How do Valentine’s Day flowers bought online fare? Should you share the love and splash out on your Valentine or do you think the whole event is just over-commercialised nonsense?
With help from our expert at Which? Gardening, we recently compared Valentine’s Day-style bouquets predominantly made up of red roses from some of the biggest online florists.
Spending between £20-£40 on each bouquet, we assessed them on arrival and compared them with their online images. Then, following the instructions to the letter, we kept them for a week in our office. After seven days, we judged them again to see how they looked.
Our expert found Moonpig’s The 12 Red Roses to be the best. She liked the big, fresh red flowers and, at £28, felt they were good value for money. They were also the second cheapest we tested, only beaten by Flying Flowers’ bouquet, which cost £24.99.
Supermarket flowers
Of course, you don’t have to buy your Valentine’s Day bouquets online. In fact, you may find that it’s cheaper and less risky to pick up a bunch of flowers at the supermarket. This year, both Lidl and Aldi are selling a dozen red roses for £5 over Valentine’s Day.
If you aren’t fussed about them being red, you can find roses in a variety of colours in your local supermarket or petrol station. These usually cost around £3-£4, and you can be sure that they won’t get damaged on their way to your beloved. I recently bought roses from Tesco for £3, which lasted almost two weeks.
How deep(-pocketed) is your love?
But are most supermarket-bought flowers too cheap for Valentine’s Day? Should we be splashing out on our partners on the most romantic day of the year? Or is it an over-commercialised farce and yet another way to get us to part with our cash?
In recent weeks, I’ve noticed a plethora of cheesy Valentine’s Day gifts available, from big teddy bears holding hearts to heart-shaped balloons and even mini frying pans designed to fry heart-shaped eggs. The shops, it seems, are determined to sell us true love.
Whether you’re in a couple or single, love it or hate it, it’s hard to escape the big day. There’s even a ‘Galentine’s Day’ encouraging women to buy their gal pals bunches of flowers and chocolates on the 13th. But is that an anti-Valentine’s protest or just giving brands even more reason to promote unneccessary spending?
When did Valentine’s Day become about making money rather than celebrating romance? Shouldn’t we show our loved ones that they’re special every day and not just on 13/14 February?
I know I’d rather get a cheap bunch of petrol station flowers every Friday than an expensive bouquet just once a year.
Which corner are you in when it comes to Valentine’s Day? Do you love it or do you loathe it? Will you be saying it with flowers this year?