Flowers for a First Date: What to Bring and What to Avoid

Yes, you can bring flowers to a first date, but keep it small: a single rose or a small, light bouquet that is easy to hold all evening. A big bouquet at a first meeting often creates pressure and turns into something awkward to carry around a café or a cinema. Choose one red rose or a softer colour, keep the number of flowers odd, and give them as soon as you meet.

Should you bring flowers at all

In Lithuania, flowers on a first date are a familiar gesture, and many people appreciate them. They show that you made an effort and that the meeting matters to you. Still, they are not compulsory, and not every situation suits them.

Flowers usually fit when:

• you are meeting at a café or restaurant, or going for a walk around town;
• you are picking her up from home or meeting near where she lives;
• you have been talking online for a while and this is the first time you meet in person.

It is better to go without flowers, or with just one rose, when:

• you have something active planned, such as cycling, a hike, the ice rink or bowling;
• the meeting is short and casual, for example a coffee during a lunch break;
• you sense that the person you are meeting does not like big gestures.

If in doubt, a single rose is the safest choice: it shows attention without putting anyone under obligation.

What to choose: small and light

First date flowers should be easy to carry, easy to put down on a table and small enough to sit next to a handbag.

• One rose. A long-stem rose in plain paper is a classic that never looks overdone. It is light, takes up little room and stays presentable for a few hours without water.
• Three roses. A little more than one, but still compact and easy to carry.
• A small bouquet. A few spray roses, tulips in spring or a handful of seasonal flowers, tied so the bouquet can be held in one hand.
• Her favourite flowers. If she mentioned a flower she likes while you were chatting, you will not get a better hint. Even one stem shows you were listening.

Keep the number odd: one, three, five. In Lithuania an even number of flowers is associated with funerals, so two or four roses are not right for a date.

What to avoid

• Huge bouquets. On a first date a very large bouquet can feel like too strong a statement. It also has to be carried all evening, takes up half the table in a café, has nowhere to go in a cinema and is hard to protect on a bus.
• Strongly scented lilies. Their scent can be overpowering in a small café or restaurant, and lily pollen is hard to wash out of clothes. Lilies are also highly toxic to cats, and you may not know yet whether she has one.
• Potted plants and flower boxes. They are good gifts for other occasions, but on a date they are heavy and awkward, and a plant also comes with care she did not ask for.
• Flowers that wilt quickly out of water. Hydrangeas, for example, droop fast without water and may not last through a long evening.
• Heavy wrapping. Lots of cellophane, ribbons and decorations make flowers bigger and harder to carry. Plain paper looks neater.

Colours that do not say too much

Colours carry traditional meanings, so on a first date it makes sense to choose ones that show you like someone without promising too much.

• A single red rose is a familiar date gesture and reads as a sign of interest. A large bunch of red roses talks about love, which is usually too early for a first meeting.
• Pink and peach are probably the best choice: warm and soft, they say you like her without a big declaration.
• White and cream look elegant and restrained.
• Yellow is more often linked with friendship, and some people also associate it with separation, so on a date it may not come across the way you intend.

When and how to give them

Give the flowers as soon as you meet. That way you do not have to hide them behind your back waiting for the right moment, and the awkwardness of the first few minutes often eases by itself. Flowers given at the end of the evening are fine too, but then you are the one carrying them around all night.

Once you hand them over at the start, though, she will be the one carrying them. So think ahead about where they will go:

• at a café or restaurant, a single rose can lie on the table or on the chair beside her, and you can ask the waiter for a glass of water;
• at the cinema or theatre, flowers sit on her lap for two hours, so one rose at most, or none at all;
• if you pick her up from home, she can put them in water straight away, and a slightly larger bouquet is fine;
• if she is going home by bus or trolleybus afterwards, one or three roses will not get in the way, but a big bouquet will.

A few practical tips

• Buy the flowers on the day, a few hours before you meet, so they are fresh.
• Ask for any remaining thorns to be removed from the stem.
• In winter, ask for the flowers to be well wrapped and do not leave them in a cold car: frozen petals darken and do not recover.
• In summer, do not leave flowers in a hot car or in direct sun.
• Before you hand them over, check that no price sticker is left on the wrapping.

Flowers for a date in Kaunas

Gitanos gėlės is a florist stand inside the Šilas store at A. Baranausko g. 26, Kaunas, open every day from 8:00 to 23:00, so you can call in on the way to an evening date. Roses are sold by the stem from 2,50 € each, and bouquets start from 15 €. If you would like the flowers ready when you arrive, you can pre-order by SMS on +370 656 38880 or at gitanosgeles.lt and collect them on your way.