According to figures released last year, 14% of men forgot all about Valentines Day. We can only imagine that they were single on February 14th (or they were shortly after) and didn’t need to buy flowers for their loved one OR they really did genuinely forget. One can only imagine that they either walked around with their eyes shut, or more likely, had their wife / girlfriend buffing ears fully turned up to level 10.

Men however, aren’t the only culprits. Whilst the vast majority of flowers bought on Valentines Day are by men, there are a small percentage of romantic ladies out there who do reciprocate buying flowers or gifts……and the ladies are liable to forget also. So, it’s up to both of you to keep the romance alive and not to end up coming into Rays Florists on February 15th, with a hangdog look of shame about your person. Believe me, we get several sheepish men into the shop the day after Valentines Day……we’re always happy to help, but we do feel their pain

Some insider bloke tips for getting yours this Valentines

• Don’t leave it too late! There’s a strong possibility that if you leave it too late on Valentines Day, you’ll be unable to get a delivery slot. It’s a florists busiest, most stressful day of the year….order now if you have to – just get it done!
• Use some subterfuge – discreetly ask (if you don’t know!) what her favourite colour is, what she likes or hates, this will give you an indication of what flowers she may like to receive. Is she a traditional type of gal, she may love roses, if she’s the opposite, she might like something a bit more funky and modern. It doesn’t always have to be 12 red roses, but they are always the most popular bouquet that we create.
•   Think about the message you want on the card – make it funny, make it different, but don’t be boring…..take the initiative and write something she’ll be touched by..…maybe something that you’ve noticed about her that you love (flattery will get you anywhere and everywhere)
• If you’re not coming to Rays Florist, make sure you go to a professional florist or flower shop – you’ll get far better value for money, better quality flowers, better service and you’ll see what you’re buying – very often, large internet companies will shove an image in front of your that bears absolutely no resemblance to the finished article.

Best of Luck!

If you fancy looking at our Valentines day flowers, either pop in to our shop in Ash, visit our website or call us free on 0800 0372025.

If you’re all out of ideas (or money) for Valentine’s Day, let us do the creative thinking for you. Make the international lovers’ holiday special this year with these five tips.

1. Make it a surprise.

If you’re like a lot of couples these days, you’re probably finding that your budget gets tighter and tighter each year. One way to avoid going into debt on February 14 is to keep it simple. But just in case you’re worried about your lover not being pleased with your nailed down plans this year, a way to raise the level of excitement is to plan to do very little and then surprise him or her with something extra. For example, you could plan a nice, inexpensive dinner at home but order a gourmet dessert for you and your sweetie.

2. Invest lots of time rather than money.

There aren’t a lot of people who wouldn’t like an expensive gift on Valentine’s Day, but to most people, a genuine present is worth more sentimentally. Instead of getting expensive jewellery, tap into your talents to make something special for your significant other; a homemade batch of his favourite cookies or a new jewellery box for her shows that you put both thought and time into making this holiday special.

3. Engage in conversation

Just as important as where you go is what you do when you get there. It’s a no-brainer to pay special attention to your significant other this Valentine’s Day, but what many partners often forget is to listen. The fanciest dinner plans in the world won’t mean much if you don’t take the time to connect with your partner, so make sure to focus on him or her, not your surroundings. Now is the time to have those meaningful conversations that you used to have when you first started dating. Ask about the things that your lover still wants to accomplish, and then talk about how you can make it happen.

4. Remember: less is more.

Whether you decide to go all out this year or have a quiet evening in, don’t forget the basics. Flowers, candy, and Valentine’s cards are the staples of this holiday for lovers, so they should be the first thing your partner sees when he or she wakes up or walks through the door at the end of the work day. Treat these small gifts like a prelude to the even more thoughtful date to come, and use them as a way to get you and your partner excited to celebrate. Hallmark cards; are the perfect way to express how you feel about your significant other, so don’t forget to choose one with a sweet message inside or write your own.

5. Go beyond Valentine’s Day.

It is a wonderful thing to take time out to celebrate your love with your spouse or partner, but this holiday is just one day out of 365. Your relationship is like a living, growing plant, and It is important that you take time to water and prune it all the time. One way to make sure that you can carry the spirit of Valentine’s Day with you throughout the year is to use this time to make promises to each other about what you will do to improve your relationship. For example, a guy could promise to help out around the house more, and a girl could vow to be more spontaneous.

In conjunction with a survey we’ll be sending out soon to customers who have signed up to our newsletter, we would like you to take a look at some of the proposed new lines we’ll be adding to www.raysflorist.co.uk this year.

If you would like to receive the survey directly (and also receive a discount code as thanks!), please contact us through our website. Of course, you can also make comments below!

Wedding flower products

General floristry

Funeral flower products

To complement our range of booklets from the Flower Council of Holland,m we’ve added the Outdoor plant Booklet.

More than 450 popular outdoor plants in a colourful, easy-reference booklet with ring binder. Besides an alphabetical list of pot-plant illustrations, this handy pocket-size booklet also contains information about VBN product codes, RHS codes and an index with Latin and popular names, all alphabetically arranged with availability dates. Also  available are the Cut flowers and Plants Booklet.

Here at Rays Florist, we’ve got some wonderfully festive Christmas flowers for local and national delivery. The Christmas flower range features traditional colours and tones including the favourite reds, golds and whites.

Order securely online from our website or call us free on 0800 0372025 to place your order. Check out the rest of the Christmas Flowers range on our website www.raysflorist.co.uk. 

Merry Christmas!

We thought you would like to see this tribute we made recently. Obviously, there was a sporting connection associated with this piece and we were happy to put our own spin on it.

The base was a a 2ft x 1ft designer sheet which we covered with flat moss and secured with mossing pins.

We used midelino sticks to shape the head of the racquet and used some fishing net left over from the pockets on the snooker table!

Underneath the racquet we inserted some double white chrysanthemums and used floral spray paint in yellow and black to signify the racquet case and to add some bold colour.

A matching floral spray was added as well as a (real) shuttlecock.

Green Santini chrysanthemums were used for the handle, not exactly to scale, but it’s important to accentuate some aspects to provide authenticity.

For quotes on bespoke floral tributes to be made by Rays Florist, please call us on 0800 0372025. If you need some free advice, please also don’t hesitate to call and ask the experts!

We were recently asked to create a personal funeral tribute with walking boots being the theme. 

We started off by gluing some brown santini Chrysanthemums to the toe area of the boots and some moss to the side/lace area and spraying it all lightly with some October brown floral spray paint.

The laces were made from Natural mossing twine. We then bolted the boots onto a 2ft x 2ft Oasis designer sheet. We used around a box of flat moss for the main area of the tribute. A large floral spray consisting of Anthurium, roses, shamrock blooms and complementary foliage (including Aspidistra leaves) was added to finish off the tribute.

We were really pleased with the way the boots turned out, but much more importantly, so were the family.

For quotes on bespoke funeral tributes made by Rays Florist, please call us on 0800 0372025.

Paypal are running a prize draw where our customers can win something they buy from us using PayPal up to the value of £200*. We are encouraging people to buy from us by promoting the prize draw on our site.

Paypal will be drawing five winners every day between 25 October and 20 December 2011. The more PayPal purchases that you customers make, the more chances you’ll get to win - so it’s a great way to generate excitement on our site. In parallel, paypal are also running a ‘wish it, win it’ prize draw which gives you the chance to win your personal wish list worth up to £5000.

* Terms and conditions apply 

Another successful evening class was held at Rays Florists last Friday evening, 7th October. Autumn topiary was the theme and lovely seasonal shades they turned out to be! Judging by the feedback, everyone enjoyed themselves, learnt a lot and were interested to learn even more!

Our guest students started with a base made from bamboo canes (or any old piece of wood will do) fixed into a metal tin with finishing plaster, topped off with a 16cm Oasis ideal sphere.

If you would like to book an evening course, we do have several Christmas themed ones coming up in November and December.

You can now book your class in any of the following ways:

Online at www.raysflorist.co.uk

Call us free on 0800 0372025

You can also register your interest on our site so that you will be one of the first to be notified when we release dates for new evening classes.

Learn floristry with the experts, book a course at Rays Florist today!

Yikes! Just reached the 30,000 mark for eBay feedback on our Rays Florist Sundries eBay store.

Most of it’s good aswell, with only 11 Negs in the last 12 months.

It’s all down to customer care - our top priority at all times.