Graduation flowers in Bangkok: sunflowers or roses, and what survives the sun

Most bouquets go into a vase within an hour. A graduation bouquet is carried from the gate to the photo spot to the hall and back, in the heat, for most of a day, and it has to look right in every photograph. That changes what a good bouquet is.

Sunflowers

The graduation flower in Thailand for good reasons: they mean loyalty and a bright future, they are big enough to read from across a lawn, and they are tough. A sunflower bouquet still looks like itself at four in the afternoon. Three to five stems is the carrying size; ten and up is the statement size and needs a second person for the photos.

Roses

Roses are the elegant choice and photograph beautifully at ten in the morning. By afternoon in full sun, an open rose has had a long day. If you want roses, choose tight buds, ask for them in a wrapped bouquet that shades the heads, and keep them out of direct sun between photos.

The money bouquet

Money bouquets are a Thai graduation institution: your banknotes, folded and arranged with fresh flowers. They are useful, they photograph well, and nobody has to find a vase. Message us on LINE about the notes before ordering; each listing says what it includes.

Getting it there

• Ceremonies cluster: several universities graduate the same week. Book ahead on the graduation page.
• Choose the morning window and deliver to the home, not the campus — campus gates on the day are chaos and drivers cannot get to a named person in a crowd of thousands.
• If it must be the campus, meet the driver at a named gate at a set time and keep the phone on.

The lead-time guide has the rest. And carry water: the bouquet will not need it, but the graduate will.