There is no funeral home in Cliffside Park. Where do the flowers go?
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To whichever town is holding the service, and for borough families that is usually Fort Lee, Fairview, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, North Bergen or Union City — or across the river in Washington Heights, Inwood or the Bronx if that is where the family's roots are. Give us the full name and street address of the home or chapel rather than the surname of the deceased or a town name on its own, because neither of those routes a driver. Add the date and the hour the viewing room opens. With that, the shop telephones the director, asks where the piece should stand and delivers before the family arrives.
Which cemeteries around Cliffside Park do you deliver to?
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Madonna Cemetery in Fort Lee is the nearest, roughly two miles north of the borough line. Fairview Cemetery sits immediately south on the Fairview slope, and Flower Hill Cemetery is a short run down the ridge into North Bergen. Further out we deliver to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington and George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, and across the river to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx and Calvary Cemetery in Queens. A graveside arrangement has to be in place before the procession arrives rather than alongside it, and cemetery offices close earlier than most people assume, so give us the burial time as well as the service time.
What should I send to the family's apartment rather than to the chapel?
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Something low, finished and self-sufficient. This is a borough of high-rises and two-family houses, and a family receiving visitors in a one-bedroom on Gorge Road has no floor for an easel spray built for a chapel. A wide, low arrangement that sits on a sideboard works; so does a plant in a proper container, which has the advantage of still being alive weeks later when the cut flowers have gone. Keep the water reservoir modest so nobody has to manage it. And send it addressed to the household rather than to the person grieving, so whoever opens the door can simply accept it.
The building has a concierge. Is that enough?
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No, and this is the most common failure on condolence deliveries here. A desk being staffed is not the same as that desk being permitted to accept a perishable personal delivery, hold it, and carry it up to an apartment — that is a building rule, usually set by the board rather than by the person on duty, and it differs from tower to tower along the cliff. Some desks are evening-only. Some package rooms take cartons but refuse anything holding water. Ask the family, or ask the building, before you order, and put the answer on the delivery notes with the apartment number and the name as it appears on the buzzer panel.
The family is sending the body home abroad. What makes sense then?
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This comes up often in Cliffside Park, where a large share of households were born elsewhere. If the funeral is being held in another country, a chapel piece bought locally reaches nobody. What helps instead is a home delivery on the day relatives start gathering in the apartment — modest, long-lasting, easy to place — and then a second, smaller one two or three weeks later, when the visitors have flown home and the first week's flowers have been cleared. That later delivery is often the one people remember. If you are unsure which situation applies, say so on the order and the shop will ask before building anything.
What do sympathy flowers cost, and what is the delivery fee?
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The listed arrangements in this selection start at $32.49. Delivery charges, taxes and optional extras are confirmed for the selected florist and recipient before payment.