Florists gearing up for Valentine's Day. Living Colour Florist owner Nina Healey
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and while singletons may be confined to pizza for one and a Netflix rom-com, couples are keeping local florists busy.
Rotorua florists agreed business was starting to pick up earlier in the week, although pointed out most Valentine's Day customers were men and in previous years many had left their shopping to the last minute.
Living Colour Florist owner Nina Healey said Valentine's Day was usually one of the biggest days of the year.
"We've actually got two really large weddings which we're preparing for on Friday and Saturday, but gentlemen usually don't even think about Valentine's until the minimum of the 12th," she said this week.
"We'll be pretty much done with the weddings by the time they start coming in. When I first started in floristry, we didn't even do Valentine's Day, but now it's huge and every other industry jumps on the bandwagon as well."
She said traditional red roses were generally the favourite, although she was offering some more variety this year.
"We've got some mixed colour roses and some hot pink roses. Generally we've been fairly traditional but this year we decided to do something different.
"Because it's on a Sunday this year, it's much less busy than normal. If it's a weekday it's extraordinarily busy because you're doing a lot of business deliveries. When it's a weekend not so many people work and they do something different, there's a lot of other options."
Living Colour Florist owner Nina Healey was prepared for the Valentine's Day rush. Photo / Andrew Warner
Ems Flowergirl owner Emily Stevens echoed Healey's sentiments about customers leaving their gift buying late.
"The orders are slowly coming in but there's always the last-minute rush.
"Valentine's Day and Mothers' Day are our two biggest days of the year, they're absolutely massive. Being the weekend it's not quite as huge this year but it's up there.
"There have been lots of issues with shortages of flowers this year. I think maybe some were a bit shy planting after the lockdown and things, plus there have been other delays."
Stevens said a lot of work went into preparing for the Valentine's Day rush.
"We can work all through the night beforehand or two days before. We will be open on Sunday too."
Adam Korn proposed to Tina Mosaferi at the Rotorua Canopy Tours on Valnetine's Day in 2019. Photo / Supplied
Valentine's Day is also a popular day for wedding proposals.
In 2019, one couple from the United States chose Rotorua's Canopy Tours as the perfect spot to pop the big question.
The couple had been dating for six years and were on holiday in Rotorua when Adam Korn popped the question.
It took months of planning to get there as Korn booked a private tour with Rotorua Canopy Tours and worked across datelines to plan the moment, going back and forth about how to make the proposal as romantic and memorable as possible.
He asked his girlfriend Tina Mosaferi on the last platform of the tour and she said yes.
Rotorua Canopy Tours customer experience manager Eloise Roxburgh said the team there were always happy to go the extra mile and loved seeing people get on one knee on their tours.
"We love it, we've had a few rings waiting in the safe, songs chosen and notes left along the way - we've done quite a few little extra bits and pieces to make it special.
"We usually organise it with the male and then add some surprises so it's an experience for them as well. Canopy Tours is so unique, you're trying something new and then you add this emotional element too.
