Why Gifts of Flowers Are a Timeless Tradition

The language of flowers is universal and timeless. They express love, sympathy, congratulations and good wishes. As gifts and decorations, they speak of happiness and hopes. Around the world, flowers are used at weddings, birthdays, holidays and festivals to decorate, cheer and uplift hearts. In the U.S., traditional holidays like Christmas and Easter as well as Mothers? Day and Valentine’s Day are flower-themed holidays. Finding a good florist and design company in your neighborhood or online can be an important part of setting into a new home.

Flowers around the world
Flowers have been used as decorations for weddings and other celebrations throughout recorded history. As a career, florist and design has a long history. The oldest depictions of floral bouquets discovered by archeologists date back to 2500 B.C. From Indian weddings to English churches, flower decorations have been and still are part of important ceremonies. In the U.S., the holiday season with Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa competes with Valentine’s Day as the leading flower buying holiday.
In fact, annual spending on floral and design products in the U.S. reaches the astronomical figure of $26,600,000,000. People buy flowers for themselves as well as gifts for others. In fact, around 63% of all flowers are bought by people for themselves and just over a third or 37% as gifts for others.

Valentine’s Day is a florist?s dream
Valentine’s Day is the quintessential flower buying holiday. Flowers express all the romantic ideals of fidelity, hope and commitment. Roses are the most romantic flowers of course, but seasonal favorites with short blooming seasons like peonies and orange blossom are also very appealing. Overall, florist and design stores report that this is the leading flower buying holiday.
Valentine’s Day accounts for a third of all annual flower buying. In terms of dollar value, it accounts for 40% of annual flower purchases. Men aren’t the only ones doing the buying, though. They too like to receive flowers on February 14, and according to the American Society of Florists, more than a third or 36% of women bought flowers for their spouses on Valentine’s Day.

Flowers for mum
Mother’s Day is another big flower buying holiday around the country. Alongside other, more lasting and more expensive gifts, flowers for mum are an essential. About two thirds or 66% of people celebrating this holiday will do so with flowers according to the National Retail Federation.
In 2015, more than a third or 35% of all adults celebrated Mothers Day with gifts of flowers or plants. Total spending on flowers for this holiday was estimated to be $2.4 billion in 2016. With this level of spending, Mother’s Day accounts for a fourth of all holiday floral purchases. Not surprisingly, this is a busy day for flower delivery.

Wedding bouquets and decorations
Weddings are all about flowers and some of the biggest decisions to be made by the bride are about the wedding bouquet and floral arrangements. Then there are the bridesmaids? bouquets, and over 60% of weddings also have flower girls. The flower girl is a young relative of the bride or groom, and has the charming responsibility of scattering flower petals along the path walked by the bride.
Wedding florists, with their experience and knowledge of both flowers and weddings, are the best guide in deciding on flower and arrangement choices. Flowers typically make up 7 to 8% of the total budget for a wedding ceremony.

Floral and design stores also provide bouquets for many other important occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, get well wishes and more. Without saying a word, bouquets express our deepest feelings and wishes. That’s what makes them a timeless tradition.