New Study Shows Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Decisions Are the Norm

Valentine’s Day flower buying is a deadline rush: up to half of orders are delivered in the final 48 hours, with same-day delivery common in dense U.S. cities.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, February 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Most Americans make Valentine’s Day buying decisions at the last minute, and new data suggests this behavior is not an exception, but the norm.

The findings come from a Valentine’s Day flower ordering study conducted by Ode à la Rose, a flower delivery service, which analyzed Valentine’s Day flower orders delivered across over 1,000 U.S. cities. The study examined how far in advance consumers place Valentine’s Day orders and how those patterns repeat across locations.

Across major U.S. cities, the analysis found that 35-50% of Valentine’s Day flower orders are placed within the final 48 hours before delivery. In some dense urban areas, up to 20% of orders are delivered the same day they are placed during Valentine’s Day week. The data suggests that waiting until the final days is not unusual behavior, but rather a common and recurring pattern.

Despite the concentration of last-minute orders, Valentine’s Day is not a forgotten holiday. Search behavior indicates that awareness begins building well before February. Interest in Valentine’s Day gifts and flower delivery starts rising in January, showing that many people are thinking about the holiday weeks in advance.

However, early awareness does not translate into early purchasing. Instead of placing orders steadily over time, consumers tend to delay action until the deadline approaches. This creates a compressed decision window in the days immediately leading up to Valentine’s Day.

The result is a predictable cycle: people know the date, intend to plan ahead, and still end up making shopping decisions close to February 14.

While ordering timelines vary slightly by city, last-minute behavior appears consistently across the country.

Cities such as Seattle, Austin, and Chicago tend to place orders earlier on average, with many customers ordering four to six days ahead of delivery. Even in these cities, however, there is a noticeable increase in orders during the final days before Valentine’s Day.

In contrast, populous East Coast cities like New York City, Brooklyn, and Miami show more compressed timelines overall. In these areas, a higher share of orders are placed within one to two days of delivery, with same-day orders representing a meaningful portion of total volume.

Despite some regional differences, the broader pattern remains the same: a large share of Valentine’s Day decisions happen late, regardless of geography.

The data shows that this is not a one-off trend or a result of a specific year. The same ordering patterns appear across cities and repeat year after year, even as awareness of the holiday remains high.

Valentine’s Day decisions often carry emotional significance, which can slow action. Choosing a gift or gesture feels more personal than routine shopping, and many people take time deciding what feels appropriate.

As days pass, delaying the decision still feels manageable, particularly when the holiday is weeks away. Once the date draws near, that hesitation turns into urgency, and decisions are made quickly.

This dynamic explains why Valentine’s Day ordering remains concentrated near the deadline, even among people who noticed the holiday early and intended to plan ahead.

Taken together, the findings point to a stable annual pattern. Awareness begins early. Action happens late. The same sequence repeats each February.

Rather than signaling forgetfulness or poor planning, the data suggests that last-minute Valentine’s Day decisions have become a standard way people approach the holiday. Consumers appear comfortable making choices close to February 14, knowing that many others are doing the same.

As long as Valentine’s Day remains a fixed, emotionally significant date, this timing pattern is likely to persist.

About Ode à la Rose
Founded in New York, Ode à la Rose is a flower delivery service specializing in hand-tied arrangements that are unmistakably French. They offer same-day delivery to 6 major cities where they have a local atelier & next-day delivery to the rest of the US. The company analyzed anonymized order data to better understand seasonal and consumer gifting trends.

The full findings and methodology are available in the published study.

Conner Cole
Ode à la Rose
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