Occasions

Almost every bouquet that leaves our studio is going to a date somebody has in their calendar — a birthday, a wedding morning, a first day in a new job, a funeral. This page is the short route from the occasion you are buying for to the range that was built for it.

Everyday celebrations

These are the ranges we send most often, and they are made up all year round. Birthday flowers lead the list — bright, generous and built to look good in the photograph the recipient sends back. Congratulations flowers go out for promotions, exam results, house moves and citizenship ceremonies, and graduation flowers come round twice a year, through the summer ceremonies and again in the winter ones. For a new arrival there is a softer, smaller-scale new baby range; for couples, anniversary flowers; and when the message is simply thank you, the thank you bouquets are the ones to look at.

Dates fixed in the calendar

Some occasions fall on the same day for everyone, and the studio plans months ahead for them. Valentine’s Day flowers on 14 February and Women’s Day flowers on 8 March are the two busiest dates of our year. Around them sit Mother’s Day flowers for Mothering Sunday, Easter flowers, Father’s Day flowers in June, Diwali flowers in the autumn and the Christmas collection in December. On the peak dates it is the delivery slots that run out rather than the flowers, so ordering a few days ahead is worth doing.

Weddings, sympathy and funerals

Wedding flowers are quoted rather than bought off the shelf: tell us the date, the venue and the colours, and we build the bridal work and the venue flowers around them. Sympathy flowers are for sending to a home or an office when someone needs to know they are being thought of. Funeral flowers are a different thing again — the tributes and arrangements made for the service itself, delivered to the chapel or the funeral director on the morning.

Choosing the flower, not only the occasion

If you already know what the person likes, it is easier to start from the flower. Roses carry the widest range of meanings and change character completely with colour. Peonies are the one flower people ask for by name, and they hold the summer here. Flower boxes arrive in water and need no vase, which makes them the safe choice for an office or a hotel room. Balloons add the celebration to a birthday bouquet, a hamper adds chocolate, wine or a vase to any order in the basket, and Ready now lists the bouquets standing made up in the studio today.

Ordering for a date that matters

Orders for same-day delivery in London are accepted until 22:00, seven days a week, Sundays and bank holidays included. In central London a three-hour delivery is available when the occasion has crept up on you. Outside London we send by courier and the bouquet takes two to three working days — the UK delivery page sets out how that works, and the areas, times and terms for London are on the delivery information page. Bouquets start at £39.

Every order arrives with care instructions, and following them keeps a bouquet fresh for at least three days from delivery. If it wilts sooner than that, send us a photo within those three days and we replace the bouquet. The flower care page explains how to get the longest life out of each type.

Occasion questions we are asked most

How far in advance should I order flowers for an occasion?

For an ordinary day in London the same day is enough: order by 22:00 and we deliver that day. For 14 February, 8 March, Mothering Sunday and the week before Christmas, order three or four days ahead. On those dates it is the delivery slots that fill up rather than the range selling out.

Which flowers should I send for a birthday?

Anything bright and generous. The birthday range leans on seasonal colour rather than a single flower, so a birthday bouquet looks different in March and in October. If you know the person’s favourite flower, order that instead — a birthday is the one occasion where personal preference beats convention.

What do you send when someone has died?

Two different things, and they are not interchangeable. Funeral flowers are the tributes that go to the service — wreaths, sprays, letter tributes — and they are delivered to the chapel or the funeral director before the ceremony. Sympathy flowers go to the family’s home, usually in soft whites, creams and greens, and they are a bouquet rather than a tribute. Sending both is normal: the tribute for the day, the bouquet in the weeks afterwards.

Can I send flowers to an office?

Yes, and in London it is one of the commonest deliveries we make. A flower box is the easiest choice for a workplace, because it arrives in water and can sit on a reception desk without anyone hunting for a vase. Put the company name and the floor into the delivery address as well as the street — receptions take flowers for people who are in meetings, and that is where the bouquet will wait.

Do you deliver outside London for an occasion?

Yes, anywhere in mainland Britain by courier, in two to three working days. The bouquets built for courier travel are a slightly different selection from the London range, because open-faced and heavy-headed flowers do not survive a night in a box. The UK delivery page says which ones we keep for London.

What should I write on the card?

Short beats clever. One line that names the occasion and one that names you is usually enough. Leave the message in the order comment at checkout and it goes out with the bouquet.

Can I send flowers for an occasion every month?

That is a flower subscription rather than a repeated order. Weekly and fortnightly deliveries arrive on the same day each time, which suits an office reception or a standing gift better than remembering to reorder.