In search of the best flower delivery service to surprise your Valentine this year? You're in luck as we've been hard at work to set apart the best flower delivery services from not-so-great, to ensure your red roses arrive in style, in most cases in bloom and most mportant of all: intact.
We've been trying and testing flower delivery services – by this, we mean that we have bought or been gifted bouquets from them, and from landing at our door to the sadness of putting them in our bin, we have recorded everything. From how they arrived, when they bloomed, how long they lasted and more. And since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, we've also selected a Valentine's Day bouquet from each – just for some inspiration.
Because flowers are always a failsafe option no matter the occasion, plus some of these delivery services below offer an eco-friendly gift option. To surprise the person you love, and to help save the planet.
Where to order flowers online?
Not got time to browse our guide? Here's a quick run down of our favourite flower delivery services, in alpabatical order, along with what they can offer plus any promotions they might be running for Valentine's Day.
- Appleyard London - same day delivery in London, 30% off Valentine's bouquets
- Arena Flowers - ethical florist, order before 9PM for free next day delivery
- Bloom. - luxury bouquets from just £30 this Valentine's Day
- Bloom & Wild - get £10 off your order + free next day delivery
- Blossoming Gifts - 10% off your first order + prices from £19.99 for Valentine's Day
- Bunches - family business, free next day delivery, 10% profits go to charity
- Floom - delivery from independent florists in the UK + free delivery
- Flower Card - 2-in-1 flower and card gifts
- Flying Flowers - use code FREECHOCS for a free box of Lindor chocolates
- Interflora - same day delivery + eco-friendly packaging used
- M&S - next day delivery flowers with options under £25
- Prestige - the UK's most reviewed florist
- Serenata - free delivery + bouquets from £29.99
- The Real Flower Company at Selfridges - luxury pre-order bouquets from £48
- Waitrose Florist - 15% off Valentine's flowers and plants until 8th February
The best flower delivery services for Valentine's Day
We've raved about Bloom & Wild many a time, and they are definitely our favourite flower delivery service in the UK. They specialise in really lovely, hand-tied bouquets and gorgeous letterbox flowers that have a lovely, soft look – and scent. The fact that they fit through a letterbox means that no one has to be in to receive the delivery, and each flower is so meticulously wrapped that they arrive in perfect condition.
We love that every bouquet comes with styling tips from the Bloom & Wild florists, so you can learn the best way to display your flowers. All the flowers are picked still in bud, so you (or the lucky recipient) can watch the flowers open over the first few days. Oh, and they sell plants and dried flowers, too.
Our experience
Our bouquets arrived in excellent condition, with small netted covers to protect the rose heads, and plenty of instructions for preparing, arranging, and maintaining our flowers. The flower arranging guide that came with the flowers was packed with handy tips and beautiful illustrations – we enjoyed the process (and we learned something too).
The value for money of each bouquet was immediately apparent. It's normal for letterbox flowers to look a little droopy on arrival, but aside from one flattened rose head and a few slightly dishevelled stems, both bouquets looked great straight away in their vases.
Click to shop Bloom & Wild's Valentine's Day collection for 2022.
Arena Flowers are the best flower delivery service if you want to feel like you are giving something back. Not only are their flowers fair trade and ethically sourced, but they have a 100 per cent closed-loop waste system – this means that the waste from grower's fields is used to create every bit of the beautiful packaging that your flowers arrive in. Yep, even the ribbon – and it's all recyclable. On top of all that for every order Arena flowers receive they plant a tree and donate £1 to Women's Aid. How amazing!
In terms of the bouquets themselves, there are plenty to choose from to suit all budgets. The hand-tied bouquets are perfect for all occasions and the luxury flowers are ideal for a really nice treat. There are even dried flower bouquets which will last much longer if you are after a more permanent gift.
Our experience
Our gorgeous bouquet arrived in exquisite packaging which could all go straight in the recycling. Some of the blooms were already out and some were closed, so the bouquet only got nicer as the days went on. The bouquet comes pre-arranged by the florists and tied into shape so was just a case of putting it into a vase. But we found as certain flowers started to wilt before others, we could remove the dying flowers and rearrange the longer-lasting ones so we had blooms that lasted a whole week.
Click to shop Arena Flowers' Valentine's collection for 2022.
The eco-friendly yet luxurious flower delivery service Bloom. can deliver anything from market fresh flowers to ready-to-go-bouquets. They pride themselves on offering luxurious flowers in eco-friendly, plastic-free and recyclable packaging – and that they do. In some cases, you can choose your flowers and then the number of stems you would like – whether 10 or 50. You can even design your own bouquet with Bloom., just to make your flowers that extra bit special. They also sell a range of vases and pots for your blooms to live in.
Our experience
Our Bloom. flowers (the Coral Snapdragons bouquet) landed on our doorstep in a lovely large box, preventing them from getting squashed. The bouquet was wrapped in brown paper (which makes them both Instagrammable and eco-friendly). These flowers were also wrapped in a compostable bag with a little bit of water in the bottom, to keep them hydrated. Also included in the box, along with your flowers, comes compostable plant feed – you will need to feed this to your bouquet every three days. There's a very detailed leaflet that comes with your blooms, to instruct you on cutting, feeding, placement and more. You can scan the QR code on this leaflet to learn more about the specific flowers you chose.
Bloom. flowers arrive already bloomed – hence the brand name – meaning they are ready for you (or your giftee) to enjoy from unboxing. These flowers lasted us over two weeks, which was very impressive, and we just couldn't believe how beautiful they were. Also, unlike other flowers, they didn't start smelling at the end of their life – in short, these blooms continued to impress us from the moment they landed on our doorstep, right to the end of their life.
Click to shop Bloom.'s Valentine's Day Collection for 2022.
We think Waitrose flowers are the best around, they offer delivery 7 days a week, the blooms stay fresh for at least a week and there are so many beautiful bouquets to choose from. There are also lots of lovely extras you can order with your flowers, like sweet treats and fizz, you can even order your flowers to come in a super cute Emma Bridgewater jug. The prices are really reasonable too, starting from just £15.
Our experience: The value for money of each bouquet was immediately apparent. It's normal for letterbox flowers to look a little droopy on first arrival, but aside from one flattened rose head and a few slightly dishevelled stems, both bouquets looked great straight away in their vases.
Sadly, that's where we hit a problem. The ceramic jug that came with this bouquet didn't make it through the post in one piece, putting a damper on an otherwise extremely impressive flower delivery from Waitrose. Nevertheless, three days later this medium-sized bouquet still stands out from the rest with its professional arrangement and fresh blooms.
Click to shop Waitrose Florist's Valentine's collection for 2022.
If you're after a really affordable flower delivery service, make sure you check out Interflora, because not only do they have great prices, but there's always some kind of offer live on site. If you order before 3 pm, you can get same-day delivery, which is a massive plus, and these are the longest lasting flowers from our pick, with up to seven days of freshness.
We especially love that Interflora partners with local UK florists and their bouquets are personally prepared and handmade to order. And, because they aren't flown from anywhere or have to travel long distances, the blooms stay fresher, and you get to enjoy the flowers for longer.
Our experience: We found ordering flowers online through Interflora to be an easy and quick process and were impressed when it turned up: unlike boxed flower deliveries, where the blooms are hidden, Interflora's hand-delivered bouquets have an instant impact. Our bouquet was vibrant, fresh and beautifully presented in biodegradable cellophane and a recyclable gift box. It was also notably bigger than our letterbox bouquets from Bloom & Wild and receiving it felt like a real treat.
Click to shop Interflora's Valentine's Day collection for 2022.
Save on your next order with our Interflora discount codes.
We love a brand with a story and ethics behind it, and we know you do too, which is why we really like Bunches. Bunches give 10 per cent of their profits to help those in need in both the UK and developing countries, and the company is really involved with seeing how this money is spent to better people's lives.
They also make sure their flowers all come from farms that adopt the best agricultural practices (save on water consumption and emissions, disposing of waste properly) and are sourced from Florverde Sustainable Flowers (FSF) certified farms in regions found in parts of the developing world.
As well as being ethical, the flowers are all gorgeous and last for ages.
Our experience
Ordering online was simple and straightforward, we selected a delivery date and they came on the afternoon of the date we selected. Our doorbell was rung and the flowers were left on the step, so everything was contact-free. The bouquet we ordered was STUNNING. The whole bouquet lasted a week, then the roses started to look a bit worse for wear but we removed those and the rest of the blooms looked lovely for another week.
Shop Bunches' Valentine's collection for 2022.
If you are after last-minute flowers (forgot the anniversary again?) then Serenata has you covered. You can have flowers delivered the same day you ordered them, seven days a week – even on Sunday. And on top of that, the delivery is free!
There are lots of options, too, for all occasions, and the prices are really reasonable. You can pick the size of the bouquet you would like, and pop on little extras like a box of chocolates or even a bottle of fizz. Oh, go on then.
Our experience
Again, it was all contact-free, left on our doorstep with a note through the letterbox and a buzz of the doorbell. The flowers arrived in a roomy box so nothing was damaged and all the blooms were protected. The flowers lasted just under a week but the greenery kept on going, so we padded it out with some wildflowers from the garden (a top tip for making your bouquets last longer).
Click to shop Serenata's Valentine's collection for 2022.
Save on your next bunch with our Serenata discount codes.
There are so many gorgeous bouquets to order from Flying Flowers. Think everything from lovely subtle spring flowers to big bright blooms – there's something for every style and occasion. The prices are really affordable too, starting from just £17.99, plus delivery is always free. You can often can an extra percentage of your bouquet for free too, so you are always getting more for your money – the best flower delivery if you are on a budget!
Reviewers' experiences
We are yet to test these in person but reviewers say they arrived well packaged and on time. The flowers last for a long time, with some people saying theirs bloomed for two weeks or more. They get plenty of return custom and many agree they are very competitively priced.
Click to shop Flying Flowers' Valentine's collection.
Trusty M&S delivers gorgeous, high-quality flowers that can last over a week. Each bouquet is seasonal, so you can choose flowers that are perfect for the time of year. Right now the selection is filled with gorgeous spring blooms that will really brighten up your home (or the home of the lucky person you are having them delivered to). They also offer a flower subscription too, so you gift yourself or someone else, the pleasure of having fresh blooms arrive either weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Our experience
We ordered the Collection Rose & Seathistle Bouquet which arrived on the day requested and contact-free. The bouquet is HUGE, perfect for a special occasion as it looks really luxurious. The flowers came in protective netting so everything looked perfect once in a vase and continued to bloom for 5 days after delivery.
Click to shop Valentine's collection for 2022.
If you are looking for the best flower delivery for a real treat, The Real Flower Company (available at Selfridge's) is it. Each bouquet is so beautiful and looks so rustic and natural. They are all arranged by expert florists the day before delivery, so they are very carefully packaged to ensure they arrive looking fresh and healthy. The packaging is really quite special and all recyclable, too.
Prestige Flowers have some really classy bouquets – and great customer reviews to match. Delivery is fast (which is a feat given the current circumstances), the flowers are fresh, and many of the bouquets come with a free vase or a box of chocolates. We really like the hat box range – very beautifully presented. They also sell food hampers and cute gifts you can send along with flowers.
Reviewers experiences
Lots of people appreciate how easy the site is to use and have ordered flowers repeatedly from Prestige. Many reviewers had ordered chocolates and hampers from here too which they said were equally good. The packaging is noted as being very effective in keeping the flowers at their best.
Click to shop Prestige Flowers' Valentine's Day collection for 2022.
Flower Card sell exactly what their name claims, but together – cards with flowers inside. Unique, and we love it! Choose your card and flower bunch, personalise it with your words and send it straight to them, to display in their home. The card will stand with the flowers inside, and everything you don't want to see is hidden – the pot, oasis... If you are not a fan of the flower card idea, they also sell flowerboxes, teacups with flowers inside and trugs.
The best part is that these cards are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic and all are fully recyclable. They also offer next day delivery, and they can send to homes, work or hospitals.
Our experience
These flowers arrive perfectly displayed – gift wrapped and in a sturdy box, ready to pop on your (or their) side. A Flower Card would truly make a lovely and thoughtful gift. On arrival, you'll want to touch the oasis (foam) to check if it needs watering. If so, then place it in your draining board and water with a small jug – do this as necessary to keep your blooms, blooming! Cut off the heads of wilting flowers to keep them looking fresh. You may want to place your card on a mat (or water-resistant surface) to prevent leaking.
Click to shop Flower Card's Valentine's collection for 2022.
How we tested the best flower delivery services
We tested these flowers by ordering bouquets from each. It must be noted that we did this near the start of lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic so think all companies deserve extra points for offering the service they did in a difficult time.
The results were fascinating. If non-contact delivery is an absolute must, we recommend choosing letterbox flower specialist Bloom & Wild. The bouquet we ordered was stunning – the best of all the letterbox flowers we ordered – and because the package is designed to be posted, you don’t have to answer the door to receive the flowers.
The real story here, though, is how the rest of the flower delivery services we tested have stepped up to the challenges the country is facing. We found that companies like Interflora and Floom – which pride themselves on their bigger, better-presented, hand-delivered bouquets – are now offering non-contact delivery as well. In fact, we found non-contact deliveries from these florists to be a much friendlier interaction (albeit from a socially responsible distance) than those we received via courier.
