Although flowers are usually associated with happy occasions, people also use floral arrangements to honor and pay tribute to a deceased family member or friend. Although florists create beautiful types of floral arrangements, you can create your own as a final tribute to the deceased. Personalize the floral arrangement by including favorite flowers of the deceased. Avoid brightly colored flowers at this somber occasion. Depending on personal taste, use a spiked vase you insert into the soil at the grave, or a basket with foam you rest on the tombstone, or next to it.
Inspect your flowers for damage or disease and discard appropriately. Place your vase in front of you.
Cut floral foam so it rests in the base of the vase snugly. Depending on personal taste, use a spiked vase or a clear or colored tall vase to hold the arrangement upright. Use sharp scissors to cut foam as straight as possible.
Immerse the foam in a bucket of water until completely soaked, then lift and lower it into the cavity of the vase.
Hold a flower against the vase and decide stem height. Cut excess stem off at an angle, so it absorbs and retains water easily and lasts longer. Depending on personal taste, keep all the flowers the same length, or vary their stem length for added appeal.
Push four or five taller flowers into the middle of the foam. These central flowers are the focal point of the arrangement. Do not allow the blooms to touch, but space them sufficiently apart so each stands out.
Add the shorter flowers in the vase, in turn, around the central flowers. Continue adding flowers until you have a well-rounded arrangement. Insert stems of foliage, including ivy, ferns or baby's breath, to frame the arrangement and give it contrasting color.
Flat Basket Arrangement
Cut floral foam with scissors to fit snugly in the basket.
Hold a flower against it to determine stem height, and cut off excess. Cut five or six flowers the same length, to form the tallest, central flowers.
Insert these tallest flowers in top center of the basket at an angle, so the blooms point outward. Cut stems of three or four other flowers so they are several inches shorter than the central flowers. Add each flower around the central flower, at an angle. Cut stems of remaining flowers even shorter and add them to the sides of the foam.
Cut and add foliage to the foam in the basket for contrasting color. Step back and review your arrangement to make sure it is well-rounded. Rearrange flowers if necessary. Spread fake moss over visible gaps in the foam to give it a fuller, greener look.