bundles of flowers and attach them to the wreath base, overlapping them so as not to leave gaps. For a grapevine wreath, insert them along with the grain. Attach them using floral wire (also available from craft stores), and arrange them to your liking.

Present the finished memorial wreath to your friend along with a card explaining why you chose the style and flowers that you did. The thought, time and effort your have put into the gift will touch their heart, making them feel loved while eliciting comforting memories of the individual they are grieving.