To some, the colour of flowers hold significant importance, and certainly in the past the colour of the flowers you were sending conveyed a secondary message – for example, in victorian times, yellow roses were used to convey jealousy . But nowadays we think people probably worry a little too much about these types of things.
We’re often asked ‘What colours should I choose and what do they mean’, sometimes by guys wanting to steer clear of any unintended meaning that might inadvertently send the wrong message to the new lady in their life, other times by people choosing funeral flowers who are worried about offending someone at the congregation.
Personally, i’m obviously biased, but i can’t see why anyone would be offended by a gorgeous bunch of flowers just due to the colour of the bunch! and if they are, then they’ve probably got a little too much time on their hands, so my answer is almost always ‘What colour do you think they’ll like?’, There’s really no need to overthink this stuff.
From a historical perspective, different meanings have often been attached to the colour of flowers, and some of these are still pervasive today in Australia, with the obvious being red to signify love, passion and courage. Valentine’s day certainly helps to keep this particular association going, with a dozen red roses being the ‘go to’ gift. In our experience this often gives some welcome relief for men who are not used to ordering flowers and would otherwise have no idea what to buy. The conversation can often go something like: ‘Red?, Roses?, Dozen? Done!’, Smug satisfaction ensues. (ok, so I simplified a smidge).
I ain’t superstitious
Superstition is also something that comes up from time to time, with different cultures attaching significant meaning to flowers and colours (to the detriment of some global companies). One of our more common requests along these lines is not to include white flowers, as these can symbolise misfortune and death in some Asian cultures. I’m not the superstitious type (why are you picking on my beautiful white lilies!?), but fortunately we have plenty of amazing colour alternatives to offer.
So far we’ve not yet had any requests for the best flower/colour combination for use with Faery Flower Sorcery though. Yes, apparently that’s a thing.
Current Trends
To our delight we’ve noticed a growing move towards less significance attached to colours, and more and more people are purchasing based on personal preference and the preference of those they are buying for. Our philosophy is, if someone likes purple, buy them purple orchids! If they like yellow, maybe some Gerberas would be the way to go, otherwise you might spend days agonising over lists like this!
I have to admit that i do have a favourite emerging colour/meaning trend though. We’ve found more people are sending brightly coloured flowers to funerals in a celebration of a persons life rather than sticking with the sombreness associated with the traditional white funeral flowers. For this reason we’ve included some brighter coloured arrangements within our Sympathy Section.
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