Flowers are a classic gift to give on Valentine’s day, but if you are not sure how to get the best deal, they can cost quite a bit. Here are some tips for getting flowers for your loved one on a budget.
Tips for Saving Money on Valentine’s Day Flowers
1. Buy some lower cost bunches and make your own bouquet. When you pay a lot of flowers to be pre-arranged, you are mostly paying for the time that the florist took to put it together. Do it yourself and save some cash.
2. Buy good quality, refrigerated flowers. Just like fresh produce, flowers that are refrigerated while on display will last longer. Also, if you won’t be giving your flowers right away, keep them refrigerated while you wait to give them to make sure they are the most fresh in appearance when you are able to deliver.
3. Don’t pay a bundle for a simple vase. Instead head to your local dollar store and get creative. A nice tall coffee cup or a large candle holder can make an excellent vase. Or if you know your loved one already has a vase, give her a bouquet and let her put her vase to use.
4. Don’t pay for delivery. Your love done will be delighted to see you deliver them yourself and you will save at least $4- $10.
5. Buy seasonal flowers. Flowers have season just like produce does. Buying in season flowers will save you money in the long run. Some flowers that are in season in February are lilies, Cala Lilies, Delphimums, Gerberas and Hydrangeas.
6. Skip extras that are added just for looks in arrangements such as decorative sticks and plastic baubles. If you must have them, buy them yourself at a dollar store.
7. Get creative. Ask the florist if they have any flowers that lost their stems. Purchase them at a discounted rate and float them in a shallow dish instead.
8. If you feel you must get roses, don’t be too picky with color. Since red roses are the “ideal” and most desired they may cost more; other colors of roses may be cheaper. You may even find you like the look of yellow, pink or white roses better.
9. Mix in a couple roses with other flowers. This will allow you to buy less-expensive flowers and add them as fillers to 3-4 single roses in an arrangement for less cost.
10. Look in places you might not usually think of for flowers. Costco has roses and flower arrangements for lower cost than a private florist would. Also, check your grocery stores for some really great deals. By shopping in warehouse clubs, you may save 30-50% on the cost of a dozen roses.
11. Skip those stands you see pop up around this time of year. The flowers were cut many days ago and will deteriorate pretty fast, so the money is wasted.
12. Speaking of keeping flowers fresh, make sure you do the care at home to make your flowers last the longest for what you pay for them. Simple things like cutting of the bottom ½ inch of the stems at an angel and adding that special powder that most arrangements come with can make your flowers last a week or more.
Chris says
While buying flowers at Costco or the grocery store may be “cheaper”, don’t fool yourself. Like the flowers at the “pop-up” stands mentioned in tip #11 they are also cut days in advance (most roses come from Equador so it could be as much as a week to 10 days between cutting and thier appearance in grocery stores and stands). In addition, purchasing flowers from establishments that don’t regularly carry them means that they probably have not been properly conditioned or refrigerated (tip #2) upon arrival so will not last (it also usually means that they are not of the same quality as those found in specialized florists).