FAQs – Vela Flowers

Yes, they do!

Thanks to our innovative packaging, carefully selected blooms and by adding protective netting to individual flower heads, we are able to send full bouquets of fresh flowers through the letterbox.

Your blooms are laid top to tail in our bespoke box made from lightweight cardboard. Our boxes fit through all standard-sized UK letterboxes, and are sized 58 cm long, 18 cm wide and 3.8 cm deep.

Our boxes are made from 50% recycled materials and can be easily recycled, so please do so! The cellophane wrapping can go in plastic recycling, and the protective netting on the flower heads is made from recyclable Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). All message cards can be recycled too.

We're working on making all of our packaging 100% recyclable, so watch this space!

We do all that we can to make it clear to postal staff that our flowers are designed to fit through the letterbox.

But, on the rare occasion that they aren’t able to deliver your Vela flowers they may leave a note for the recipient to collect them from their local sorting office.

We understand that this is very inconvenient, but thanks to their special packaging, our flowers are designed to stay in good condition in the box for a day or two, and so if the recipient is able to collect them within 24 hours they'll still be able to enjoy their flowers.

If a problem like this arises, do let us know as we're always happy to help.

We leave plenty of time to prepare each bouquet so that they are sent to arrive on the correct day.

On occasion, Royal Mail may experience delays in their system, and your blooms may be held up by a day. Particularly at peak times, the Royal Mail may deliver a second time later in the day, so even if they haven’t arrived in the morning post, they may still be delivered until 6pm.

If the flowers haven’t arrived by 6pm on the day after your expected delivery date then please let us know.

Some hospitals have restrictions on the flower gifts that patients can receive. We suggest that you contact the hospital directly before placing your order to check that they allow flowers to be delivered, to avoid any disappointment.

Please remember to add the ward and bed number to your order if possible: without enough information your flowers might not get to the recipient in a large building such as a hospital.

We currently send our flowers out on a Thursday for delivery on a Friday. Providing you order by 1pm on Wednesday, your flowers will be sent out on Thursday. Our Tracked 24 delivery is free, but for guaranteed delivery we recommend Special Delivery.

We're working on adding more delivery days to our schedule, so keep an eye out for any announcements!

We know how important it is for your flowers to arrive when you expect, especially if they're a gift.

All Vela flowers are delivered by Royal Mail Tracked 24, which is a next day service, and 95% of the time the flowers arrive on Friday.

You can also opt for Special Delivery if you want to be sure your flowers will arrive on time - but please note, this is a signed-for service and so flowers will not be posted through the letterbox.

Our Letterbox Flowers have been designed to fit through a standard UK letterbox (measuring 18.4cm x 3.8 cm), and so in almost all cases our flowers will be delivered along with the rest of the post.

This means that there's no need for the recipient to be in, and a nice surprise will await them when they get home!

There is some difference in the size of letterboxes up and down the country and so if you aren’t sure that the flowers will fit we recommend adding a safe place instruction to the postman during the checkout process.

Fresh flowers are fragile by nature, and even though we try our very hardest to get your blooms to you in perfect condition, on rare occasions a bouquet may arrive which doesn’t meet expectations.

Due to the perishable nature of the flowers we aren’t able to receive returns, so please don’t send them back to us. Instead, contact Lily and she'll help you resolve the issue.

Please be aware that to process any complaints, we require photographs of your blooms to help us assess the issue.

Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut a couple of centimetres off each stem at a diagonal angle. Some flowers, like roses and peonies, will have 'guard petals' - these are the very outer petals and are often green or brown tinged. These can be removed and will instantly freshen up your blooms.

Find a sparklingly clean vase (flowers can be a bit fussy, they like things clean!) and fill it around a third full with fresh water. Don’t forget to use the flower food that comes with your blooms - it helps keep the water cleaner for longer as well as nourishing the stems and really does extend the life of your bouquet!

Add your blooms to the vase, making sure to remove any leaves or foliage that fall below the waterline, as these will cause bacteria to grow and shorten the life of your other flowers.

To help your flowers last, keep them in a cool room with no draughts and out of direct sunlight. In cooler weather, be sure to keep them away from radiators as these will dehydrate your blooms.

Fresh flowers last longest when they're kept in fresh water. Every couple of days, cut another centimetre off the end of each stem, clean the vase well to remove bacteria and add fresh cold water.

Usually you’ll spot some stems in your arrangement starting to fade sooner than others. Remove these as they’ll shorten the life of your other flowers. Change it up by putting your last few blooms in smaller jars and jugs to enjoy them for longer!

We prepare and post each bouquet soon after the flowers are picked, so you only receive the freshest blooms. As we skip many of the steps in the journey from field to home that most flowers make, Vela blooms last longer than many others that you might have had previously.

Nature intends each flower to have a different vase life, but we expect each Vela bouquet to be enjoyed for at least 7 days, and in many cases for 10 days or longer.

The majority of our customers receive Vela flowers regularly as a subscription - it's one of the big differences between us and many other florists out there.

We offer the option to set up an ongoing flower subscription either for you or as a gift. To say thanks for your loyalty, you’ll receive the very best rate for your flowers, and the very best of seasonal flowers each week, fortnight or month depending on the frequency option you choose.

We’ll continue to send bouquets until you choose to end your subscription. You can manage your subscription fully in the My Account section of our website.

Going on hols and need to skip a delivery? Fancy more flowers and want to change the frequency? Or even cancel (heaven forbid, and call us first before you do!) it's all easy to do online in seconds.

Great to hear, we love getting feedback on our flowers!

If you love your blooms and want to share your feedback, or equally if you have any problems with your flowers, their quality or the delivery, please contact us.

If you'd like to share you opinions about the kind of flowers we're sending or have any suggestions for our bouquets going forward, please email Lily and the flower team.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Vela is different because we change the flowers we choose every week to make sure each bouquet is seasonal and unique. We select our flowers every Thursday morning before dawn breaks and then carefully prepare and pack your flowers to be sent out the very same day.

All Vela deliveries take place on a Friday.

The photos you see on site are of the beautiful blooms our customers have received in recent weeks and months, and are shown to indicate the quality we pride ourselves on.

If you want some style inspiration, take a peek at our Instagram feed, which shows recent blooms, what we're working on, and ways our fabulous customers have styled their Vela flowers.

To skip a delivery, click ‘Manage Subscriptions’ and then ‘Delivery Schedule’ on the left hand side of the page. Here you will be able to see your upcoming deliveries (please note - the date associated with each order is the date the order is sent through to our system - the flowers will be delivered the Friday after this date). Simply click ‘skip’ under the date you’d like to change, and you’ll skip to the next scheduled delivery. If you would like to change the date on a delivery rather than skip it, please email us at hello@velaflowers.co.uk.

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The Vela Gift Card & Vase