It is Monday. Your kid’s graduation is Thursday. Or Wednesday. Or Friday. Or maybe it was supposed to be Saturday and you just realized that means this Saturday. The cap and gown are hanging on the back of a door. The invitations went out weeks ago. Grandma’s flight is booked. And you — the person who is supposed to be on top of this — have not figured out the flowers yet.
You are not alone. This is the most common call we get the week of June 9: “My kid graduates on [day]. What do I do? Can you help me? Is it too late?”
It is not too late. Here is everything you need to know.
🏵️ The Lei (This Is Not Optional in the Bay Area)
If you are new to Bay Area graduation culture, here is the thing you need to understand: leis are expected. Not optional. Not a nice-to-have. At Bay Area ceremonies — especially at schools with large Pacific Islander, Filipino, Hawaiian, and Asian communities — graduates walk out of the ceremony draped in leis. Multiple leis. From parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, friends. The kid with no lei is the kid whose family forgot.
Do not be that family.
What we offer:
- Fresh flower leis: Made with orchids (dendrobium — the classic purple and white graduation lei), tuberose, plumeria, or mixed tropical flowers. These are the real deal — fragrant, beautiful, and what your graduate expects to wear.
- Ti leaf leis: The traditional green leaf lei, often given alongside flower leis. Symbolizes good luck and protection. Simple, meaningful, and lasts longer than flower leis.
- Money leis: We do not make these (they are a DIY tradition with folded bills), but we can pair a flower lei with a ribbon lei base if you want to add bills yourself.
- Kukui nut leis: The polished black nut leis common at Hawaiian and Polynesian graduations. We carry these seasonally — call to check availability.
Order by Wednesday for a Thursday/Friday/Saturday ceremony. Leis are made fresh the day before or day of. We need at least 24 hours’ notice for custom lei orders. Same-day is possible for standard orchid leis if you call early.
💐 The Bouquet (For After the Ceremony)
The lei goes on during or immediately after the ceremony. The bouquet is what they hold for photos. Different purposes, both important.
What works for a graduation bouquet:
- Bright and celebratory: This is not sympathy. This is not subtle. Go bold — sunflowers, bright roses, gerbera daisies, or a mix of school colors.
- School colors: Cardinal and white for Stanford. Spartan gold and blue for San Jose State. Maroon and gray for Santa Clara. Purple and gold for SF State. Green and gold for Cal Poly. We match school colors to flowers every year — just tell us the school and we handle it.
- Hand-tied and wrapped: The graduate needs to hold this while hugging 40 people and posing for 100 photos. It should be wrapped tightly enough to hold in one hand, not a loose pile of stems that falls apart.
- Not too big: They are also holding a diploma holder, their phone, their cap, and possibly a teddy bear someone gave them. A medium bouquet is right. You want it visible in photos but not blocking their face.
🏫 Bay Area Graduations Happening This Week and Next
The ceremonies we are making flowers for right now:
- Stanford University: Commencement and departmental ceremonies through mid-June
- San Jose State, Santa Clara University, SF State: Most ceremonies in late May and early June — some departments are still finishing this week
- Community colleges: Cañada College, College of San Mateo, Skyline College, De Anza, Foothill — ceremonies this week
- High schools: Every district in the Bay Area graduates between June 5 and June 15. If your kid is at Carlmont, Sequoia, Menlo-Atherton, Aragon, Hillsdale, San Mateo, Burlingame, Mills, or any Peninsula high school — this is the week.
- Middle school promotions: Yes, people send flowers for these too. And yes, the 8th grader who receives flowers at promotion feels like a million dollars.
⏰ The Last-Minute Timeline
Here is what is still possible depending on when you are reading this:
- Monday/Tuesday (reading this now): You have time for everything. Custom lei, designed bouquet, school-color matching, delivery to the ceremony venue or to your home the morning of. Order today and relax.
- Wednesday: Still fine for Thursday/Friday/Saturday ceremonies. Call before noon. We will make it happen.
- Thursday morning for a Thursday ceremony: Tight but doable. Standard orchid leis and ready-made bouquets are available for same-day pickup. Call first thing.
- The morning of: Walk-in pickup works. We keep graduation bouquets and standard leis ready during graduation week because we know you are coming. You are not the first panicked parent through the door at 8 a.m. You will not be the last.
📸 The Photo Moment
Here is what the photos look like: your graduate in cap and gown, lei around their neck (or stacked three deep if the extended family showed up strong), bouquet in the crook of one arm, diplomas in the other hand, enormous grin, and you crying behind your phone trying to get a shot that is not blurry.
The flowers make the photo. Not the backdrop (which is usually a parking lot or a gymnasium). Not the outfit (which is a rented polyester gown). The flowers add the color, the celebration, the visual proof that this moment was marked. Twenty years from now, the photo with the lei and the bouquet is the one on the wall. Not the one without.
🎁 The Combo Gift
Flowers plus something else makes you the MVP:
- Lei + bouquet + card with cash: The trinity. Covers ceremony (lei), photos (bouquet), and practicality (cash — they are 18 or 22 and they need it).
- Bouquet + a nice water bottle or tumbler: For the college graduate heading into a first job. Practical and thoughtful.
- Lei + a plant: A small succulent or pothos for their dorm room or first apartment. Something that grows with them into the next chapter.
- Bouquet delivered to their home the morning of: They wake up on graduation day and flowers are already there. The day starts right before the ceremony even begins.
💬 What to Write on the Card
Short. Proud. Real.
- “You did it. I am so proud of you.”
- “The world is lucky to have you in it. Go be amazing.”
- “From your first day of kindergarten to this — what a ride. Love, Mom & Dad.”
- “You made it look easy. (I know it was not.) Proud of you always.”
- “Next chapter. I cannot wait to watch.”
💛 The Point
Your kid worked for this. Four years (or more). The papers, the exams, the late nights, the stress, the doubt, the rallying. They crossed a finish line. That deserves to be marked with something beautiful, something celebratory, something they hold in their hands while everyone they love stands in a semicircle taking photos.
Do not show up empty-handed. You still have time. Call us.
Browse our graduation bouquets and ask about leis — orchid, tuberose, ti leaf, and custom options available through graduation week. Same-day pickup and delivery across the Bay Area: San Mateo, Burlingame, San Francisco, Oakland, and everywhere in between. Graduation this week, Father’s Day next week — we have you covered for both. Choosing flowers with specific meaning for your graduate? Read our guide to what flowers symbolize.