I love fresh flowers, but my garden doesn’t grow so well - no green thumb at all. So fresh-cut flowers delivered to my doorstep are a great way to keep my home feeling bright and elegant, all year round.
During my last semester of college, I took a flower arranging course. Not exactly structural engineering or fluid mechanics (which I failed the first time), but honestly, not as easy as I thought it would be. My roommates loved all the flowers that I brought home, and ever since, I always keep fresh flowers in the house.
To see what can replace my hours spent arranging bouquets myself, I ordered three different flower delivery services. Each of these services offer one-time and subscription deliveries of a wide variety of bouquets for every season. They all come packaged for protection and include food to keep your flowers fresh and vibrant.
So how did each service deliver? Let’s take a look!
Freshest flowers - Bouqs
In class we were taught to look for signs of freshness, or lack thereof. Shipped flowers run the risk of being a little wilty, then perking up pretty quickly after being put in some room temperature water. But lack of freshness can be seen by fallen petals, brownish spots, and wilting.
In this case Bouqs was the clear winner, their packaging kept the flowers properly hydrated and super fresh. While all of the other flowers were in very good condition, Bouqs was the only one that didn’t drop a single petal. This is important because fresher flowers tend to last longer. Their flowers are sourced directly from growers and cut with precise timing that lets you enjoy the most time with your beautiful blooms.
Most pre-arranged - BloomsyBox
Once unwrapped, and trimmed, this bouquet could go right into a vase without any arranging needed. The other boxes need a bit of combining and placement, but I was able to put these ones directly into a vase without any extra preening. This was a huge time saver for me. Even better when this is sent as a gift and you aren’t too sure about the recipient's flower arranging skills.
Longest lasting - Bouqs
As noted on their packaging, all three bouquets shipped directly from South America. Considering the long trip, all the stems showed up in great condition (I have made the trip from the US to Ecuador and these flowers were in better condition than me when I landed 🤣). I found that Bouqs and UrbanStems looked and held up the best after 5 days. By day 7, some of the flowers had started to wilt, but there were plenty still fresh to rearrange into a tighter bouquet.
Accuracy - Bouqs and UrbanStems
Both Bouqs and UrbanStems sent flowers that looked similar to the images on the website. I have a particular palate in my house that I was looking for, so I’m glad they matched. BloomsyBox sent a totally different arrangement. It did look like the image on the website, but it was a different style and palette than what I had ordered, with a different price point. The flowers were indeed beautiful, but not what was expected.
Best Packaging - Bouqs
While all the flowers were secure, the packaging from Bouqs kept the flowers the safest. I like how they shipped two separate smaller bouquets that made the package more symmetrical, thus more balanced. The box was compact and easy to open, with an extra cardboard divider on top to keep the accompanying documentation dry while the flowers were moist.
UrbanStems had the most decorative packaging and Bloomsybox did a nice job of adding an additional layer of brown paper around the bouquet.
Subscription options - Bouqs
We do review subscription boxes, it’s in our name. All of these services offer subscriptions with similar parameters - pick a date and one of the seasonal options, plus free shipping. As I frequently order fresh flowers, I found that Bouqs had the lowest subscription price. This really helps keep costs down.
Bouqs also allows you a larger range of bouquets to choose from, whether it be a favorite flower, preferred color palette, or even letting Bouqs decide based on what is in perfect bloom.
Overall winner - Bouqs
While all the flowers I received were indeed beautiful, Bouqs was the most consistent. Shipping such delicate items is risky, and I appreciated the security Bouqs added to ensure they arrived in one piece. Plus, they really nailed the fall look. I requested to not receive vases as I have so many at home, including their super cute Marina vase from a past purchase. That vase paired with this fall bouquet really brought my home to life.
I'm super excited to be showing off these flowers to my fall guests. My only problem is not knowing what to choose next month, though I may just let Bouqs surprise me.
