From Wedding to Hospice

Credit: pixabay.com

Wedding bouquets are intricate and stunning, but when the ceremony is over, most of the flowers either wind up in a trash bin, or they’re left to wilt on someone’s kitchen counter for weeks. Floral designer Shawn Chamberlain wants to change this. She’s using donated flowers from weddings to craft entirely new bouquets to give to elderly patients in hospice care.

Chamberlain’s Full Bloom project began as she was tending to a flower garden outside of a hospice building years ago. Through a window, she spotted a young mother in a hospice room, and she wanted to do something special for her. Chamberlain picked a few wildflowers and arranged them into a bouquet, asking a nurse inside to hand it to the woman.

Chamberlain works with flowers for a living, so she decided to expand this small act of kindness into a massive project. At one point, she says, she received 27 flower bouquet donations from just one wedding. Chamberlain was able to craft unique bouquets for 27 patients at assisted-living homes that day.

Chamberlain’s success is due in large part to the idea’s simplicity. It takes very little time or effort for brides, grooms or their guests to donate their floral arrangements to the cause. In fact, most people Chamberlain encounters have no idea what to do with the flowers after the wedding is over. They’re often relieved to find a place to drop them off, especially when it’s for a good cause.

Credit: pixabay.com

Being in hospice can be a stressful and emotional time for patients and their families. Rooms are often sterile and barren, making it tough for patients to relax in their new homes. Something as simple as a bouquet of flowers can make a huge difference, giving patients something beautiful to look at from their beds. Many patients take comfort in knowing that someone is thinking of them and has taken the time to do something kind, such as arranging flowers in a vase. In difficult times, it’s the simplest acts that can make the greatest impact.

To make a donation or learn more about the project and others like it, visit the Random Acts of Flowers official website, or donate to the Bloom Project.