by Connie Oswald Stofko
It’s not a comfortable topic: Ordering flowers when someone you know has died. But Maggie Wittmer, floral designer at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, gives us some guidelines in this video that may relieve your anxiety.
If a close family member has died, the flowers you choose will depend on the kind of services that will be held, she explains. Flowers for services where a casket will be on display differ from those at a memorial or cremation service.
You’ll learn some of the terms used in sympathy flowers, such as mache (pronounced muh-SHAY). Those arrangements formerly were created for a papier mache container, which is how they got the name mache, but the type of container no longer defines this arrangement. A mache is a fan-shaped arrangement that is set on a stand, usually at the head or the foot of a casket.
The video also gives you guidance on what to choose if you are sending flowers after the death of a business associate or someone you know from an organization.
You can see more examples of sympathy flowers for the service or for the home on Mischler’s website. You can call them at ( or visit them at
Interesting to learn about.