FAMILIES and friends are now preparing for the All Souls' and All Saints' Day on November 1 and 2, a time set for visiting our departed loved ones.
Our visits will be meaningful when we offer our prayers, sympathy flowers in an arrangement of our choice, the candles, foods and beverages.
But the flowers are indeed important to express how we loved and valued some family members who were gone ahead in reuniting with our Creator.
For sympathy flower vendor Gina dela Cerna of Nonoy Buenafe Flower Shop in Reclamation Area, Bacolod City, they already have prepared the supply of flowers arranged in various setups which can be sold to anyone who would wants to buy it early or on the day they decide to visit the graves and or tombs of their departed loved ones.
The chrysanthemums, sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae. The mum's flowers which are colored yellow and white are the most sought-after flowers by ordinary people during All Souls and All Saints Day or on ordinary days.
It can be bought in various sizes, styles and arrangements. For now, the sympathy followers arranged in a basket by their florists can be bought at P100.
As the All Souls' and All Saints' Days nears, it may increase to P150, the vendor said.
They also have a bigger size flower arrangement, which can be offered either standing or can be laid on the tombstone and epitaph which is priced higher ranging from P250 and up.
For those flowers with a standee, they is priced at P1,500.
She said that the sympathy flowers can stay up to five days. They just asked the people buying from them to sprinkle them with water to help preserve its freshness.
The stems of those flowers were pricked in a wet foam to help preserve their freshness too.
They said flowers are the symbol of love and affection that we can impart to people who are dear to us.
Many sympathy flower vendors sell at the Reclamation Area in Bacolord City from their previous post at a portion of the public plaza, facing the Bishop’s House in Rizal-San Juan Streets.