Buying a bouquet for your special someone on Valentine’s Day may be a last-moment decision, but florists at Lynnwood’s Stadium Flowers have been planning for the occasion since before Christmas.

Stadium Flowers Manager Patty MacPherson has been working nonstop to make sure everything is running smoothly for the big day. It’s the busiest day of the whole year at Stadium Flowers, besides perhaps Mother’s Day, MacPherson said.

“We started ordering [flowers] in December,” she said. “We have to order early to make sure we get enough.”

MacPherson is estimating around 2,000 orders will be placed by Valentine’s Day, with even more coming in from a forgetful few after Feb. 14. While many place their orders ahead of time, starting around Feb. 1, she said they usually have a crowd of about 500 people in the store on Valentine’s Day to do last-minute shopping. Things get so crazy, in fact, that for the last few years, Stadium Flowers has requested assistance from the Lynnwood Police Department so an officer can direct traffic in the small parking lot. 

“We want people to come in, get what they need and be able to get out safely,” she said.

While there are usually only two people working in the shop at a time, it will be all hands on deck Monday, with all eight employees fielding foot traffic in and out of the store. One woman who retired years ago still comes in every Valentine’s Day to help.

“It’s nice to have her because she already knows what she’s doing,” MacPherson said.

The store is packed with flowers over the weekend in anticipation of last-minute orders. MacPherson is expecting a shipment of 346 arrangements, of a dozen flowers each. However, the store almost always runs out of some kind of arrangement on Valentine’s Day, which is why there will be three shuttle shipments from the Stadium Flowers’ warehouse coming to restock throughout the day.

“I love that because if I run out of something, I just call to let them know, and it comes in really fast on the next shuttle trip,” MacPherson said.

While Stadium Flowers is always prepared for the rush of Valentine’s Day customers, MacPherson said it’s always better for everyone if orders are placed ahead.

“You can’t walk in the day of and get what you want, usually,” she said. “It’s also hard to get stuff out for deliveries if you order it the same day.”

Stadium Flowers hires between 50-60 contract drivers every year to deliver all of the roughly 1,500 Valentine’s Day orders. 

Last year there was snow on the ground for Valentine’s Day, which MacPherson said slowed deliveries — as well as visits from in-person customers — by quite a bit. This year, however, the weather is looking good, which is likely to bring more foot traffic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed business much for Stadium Flowers, according to MacPherson. While suppliers stopped growing some flowers due to staff shortages, the florists took things in stride and kept a positive attitude.

“Since people couldn’t go visit other people, they were still sending flowers to let them know they’re being thought of,” she said. 

The biggest shift the pandemic has caused, she added, is less in-person business and a much larger influx of online orders. Now, as COVID case counts drop, the store is seeing more customers every week and MacPherson said things are only going to get better.

“I’m just happy to be here and [be able to] keep making flowers for people,” she said.

Stadium Flowers will be open on Saturday from 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sunday from 9 a.m.-7 p.m., and Valentine’s Day from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. You can visit their website here.

— by Lauren Reichenbach