2026 Valentine’s Day Trading

Valentine’s Day is one of the largest trading weeks for growers, wholesalers & florists. The Flower Grower’s Group of NSW spoke with a few florists and growers to see how their V Day trading went this year.

Urban Flower - Homebush West, NSW

Carli from Urban Flower was ecstatic, stating that this year’s trading was the best yet regardless of Valentine’s Day falling on a Saturday. Although many orders came through last minute, she mentioned that Valentine’s flowers were popular all week leading up to the weekend. This year flowers were selected from the Sydney Flower Markets on Friday, with a few top ups on Saturday. Urban Flower relies on Red Rose heavy bouquet options to make it easier on themselves in terms of ordering- although about 1/2 of their sales came from Red Roses and 1/2 from other floral options including mixed pretty bouquets & native options (which are always very popular). Carli noticed the incredible quality of the Roses and Lisianthus this year, noting that the growers and the industry as a whole really hits its stride when it comes to supplying the high volumes of flowers needed for big occasions.

Carli’s main takeaway from this year’s Valentine’s Day was don’t be afraid of weekend trading. With V Day falling on a Saturday there’s actually less traffic, no school hour speed limits etc. and the Urban Flower team was able to get their first 200 bouquets delivered by 7am. She always like to keep flowers available for purchase in store so no one walks away empty handed if they have made the effort to come in to the store. Keeping the momentum and vibes high in store are key to getting through the weekend ( as well as nerves of steel- which have been harnessed over 55 years of trading).

Shady Fig - Berry, NSW

Michelle from Shady Fig had an amazing Valentine’s Day with very solid trading across Friday and Saturday with similar volumes to 2025. While the usual tradie run of last minute bouquet grab and go’s didn’t happen on the Saturday, there was a large quantity of preorders in-store. The team was busy fulfilling orders of romantic, seasonal bouquets including a few stems of Roses with the emphasis on bespoke, one of a kind arrangements designed specifically with each customer in mind.

Michelle noted that being a country florist it’s so important to be as organised as possible when it comes to planning for Valentine’s Day, aiming each year to continually ask herself ‘What could have been done better?’.

BESS - Paddington, NSW

Bess from BESS Paddington was surprised this year that it was busier than last year because she thinks V Day will be busier when it falls on weekdays. She mentioned that this year the shop had more orders than ever, with many of them at the minimum amount. She attributes this to younger customers buying flowers on V Day and not spending as much as those ordering on Mother’s Day- who are usually women organising the flowers and tending to spend more per order.

White House Flowers - Brookvale, NSW

Jess and Mel from White House Flowers shared that their Valentine’s Day sales were steady and very similar to last year, although they did see a slight drop overall. They feel this may have been influenced by the day falling on a Saturday. It could possibly be that more people chose to go away for the weekend or spend the day doing activities together, rather than focusing solely on gifting.

With Valentine’s Day landing on a Saturday, they noticed a clear shift in buying behaviour. Deliveries were slightly down, while studio pick-ups increased significantly. Customers appeared to prefer collecting their orders in person as part of their plans for the day. Overall, while there were small decreases compared to last year, sales remained consistent and the change felt more reflective of different celebration habits rather than reduced interest.

The red Rose trend remained a popular choice for WHF’s clients this Valentine’s Day. They feel it’s a timeless classic and continues to be the go-to option for expressing love and romance. No matter the trends that come and go, red Roses always hold their place as a firm favourite.

The team noticed an increase in the average spend this year with fewer smaller value orders and a clear shift towards more premium high-value arrangements. Clients seemed to prioritise quality and impact, choosing larger, more luxurious designs to mark the occasion.

Jess and Mel’s biggest lesson this year was the importance of preparation and organisation. Pre-making their orders and having all deliveries organised to leave first thing in the morning with multiple couriers proved to be incredibly efficient. Getting everything out the door early meant they avoided the usual stream of “Where is my delivery?” calls, and it took a huge amount of pressure off the team. Once the morning delivery rush was complete, they were able to focus fully on customers walking into the shop without trying to juggle courier logistics at the same time. It created a much calmer, more controlled environment and made the entire day run far more smoothly.

Another key takeaway for the team was resisting the urge to overbuy or panic purchase extra stock. In previous years, they felt the need to have an overflowing flower stand and would even return to the markets on Valentine’s Day morning for a top-up. This year they stayed firm with their original market buy. Being able to confidently tell their customers that they had sold out, rather than scrambling to restock, actually felt empowering and significantly less stressful. It also helped them to avoid unnecessary wastage from overbuying, making the day not only smoother operationally but more efficient overall.

East Coast Wildflowers - Mangrove Mountain, NSW

Craig from East Coast Wildflowers shared that this year sales figures were slightly up compared to last year. They had a good supply of pink and red flowering Eucalyptus, Scholtzia, Leucadendron and a good range of foliage. Customers were able to buy over the whole week which made busy trade more manageable.

Craig noticed there was a high demand for mixed bouquets this year, as well as all our other products- in particular Eucalyptus, Protea, Banksia & Leucadendron all sold well. Unfortunately Eucalyptus Silver Dollar was still a bit soft and didn’t sell as well as hoped.

Overall, Craig felt the crossover of Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year lead to an extremely busy trading at the Saturday Market on 14 February.