In the past, giving your date a bouquet of flowers was the best way to show you like them. Does that sentiment still fly today, or are flowers too old-fashioned? Even worse, do flowers give off the impression that you’re needy or uncreative? Unlike most dating faux pas, the answer isn’t black or white. To know whether or not flowers are a good choice, you’ll need to read the room.
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A Positive First Impression: Bring Yourself Or A Gift?
Flowers are almost always a nice gesture, especially if you’ve done your homework. If you are aware that your new beau likes flowers and you pay for sunflower bouquet delivery directly to their door, you’re bound to impress them. Although giving your date a gift is sweet, there are several reasons why you should avoid giving your date a bouquet of roses immediately.
During the courting phase, your date wants to feel special. Unless you’re giving a bouquet to a man, which would be breaking away from tradition, flowers aren’t seen as unique first-date gifts. In fact, they’re typically seen as antiquated relics that a woman is supposed to be given. This renders the gift ineffective from the get-go, but the issue with first-date gift giving runs deeper.
5 Reasons Why First-Date Bouquets Won’t Impress
Reason 1: Gift Giving Too Soon Sets A Precedent
Reciprocal gift-giving is the fastest way to build trust between partners, but both parties must be aware that this exchange is taking place. If one person doesn’t offer a gift after an exchange, guilt and resentment can form. Since men were expected to give gifts in the past, women would bypass feelings of guilt, but that practice isn’t the norm anymore. If the gift receiver doesn’t have anything to exchange, they’ll feel guilty and awkward, which kills sexual tension and attraction.
Reason 2: Carrying Around Flowers Is Awkward
In the past, men would usually pick up their dates at their homes, making it easy for women to pop inside and place their gifts in water. In the 21st century, dating culture has moved online, and women aren’t as likely to tell strangers where they live. So, a gifted bouquet has to be carried around by them for the rest of the date, making the gift giver feel self-conscious.
Reason 3: Being Too Generous Can Feel Oppressive Or Intimidating
Humans are weird: we want what we can’t have and reject what is easily obtainable. When dating, “coming on too strong” can hurt your chances of securing a dating prospect. That doesn’t mean you should be completely uncaring, but in the beginning stages, it’s in your best interest to not get too invested too soon. Avoid gift-giving until the third or fourth date.
Reason 4: Flowers Aren’t Consider A “Creative” Gift
Flowers play a crucial role in courting, which means the woman you’re dating has already received a bouquet from the last guy she went out with. If you insist on getting a gift, look back on your past conversations and make or buy something small that they would appreciate.
Reason 5: Your Date Might Not Even Like Flowers
Some obvious answers are easily missed, but if your date feels awkward, guilty, intimated, and on top of that, they don’t even like flowers, that’s a recipe for disaster. Many flowers can even aggravate allergies, like daisies, chamomiles, and amaranth, to name a few.
Conclusion: Avoid First-Date Flowers
Flowers can be a great gift choice if you both agreed to exchange bouquets on the first date, but the practice should be avoided as a rule. Once you get to know each other and gift-giving becomes more common, feel free to give your beau flowers to your heart’s content.
