How Much Do Funeral Flowers Cost in New York?

Why the pieces for the service cost what they do

A vase arrangement for the family’s home is simpler to make. A standing spray, a wreath or a casket spray for the service is a different kind of work, and three things go into its price.

These pieces are built to order. A spray, wreath, cross or casket piece is not taken off a shelf. It is wired and built on a frame by hand for one service, on one date. That is hours of labor per piece, and it is most of what you are paying for.

The flowers are the expensive ones. Large tribute work is built mainly on roses, lilies, hydrangeas and chrysanthemums. A funeral spray can carry well over a hundred stems. Carnations and standard mums are the budget end of that list, and a piece built on roses and hydrangeas costs more than one built on carnations.

It is New York. Labor, rent and delivery across the five boroughs all sit above the national line, and flowers are no exception. Published national averages are pulled from across the country, and they flatten that out.

What each piece costs and who usually sends it

There is no correct amount to spend, and we say so in our guide to funeral flower etiquette. What there is, is a convention about which piece goes with which relationship. Price follows from that, rather than the other way around.

Immediate family

The casket spray is traditionally chosen by the immediate family, and it is the largest piece at the service. Ours run $450 to $700 depending on size and whether the build is roses alone or roses with orchids.

Family members also send the larger standing work: full sprays from $375, crosses from $375, and heart tributes from $450.

Relatives, close friends and colleagues sending as a group

Standing pieces are the usual choice here, and they are often shared. A funeral spray at $375 to $550, or a funeral wreath at $400 to $600, split between four or five people is a common way an office or a group of cousins sends something substantial.

If you are organizing that, work out the split before you ask people to contribute. Five people on a $450 wreath is $90 each.

Friends, neighbors and coworkers sending individually

A vase arrangement or a plant, $45 to $150, sent to the family’s home rather than to the service.

This is the part people most often get wrong, and it is not about money. A single person sending an individual piece to a funeral home is sending something that will sit alongside pieces the family chose. Flowers sent to the house arrive when the visitors have gone, which is when they do the most good.

The pieces that stand at the service

The words get used loosely, so here is what each one actually is.

A funeral spray is a one-sided piece on a stand, built to be seen from the front. It stands beside the casket. Ours are $375 to $550, in white roses, red roses, lavender roses, blue hydrangeas with white roses, or yellow mums with orange roses.

A funeral wreath is a ring on a stand, and the ring shape is what makes it a wreath rather than a spray. $400 to $600, including a patriotic wreath in red, white and blue for military and memorial services.

A cross is exactly that, on a stand, for Christian services. $375 to $650.

A heart tribute is a solid heart shape, usually sent by a spouse, a child or a parent. $450 to $600.

A casket spray lies on the casket rather than standing beside it. A half-couch spray covers half the lid, and a full couch covers all of it. $450 to $700.

All of these are built to order. They need lead time and they are not same-day work. If the service is tomorrow morning, call the shop rather than ordering online, and we will tell you honestly what can be built in time.

What goes to the family’s home

Different job, different price and a much longer life.

Plants, $45 to $115. Orchids in ceramic, and anthurium. A plant keeps going for months after the service, which is the reason many families prefer one. Our white orchids start at $45 and the double-stem purple orchids are $115.

Vase arrangements, $75 to $150. White roses with lilies and stock, white roses with carnations, white roses with hydrangeas and lilies. These are in a vase, so nothing needs to be found and filled at a moment when nobody wants that job.

One larger arrangement, $275. White calla lilies, above the range of everything else we send to a home. It is the one to ask about when several people are sending to the house together.

A fruit basket, $95. We list it because in several of the communities we serve in Astoria and across Queens, food is the traditional condolence gift and flowers are the second thought rather than the first. If that is the household you are sending to, a basket is the better choice.

For a full list, both groups are on the site: pieces for the service and flowers for the home.

What actually moves the price

Within any of the ranges above, three things decide where you land.

Size. Every tribute piece we make comes in more than one size, and that is most of the spread. A $400 spray and a $550 spray can be the same design at different scales.

Which flowers. Roses, lilies, hydrangeas and orchids cost more per stem than carnations and standard chrysanthemums. A piece can be built either way.

Season. The weeks around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day pull rose prices up city-wide. It is the same market for everyone, and it does move sympathy work.

Ordering direct, or through a national site

This is the part that changes what you get for your money.

When you order funeral flowers from a large national flower delivery site, that company does not build the piece. The order is passed to a local florist near the funeral home, who builds it and delivers it. The national site keeps a service fee and a share of the order value, so the amount that reaches the florist’s bench is less than the amount you paid.

It is the usual answer when somebody posts a photo online asking why their $150 order looks like $90 of flowers.

Ordering direct from a local florist means the whole amount goes into the piece, and you can ask what is actually good that week. Roses and lilies are not the same price or the same quality every month, and a florist will tell you when something else is better value. That conversation cannot happen through a checkout on a national site.

Most funeral homes pass floral orders to a local shop in the same way. Ordering through the home is convenient, and convenience is a fair thing to pay for, but it is not usually cheaper.

When the budget is tight

Say so when you call. It is a normal conversation and we have it most weeks.

A few things worth knowing. A smaller piece built well looks better than a larger piece stretched thin, and a florist would rather build you the first. Carnations and chrysanthemums are traditional funeral flowers in their own right, not a downgrade, and a piece built on them costs less. Going in with others on one larger piece gets more to the service than four separate small ones.

And if the obituary says “in lieu of flowers”, that is a real instruction. A donation to what the family asked for, and a card, is the right answer.

Ordering in New York

When you order, the funeral home will need more than a street address. Give us the full name of the person who died, the name of the home, and the date and time of the service. Homes run several services a day and pieces are set out by name, so a piece that arrives with only an address can end up in the wrong room. Our guide to sending flowers to a funeral home in New York goes through each step, from reading the obituary to writing the card.

Ask the home about its delivery window too. Most want tribute pieces an hour or two before the service starts, and the funeral director will tell you the time without being pushed. They field that question every day.

It is also worth treating the service flowers and the flowers for the house as two separate decisions rather than one. Plenty of people send a piece to the service and then an arrangement to the family’s home a week or two later, once the visitors have gone and the calls have stopped.

Whatever you send, write the card yourself. The flowers are cleared away within a few days. The card goes in a box with the others and gets read again months later.

What the number is really telling you

The gap between $150 and $450 is not a markup. It is the difference between an arrangement in a vase and a piece built by hand on a frame for one morning, in a city where that kind of labor is expensive.

Knowing which of the two you are buying is most of the decision. The rest depends on your relationship to the person who died.

Common questions

How much do funeral flowers cost on average in New York?

Most flowers sent to the family’s home run $45 to $150. Pieces that stand at the service run $375 to $700. National answers quoting $140 to $350 for a standing spray sit below the New York figure.

How much should I spend on funeral flowers?

Spend according to which piece is appropriate for your relationship, not to a target figure. A coworker sending to the house is looking at $45 to $150. Immediate family choosing the casket spray is looking at $450 to $700. Anyone quoting you a single correct number is guessing.

Why is a casket spray so much more than a bouquet?

It is built by hand on a frame, it carries several times the flowers, and it is made for one service on one date. The flowers are usually less than half the cost, and the labor is the rest.

Can I send funeral flowers the same day?

Vase arrangements and plants for the home, usually yes. Sprays, wreaths, crosses, hearts and casket sprays are built to order and need lead time. Call the shop and we will tell you what is possible for your date.

What is the difference between a funeral spray and a wreath?

A spray is a one-sided piece on a stand, seen from the front. A wreath is a ring on a stand. Both stand beside the casket, and the choice between them is usually family preference or what the rest of the family has already sent.

Is it cheaper to order through the funeral home?

Not usually. Funeral homes generally pass the order to a local florist anyway. Ordering directly means you speak to the person building the piece.

What flowers are traditional for a funeral?

White roses, lilies, chrysanthemums and carnations are the classic choices, and white is the conventional color. Color is a matter of family preference more than rule, and plenty of families ask for the colors the person actually liked.

Can several of us go in on one piece?

Yes, and it is common. A $450 wreath split five ways is $90 each, and it sends something larger than five separate small pieces would.

Do you deliver to funeral homes across the city?

We deliver across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Nassau County. Give us the funeral home’s name and the service time when you order.

What if the family asked for donations instead of flowers?

Follow it. Make the donation they asked for and send a card. If you want to do something with flowers as well, a plant sent to the house weeks later is a quiet way to do it.