What this is
When a friend or family member visits a memorial page and clicks to send flowers to a funeral event, Gather makes sure they can't place an order so close to the event that the florist won't have time to deliver. This is the florist lead time.
By default, every funeral home uses the Standard 4-hour cutoff - meaning flowers can't be ordered within 4 hours of the event start time.
If your florist needs more notice to prepare and deliver arrangements, you can opt into the 1-Day Lead Time instead.
The setting you can turn on: 1-Day Lead Time requires that flower orders be placed at least 24 hours before the event. It's off by default. Contact Gather Support to turn it on for your funeral home.
The two options, side by side
| Standard (default) | 1-Day Lead Time (opt in) |
Ordering cutoff | Up to 4 hours before the event | At least 24 hours before the event |
Same-day delivery | Allowed | Not allowed |
Best for | Most funeral homes | Homes whose florists need a full day's notice |
What families see on the memorial page
While ordering is open
Each event shows up as a card the visitor can select, with the event name, time, and location. The page reassures them:
"We will make sure your flowers arrive in time for this event."
Once the cutoff has passed for an event
The event card is greyed out and can no longer be selected. The message changes to:
"Flowers can no longer be delivered to this event."
Hovering shows a tooltip that gently points them to another option:
"Flowers can no longer be delivered to this event. You can always send flowers directly to the family."
Once all of the events have passed the cutoff
The funeral home itself is disabled as a recipient, with the message:
"Flowers can no longer be delivered to the funeral home."
The "Send flowers to funeral" button is hidden from the memorial page entirely, so families aren't clicking into a dead end.
Visitors can still send flowers directly to the informant (next of kin) or to a custom address - those options never close. Those cards read:
"It's never too late to show how much you care."
How the delivery date gets chosen
Once a visitor picks an event, Gather picks a delivery date automatically so they don't have to guess. The system prefers the day before the event, and will fall back to the same day if that's the best option available from the florist.
If the only option is to deliver on the same day as an event that starts before 1pm, the visitor sees a warning letting them know the florist may not be able to deliver in time. This is based on standard florist hours of 9am-5pm.
If you're on 1-Day Lead Time, same-day delivery is never offered - today's date is filtered out of the florist's available dates before the visitor ever sees them.
Examples (Standard 4-hour cutoff)
These examples show how the cutoff plays out for a funeral home on the default setting.
Current time | Event time | Can order? | What happens |
Mon 8am | Tue 2pm | Yes | Delivered Monday (the day before) |
Mon 10am | Mon 3pm | Yes | Delivered Monday (same day, no warning) |
Mon 10am | Mon 1pm | Yes | Delivered Monday (same day, with a warning that the florist may not make it in time) |
Mon 11am | Mon 2pm | No | Blocked - only 3 hours until the event |
Mon 6pm | Mon 8pm | No | Blocked - only 2 hours until the event |
Frequently asked questions
Can a family member still send flowers if the cutoff has passed?
Yes. They can always send flowers directly to the next of kin or to a custom address - those options have no time cutoff. Only delivery to the funeral home for a specific event is blocked.
How do I turn on 1-Day Lead Time?
Contact Gather Support and let them know you'd like to opt in. It's a per-funeral-home setting, so once it's on, it applies to all of your memorial pages.
Should we switch to 1-Day Lead Time?
It depends on your florist. If they can reliably fulfill same-day orders placed a few hours before a service, Standard is usually the better fit - it gives families the widest window to order. If your florist regularly tells you they need more notice, or if you've had orders come in too late to prepare, 1-Day Lead Time is worth considering
What if we have an unusual situation and need to make an exception?
The cutoff applies to orders placed through the memorial page. For one-off situations, reach out to Gather Support or work with your florist directly.