Valentine’s Day: NI florist thinks lockdown has made people more caring and romantic

Alanna McMeekin of Personal Touch Florists in Banbridge was talking to the News Letter as she prepared for Valentine’s Day, a busy time of year for florists.

Asked if she thought the restrictions Northern Ireland has been under for the past two years have dampened people’s romantic notions or fuelled them, she said: “If anything, I feel people wanted and needed to share their feelings of love and appreciation even more. Especially when they could not be with their loved ones over the lockdown period, giving us the privilege of carrying their messages of love through contactless deliveries.”

She added: “Flowers are the perfect way to convey your feelings to your nearest and dearest on that special occasion. Our customers send flowers to partners, mothers, grannies and friends to show their love and appreciation. Flowers definitely bring a bit of life and colour into our lives.”

The family business has been in Banbridge since 1988, having been opened by Alanna’s father.

Alanna said: “Our best sellers for Valentine’s Day tend to be the aqua-packed bouquets, hand-tied and ready for display.

“We sell lots of dozens, half dozens and mixed colour bouquets with roses included – red being the most popular colour, but closely followed by white, pink and yellow.”

Asked if she’d had any extravagant or bizarre requests for Valentine’s flowers, Alanna said: “We have on occasion had the request for 100 stem red rose bouquets, often the two and three dozen rose bouquets proving popular, but my favourite has to have been including an engagement ring into a bouquet for a potential bride ... and yes it was a happy ever after thankfully.”

Answering whether people buy flowers for a florist, she said: “If your dad counts, then yes.

“He used to send my sister and myself a single red rose to school every year on Valentine’s Day, embarrassing the life out of us.

“To be honest throughout the year we often see many unusual new flower varieties and can’t help but find them a home, perks of the job I guess.”

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry

Editor