Every week someone walks in and says "I need a bouquet": and when we ask what for, they freeze a little. Not because they don't know the occasion, but because nobody's ever told them the occasion is the wrong starting point.
The right starting point is the person. Here's how we get there.
The five questions that matter
1. What are they like? Not their age or your relationship. Their personality. Loud friend gets loud flowers. The person who owns four beige cardigans gets tonal neutrals.
2. What's their space like? A bouquet for a minimalist apartment reads wrong if it arrives looking like a hedge. If you've seen their kitchen, you already know the answer.
3. What would they never pick themselves? Hard-nos are gold. "She hates lilies" saves a bouquet. "He'd think roses are too much" redirects it.
4. What should it say? Congratulations, sorry, thinking-of-you, happy-Tuesday. The message sets the size more than the occasion does.
5. What's the honest budget? Not a trick question. $55 and $145 both make good bouquets. They just make different ones.
The kitchen trick
Stuck on question two? Ask yourself what colour their kitchen towels are. Seriously, people buy soft furnishings in the palette they like living with. A bouquet that matches their sofa wins more often than one that matches their star sign.
If you've never seen their space, go seasonal and let the growers decide. Whatever's thriving in the Waitaki this week is the safest beautiful answer there is.
Shortcut
Screenshot this list. It covers 90% of what we ask at the counter. Send it with your order brief and we'll do the rest.
When in doubt, go single-variety
The most underused move in flowers: a big bunch of one thing. Thirty tulips, a fat cluster of sunflowers, a mass of sweet peas. It reads confident, suits almost everyone, and lets one stem be the whole story. When the brief is thin, single-variety is what we reach for.
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Skip the guesswork, tell us about them.
Custom bouquets from $55, same-day Oamaru delivery when you order by noon.