Nothing says ‘I love you’ like flowers, and on Valentine’s Day the roads are crammed with courier drivers delivering bouquets of red roses.
But are there alternatives to saying it with flowers? What if your language of love is food? Or the special person in your life suffers from hayfever?
If you want to do something different this year, we’ve put together a guide to the alternative Valentine’s Day bouquet. These bouquets are all about romance but no flower (or barely any) was harmed in their making. And they’re sure to leave a great taste in the mouth of your Valentine.
The beef jerky bouquet
Otherwise known as the broquet, this floral alternative will please the meat lover in your life. Forget roses and peonies, think cured meats and sausages. This salty surprise from The Manly Man Company can only be delivered in Canada or the States – but we have faith in you to make your own. Would go down nicely with beer.
The chocolate bouquet
At Sweet lil Bunch it’s the chocs that are the star attraction. Incorporating the best of both worlds – sugar and the romantic concept of giving flowers – the chocolate lover in all of us can indulge to their heart’s content.
Edible Blooms offer buckets and bouquets of heart-shaped chocolates, luxury chocs, truffles and more. Some come with champagne too.
Sweet!
The bacon bouquet
Make your Valentine’s day by gifting a bloom that can be thrown in the frypan and made into breakfast. This single rose bacon bouquet from Waitaki Bacon and Ham comes with a packet of Waitaki’s streaky bacon.
The ‘blooms’ are made from streaky bacon with magnolia leaf added as greenery. They’re wrapped in sinamay natural fibre and finished with butcher’s brown paper and string.
We can smell it cooking now!
The vegetable bouquet
For the vegetarian or vegan in your life, make them yours forever with a veggie bouquet from vegebouquet.co.nz.
The bouquet pictured above is romantically known as the Underwater World Bouquet. So ethereal – and packed full of goodness in the form of broccoli, kale, fancy salad and raddish.
Each bouquet is wrapped in baking paper and held together with biodegradable tape and bamboo skewers. There are fruit options too.
The doughnut bouquet
Last year an Australian bride made headlines when she walked down the aisle with a doughnut bouquet. You can impress your partner by giving him or her a doughnut bouquet for Valentine’s Day.
Edible Blooms has expanded its range to include the Donut Surprise Bouquet (pictured above), the Luxury Donut Heaven Bouquet and more.
Krispy Kreme, which arrived in New Zealand last year to doughnut lovers’ delight, has created special heart-shaped doughnuts for Valentine’s Day. Not quite bouquets but sure to please.
There’s the Krispy Kreme chocolate heart doughnut, and the Krispy Kreme strawberries and crème heart. You can even add in a love note using their specially created Love Message Maker.
Spare the flowers, we say. Be creative – and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
