The Cost of Floral Tributes

Summary

This article explores the contemporary phenomenon of purchasing floral tributes to decorate the coffin at a funeral. It locates the practice in the historical context of Victorian cemetery design, the importing of new species of flowers and the romanticizing of grief. Examples of highly personalized tributes are described and discussed in the light of changing attitudes to death. Moves from a medical to a cultural model for death discourse are interpreted in the light of consumerism and linked with Walter's narrative model of grief. Adopting a practical theological critique, I suggest that floral tributes reinforce romanticism through their consumerist pressure. The commercial pressure on mourners is discussed from a theological perspective and opportunities for pastoral carers to contribute to shaping the tributes and their meaning are identified.