The bar for flowers has been raised. 

With the abundance of floral delivery companies, there’s no excuse for a banged-up grocery store bouquet. Fresh, high-quality arrangements make a huge difference, lifting your mood and transforming your home space. But how do you know which delivery service to choose?

I decided to order from The Bouqs Co., 1-800-Flowers, and UrbanStems – to see which ones were actually reliable, and which ones you should save your money on.

Bouqs is Best

I’m sorry, I know this is a spoiler. Definitely keep reading to get the full scoop – but your time and money are precious, and I’m giving it to you straight. Bouqs passed my test with flying colors. 

Speaking of color: when I decided to order these three separate bouquets, I specifically wanted blue flowers. (It’s kind of my thing; anyone who went to my wedding knows this.) To my delight, Bouqs had several options that fit the bill, and I fell in love with the Aquamarine. See below:

Light, airy, and just a little eccentric, THIS was exactly what I was looking for. Featuring blue and white hydrangea, globe thistles, and agapanthus, I could practically drown in the blues. Plus, all the greenery made the bouquet look that much more luxe.

The options for the Aquamarine were $54 for a classic size (14 stems), $74 for a deluxe (28 stems), or $94 for grand (42 stems). This is notably more affordable than UrbanStems, where you pay double the price for double the flowers! I also love that Bouqs tells you exactly how many stems come in each bouquet – other companies leave it a little more ambiguous. I added the Marina Vase for an extra $20 so that my Aquamarine would have the perfect backdrop.

This was not a bouquet available for next-day delivery – don’t stress though, they have a whole section for that – but I managed to get it within a week. The flowers arrived absolutely perfect, packaged so carefully they looked like they might survive in space. Some were still in bud form, which is noted on their site. Since these are cut-to-bloom straight from the farm, you get to watch them come to life right in your own house – they’ll last so much longer! 

Following their instructions pretty closely (but changing the water only every 2-3 days and keeping the blooms away from direct sunlight), I saw these flowers bloom and stay fresh for 2 whole weeks! Even then, I just removed any spent blooms and was able to stretch a slowly dwindling bouquet to 3 weeks!

Overall, I’m so happy with the selection, pricing, arrival, and vase life of Bouqs’ bouquets!

1-800-Meh

From 1-800-Flowers, I found “Wonderful Wishes.” Here it is below:

This disappointed me from the very start. I went to “Shop All Flowers,” clicked the “Blue” filter, and this was one of the only ones available. There’s only two blue flowers featured here, the alstroemeria and blue delphinium, dotted sparingly throughout. It simply isn’t enough! The variety from 1-800-Flowers left me craving more.

I digress. I opted for the large size at $81.98, but they also had options for a small size at $59.98, medium for $71.98, or extra large at $92.98, which I consider pretty standard for a nice bouquet, plus it came with a chic vase included. It was hard, however, to gauge exactly what these sizes meant because there was too little information. I had to eyeball it onscreen, and hope the size I chose was to my liking. 

P.S. Like many of their arrangements, this one was available next day, so take note, procrastinators!

Arriving the next day like promised, Wonderful Wishes looked pretty much like the pictures, minus a couple blooms that unfortunately got damaged on the way. There were no specific care instructions, so I added flower food to their vase, trimmed the stems, and changed the water every couple days. They lasted about a week before they started looking a bit droopy, which I also consider pretty standard.

Overall, 1-800-Flowers had standard pricing and vase life, but I was disappointed in the selection and how they arrived.

Just Above Average

Alas, the same fate befell me on my hunt for blue bouquets, this time from UrbanStems. My best bet here was The Unicorn.

Similar to 1-800-Flowers, the “Blue” filter presented this as my dream bouquet. And, similarly, this bouquet features alstroemeria and delphinium as their blue accents, with roses and carnations of different colors dominating. They’re lovely flowers, but not really what I wanted.

Here, the double size (what I chose) goes for $104, while a classic size is $58 and a triple is $147. Since no quantifying numbers are included, I did wonder if my double would really be double the size of the classic – it’s certainly double the price, unlike Bouqs or 1-800-Flowers. This particular arrangement was available both same- and next-day. 

I will say, when the Unicorn arrived the next day, I was pleasantly surprised at how vivid and bright it was! It may not have been blue, per se, but it brightened up my home quite a bit. The delivery wasn’t perfect, and my flowers looked a little banged up (see below). The care instructions for these specified daily water changes, and with that in mind I watched this bouquet last a little over a week.

UrbanStems was quite pricey and lacking in selection, like 1-800-Flowers, but had a longer vase life and I liked the bouquet itself more.

And The Blue Ribbon Goes to…

Okay, I already gave this away. But still! Bouqs, come get your prize. 

For anyone in the market for a gorgeous arrangement – including next-day options! – I highly recommend Bouqs. Their superior selection, range of prices, and long-lasting blooms make them our editors’ pick! Order yours now, and get 25% off using code PRIMARY25.