Sharon S. wrote a review that explains the whole idea in one sentence: "so when my husband surprises me with a floral delivery to work, I get super duper excited because I know it'll be something extra special." There is no date in it. The surprise is the occasion, and on an ordinary week that is what makes romantic flowers for her work.
Pick a design from our Love and Romance collection, or order Designer's Choice and tell us her colors in the checkout note. Order the day before. If it's going to her office, give us the suite and the floor. Size it for the spot where it will sit, write the card yourself and sign it. Enter your ZIP for the current delivery charge. We don't deliver on Sundays, so for a Sunday dinner at home, have it come Saturday.
Tell us about her and the designer does the arranging
Three of the designs in the Love and Romance collection are Designer's Choice, which the shop sums up in four words: "Your budget, our design." The product page calls it how our regulars order. You choose the size, and the studio builds a one of a kind arrangement from what came in that day. If there's a color palette you'd love, or one to avoid, the page asks you to "leave us a note at checkout and we'll design around it."
It's the order for someone who doesn't know where to start, and James L. wrote in his review that he was exactly that: "I'm confused as can be when I get flowers and never know where to start. Anita was so easy to work with. She put together a really nice assortment (apparently that's what a bunch of flowers grouped together is called). In short, my wife loved them".
That note can be two lines. Wife of twenty years or girlfriend of three months, the note is about her. Skip the botany and describe the woman. She wears a lot of navy and likes things a little wild at the edges. She once stopped on a sidewalk to smell something sweet and made you wait. Our FAQ says the most meaningful choice is whatever the recipient actually loves. For the traditional meanings behind colors, there's our flower color guide, which lands in the same place anyway, on the ones that feel right.
Size it for the room, and give the studio a day
Many designs come in Standard, Deluxe and Premium, and each step up is the same design built fuller and taller. Designer's Choice has its own steps, from Classic up to Grand. The product page lists the sizes a design comes in, so compare those options with the spot where it will sit.
Picture where she'll set it down. For the kitchen island, start with the Standard. For the middle of the dining table, a Deluxe has some presence; leave room for two plates. The studio suggests Deluxe or Premium for milestones. This week has no milestone, so let the room decide.
A day's notice gets you the best version, because nothing is pre-made. Each arrangement is built when the order comes in. For next-day delivery the FAQ says to order any time today, and for a specific design on a particular date, give it a day or two. A statement piece built around something particular depends on sourcing, and sourcing takes a few days. Give it some notice.
Some weeks the idea shows up over lunch. Our same-day delivery page handles that one, and our guide to same-day delivery has a line for it: "Same-day is wonderful for the spontaneous gesture, the impulse to make someone's ordinary Tuesday better." The page lists what the designers can make that day. Enter her ZIP there for today's cutoff.
What happens between your order and her front door
The worry at checkout is usually whether it will look like the picture. The FAQ answers it in two words: very closely. Every arrangement is made by hand, flowers vary a little from week to week, and the photo shows the design's style, color palette and proportion. If a substitution would change the look significantly, the studio gets in touch with you first.
Then the designer sends you a photo of the finished arrangement before it goes out the door. You get to see her flowers before she does.
One of our own drivers takes it out. We deliver across Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Morrisville, Chapel Hill, Apex, Wake Forest, Rolesville and RTP, all of it by hand. When the driver is on the way, she gets a text, and for a surprise on a weeknight that's about the right amount of warning. If she is out, it waits for her in the shade, on the porch or at the front desk, with a note saying where.
If it's going to her work, the way Sharon S.'s husband sends it, mark the address as commercial and add the suite or floor.
A card in your own words, with your name on it
The card holds up to 300 characters of your words. No branding goes on it, and she won't see a price anywhere in the delivery.
A card she'll reread usually starts from one small true thing about this particular week, said the way you'd say it at the table. For a wife at the end of a long Monday: "You carried yesterday. Today is yours. See you at six, I'll bring dinner." For a girlfriend of a few months, "Nothing to celebrate. I just like you a lot." Neither one is poetry, and neither one needs to be.
And sign it. You can sign it any way you like, or leave the name off for the mystery. On an ordinary week, though, your name is most of the point.
If you'd like something to ride along, the one add-on right now is a box of Artisan Macarons from Le Petit Amour, a Raleigh baker the studio works with directly, in a six-pack or a twelve-pack. You add them at checkout and they come in the same delivery as the arrangement; our gifts and pairings page has them.
Tomorrow is a good time for it to arrive, on a day she was expecting nothing. The Love and Romance collection has the finished designs, and Designer's Choice leaves the choosing to our designers.