What's the best way to order flowers for Valentine's Day?
Should you get flower delivery, or a flower subscription service?
Credit:
The Bouqs Co.
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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you’re probably thinking about the different ways you can make your sweetheart feel special—or ways you can treat yourself. The obvious choices are chocolate (yum!), jewelry (sparkly!), and the always-appropriate bouquet of flowers.
However, as you start to research flower delivery in your area, you might come across a few flower subscription services, as well. At first glance, these two things might seem synonymous, but there are a few key differences between flower delivery and flower subscription services that you should know.
What’s flower delivery?
You can get a one-time flower delivery through 1-800-Flowers.
When you don’t have time to stop by the florist or you live too far away from your recipient, flower delivery will be your best friend. Simply put, these services deliver a bouquet of flowers straight from the florist to someone’s door. Most of the time, you can either order online or over the phone, and you’ll be able to choose the size and style of bouquet you want.
If you want to have flowers delivered to that special someone, you can either go straight to the flower shop of your choice or use a larger service like 1-800-Flowers, which partners with local florists all around the country. These larger flower delivery sites are helpful if you’re ordering a bouquet for someone in an area where you don’t know any florists.
In terms of cost, your average flower delivery is generally in the ballpark of $50, including delivery fees. However, if you shop around, you might be able to find inexpensive bouquets for less, or if you want to go all out, you can easily spend several hundred dollars on lavish arrangements from companies like Venus et Fleur.
A few more popular flower delivery services include:
Ok, so then what’s a flower subscription service?
Bouqs lets you choose from three different bouquet styles.
Flower subscriptions are similar—but with a fun twist. When you sign up for a flower subscription service, your recipient will receive several flower deliveries over a set period of time. Think of it as a subscription box for flowers!
Here are a few of the most popular flower subscription services:
Wondering how, exactly, these services work? Let’s use Bouqs as an example. With this service, you can choose to gift (or, if you’re shopping for yourself, receive) weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly flowers, and there are three bouquet sizes to choose from.
Bouqs also lets you choose from three different bouquet categories: roses, classics, or farmer’s market. This gives you an idea of what each bouquet will look like, but you don’t have as much control as you would with a standard flower delivery. The companies switch up the bouquets with each delivery depending on what flowers are available.
Depending on which flower subscription service you use, you can either select a certain number of deliveries—i.e. one bouquet a month for 6 months—or have flowers delivered indefinitely until you cancel the subscription. Similar to subscription boxes, most flower subscriptions also let you skip a delivery with no penalty.
How much do flower subscriptions cost?
Flower subscription boxes deliver fresh bouquets every month.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, flower subscriptions are naturally more expensive than a one-time delivery. We tried BloomsyBox (and loved it)—standard bouquets from Bloomsy Box cost $39.99 per delivery and include free shipping, and standard arrangements from Bouqs are $36 per month. This pricing structure often saves you money per bouquet, but you’ll end up paying more in the long run, as you’re signing up for several months of deliveries.
Which is better for Valentine's Day: Flower delivery or flower subscription?
You can't go wrong either way if you're giving flowers for Valentine's day.
If you're trying to decide between a flower delivery or flower subscription—whether for yourself or your Valentine—there are pros and cons to consider.
On one hand, flower deliveries are typically more affordable, and you have more control over that the bouquet looks like. So if your recipient loves daisies, you can make sure the florist knows to put daisies into the arrangement. Plus, you can pick the exact date the flowers should arrive—with subscriptions, you can get within the ballpark of Valentine's Day, but you're less likely to get a delivery on the actual holiday.
Flower subscriptions, on the other hand, are the gift that keeps on giving, as they’ll deliver fresh flowers to your recipient month after month. However, in the long run, you’ll end up spending more money. Plus, you'll have to pick a different gift for Valentine's Day if the flowers aren't set to arrive until after the holiday.
At the end of the day, you really can’t go wrong with either a flower delivery or subscription. Flowers are a wonderful way to show someone you care and are thinking of them, and they’re sure to put a smile on your recipient’s face.