I used to send my grandmother flowers twice a year on her birthday and on Mother’s Day. Back then, I didn’t have a ton of options for delivery companies, and since she was a little particular about what she liked, I probably sent the same bunch of tulips to her at least half a dozen times.
Now, there are a ton of smaller companies offering curated flower delivery and subscriptions, so you’ll never have to be stuck sending the same bouquet twice. I’ve been on a mission to find the best boutique flower sites with the most interesting arrangements, so I took a look at The Bouqs Co and ordered a bouquet for myself.
My Quick Take:
Bouqs has some cool arrangements, and I especially like the ones with plantable succulents, but a lot of their selection is a bit too boring and dated-looking for my taste. I had some issues with the flowers in my arrangement not reaching their peak all at the same time, and I would probably go with another site if I were looking for an arrangement with only flowers in it, but I’d give them another shot, if only for the succulent arrangements.
What I Think About The Bouqs Co
Their Selection
Flower Arrangements
The Bouqs Co offers a decent variety of arrangements—not nearly as many as the big names in floral delivery, like 1800-Flowers or ProFlowers, but more than a lot of the smaller boutique companies. The arrangements themselves were a little conventional for my taste. They’re comparable to the big floral delivery sites with lots of tight, round arrangements, a ton of rose-centric bouquets, and a lot of monochromatic or high-contrast color palettes.
I really like that they have several arrangements made with succulents. They were by far my favorite offering on the site. They feel more modern, and I’d imagine they last longer than flowers alone. The succulent is even plantable—it comes rooted in a vial of water so you can plant it in soil after the rest of your arrangement has died off.
A few The Bouqs Co arrangements I like:
Lemonade
You’re a Gem
Sweet Escape
The Juliet
Terracotta – one of The Bouqs Co’s handful of dried arrangements
Plants and Gifts
For a smaller floral delivery site, I was pleasantly surprised by The Bouqs Co’s selection of houseplants. They don’t have nearly as many as some of the more plant-focused sites like The Sill, but they have more variety than I was expecting from a boutique flower company. Still, I would probably stick to ordering flowers from them. If I’m going to send someone a plant, I’ll probably just order it from somewhere that specializes in them.
In addition to flowers and houseplants, Bouqs has a few gifts that you can send along with their arrangements—the selection is small and covers the typical chocolates, candles, and the like, but it makes for a more well-rounded gift if that’s something you’re looking for. You can’t add them to every arrangement, but rather you need to purchase one of their gift bundles, curated combinations of flowers and gifts.
Funfetti
Weddings
The Bouqs Co also does wedding and event flowers, something that not a lot of their competitors offer. They offer full-service wedding florals in select cities in California and New York City, and you can order anything from wedding bouquets to boutonnieres to centerpieces for delivery. They even have arbor/ceremony flowers and greenery garlands that can be used to decorate your wedding altar.
Happily Ever After
Burgundy DIY Wedding and Event Flowers
You can choose to order wedding florals “a la carte” or pick one of their “wedding in a box” options that include coordinated and pre-arranged wedding party flowers. There isn’t a huge selection to choose from, but there’s enough variety, and most of the arrangements are neutral enough to work with a lot of different wedding themes.
In addition to wedding boxes, The Bouqs Co also offers “party boxes,” which are large bundles of coordinating flowers so that you can DIY your own arrangements. There are a few wedding-worthy party boxes as well.
Their Website
The website is uncluttered and easy enough to navigate. You can search by flower type, color, occasion, and delivery time. You can also sort your selection by price and “first available.”
My biggest problem with the Bouqs website, unfortunately, seems to be common practice across the flower delivery industry. When you’re browsing their arrangements, they list the starting price (for the smallest size of that arrangement) alongside a photo of a larger, fuller size arrangement. Yes, once you go to the product page, you can view all of the sizes (usually three per style) along with their prices, but by then I’ve usually gotten my hopes up that I’ve found a lush, gorgeous arrangement within my budget, only to discover that the price is actually for a small posey and the arrangement pictured is anywhere from $20 to $40 more that I thought it would be. Sure, it’s a minor frustration, but it’s a frustration nonetheless.
Another thing that I found frustrating about the site was the number of pop-ups I encountered. They asked me to create an account, sign up for delivery subscriptions, and even pushed their Capital One partnership. On a similar note, I also received a ton of promotional emails from Bouqs in the days after I ordered from them. Sure, they were offering me discounts on flowers, but I’m not someone who sends floral arrangements every week, so it felt unnecessarily spammy to me.
Their Pricing and Shipping
I would say that Bouqs’ pricing is on par with or cheaper than a lot of similar sites. It’s comparable to ProFlowers, 1800-Flowers, and UrbanStems, and cheaper than places like Farmgirl Flowers.
My arrangement cost $59. When I ordered, I could add on a “birthday in a bag” for $28 (I wish they had more options for add-ons), and I was prompted me to upgrade to a larger size arrangement when I checked out.
I paid $25 for delivery on a weekday. It would have cost $12 more to deliver to me on a weekend.
Subscriptions
They offer three different size options for bouquet subscriptions that can be delivered weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly. I like that you can choose each arrangement in your subscription before it ships, or you can have the folks at The Bouqs Co pick a seasonal subscription for you. They also offer three-month subscriptions, which I really love as a gift idea.
My Experience Ordering from The Bouqs Co
I ordered the small size of the “Never Desert You”
My arrangement
Delivery and Unboxing
My order arrived a few days after I placed my order. I was a little annoyed that the delivery driver didn’t ring my doorbell—they just dropped it on my front step, despite the package being clearly marked as live flowers and the fact that it’s the middle of winter. I received an email from The Bouqs Co that my order was delivered to my “recipient,” which prompted me to check my doorstep. I don’t know that I can fault Bouqs for this—it’s probably more on the courier service they used—but if you’re sending flowers during inclement weather, you might need to give your recipient a heads-up once they’re delivered.
The bouquet was wrapped in cellophane and zip-tied into a durable cardboard box. The packaging was simple, but a layer of green tissue paper made it feel a bit more elevated.
The Arrangement
I wanted to like this arrangement from Bouqs so much, and while I didn’t dislike it, I was a tiny bit disappointed. According to their website, bouquets are often shipped before the flower buds have fully opened so that your recipient can enjoy their bouquet at its peak. They state that in most cases, flowers will fully open within two to three days.
Flower buds on the day I received them
I have no problems with this, but unfortunately, the different types of flowers in my arrangement were a bit out of sync. The main flowers in the arrangement, alstroemeria, were still buds when they arrived, but some of the accent flowers (I think they were white delphinium) were already at—or even just past—their peak.
The accent flowers the day I received the arrangement
The greenery was still beautiful, and I loved the little succulent centerpiece in the arrangement. It had roots that were enclosed in a vial of water so that I could plant it later (full disclosure: I still have yet to do that, but it’s still happily thriving off its little water vial).
The succulent
I waited about two days for the alstroemeria to open, and once they did, they were gorgeous—I actually really love that they didn’t all open at once since the mixture of full flowers and buds added a ton of visual interest to the bouquet.
The arrangement two days later
The alstroemeria looked beautiful
But the accent flowers were starting to die
Unfortunately, by the time they opened, the accent flowers were already starting to brown and wilt. Maybe I just got bad luck this time around (I can’t imagine how hard it is to time flowers like this), but I do feel like I missed out on seeing the entire arrangement in full bloom.
Pros
- I absolutely love the arrangements with succulents. What a cool idea!
- Their wedding flowers are a great low-maintenance option for a couple on a budget—something that’s hard to come by.
Cons
- A lot of the arrangements felt a little boring to me.
- I wish all of my flowers had been fresh at the same time.
Alternatives to Consider
- ProFlowers: This is one of the massive flower delivery sites. They have a lot of similar arrangements to the ones you’ll see from Bouqs, but they have a larger selection and serve a wider delivery area. Choose them if you don’t care about supporting smaller businesses or sustainable flower farming (though you should, in my opinion).
- UrbanStems: This company is another smaller boutique flower delivery service like The Bouqs Co, but in my opinion, their arrangements are a little cooler and more interesting. Check them out if you think the Bouqs selection feels a little dated or stuffy for your taste.
So Would I Order From The Bouqs Co Again?
Probably, but I don’t know that it would be my first choice. I’d give one of their succulent arrangements another try, especially in more temperate weather, just because I think they’re really unique. If I’m just looking for a pretty bouquet, I’d probably go through another service like UrbanStems, though.
Lauren is also a bona fide mixologist, bringing her professional bartending skills to the table as one of our resident drink testers. In Lauren's world, life is a celebration, and her home is the party hub.