Birthday gifts for your girlfriend in Vietnam
Her birthday is coming and you are on the other side of the world, or you are in Vietnam and want it to be a surprise. Flowers delivered to her door, or to her office where her colleagues see them arrive, are the classic way to make the day in Vietnam. This guide covers what to choose, what the number of roses means, what to avoid, and how to time a delivery from another time zone.
What to give her
Roses are the safe classic: deep red for romance, soft pink or pastel for something gentler. If her style is young and playful, tulips or sunflowers feel bright and cheerful; if she likes things simple and elegant, lisianthus or a cloud of baby’s breath suit her better.
Flowers are often paired with something small: a box of chocolates, or a set of flowers with a gift. A flower box in clear acrylic sits neatly on a desk or a shelf.
Flowers for her → · Chocolate boxes → · Flowers with a gift →
A money bouquet: real banknotes folded into flowers
A money bouquet (hoa tiền) is a Vietnamese favourite for birthdays: real banknotes folded into petals and arranged with fresh or artificial flowers. It looks like a bouquet and works like the lucky money Vietnamese give at the Lunar New Year, handed to her in person.
- Real money, any notes
Any Vietnamese note from 5,000 to 500,000 VND can be used, and we prepare the notes in the values you choose.
- Nothing is damaged
The notes are folded and held in place without glue on the notes, so she can take them out and spend them.
- How the price works
The price of each design covers the flowers and the folding; the cash comes on top, so the total is the amount you want to give plus that price. Each design lists the notes it uses (for example 40 × 20,000 VND). Write the notes you want in the order note and we confirm the cash amount with you before we make the bouquet.
Money bouquet designs start at 600,000 ₫, plus the cash.
How many roses? What the number means
Vietnamese couples often read a message into the number of roses:
- 1 rose
Love at first sight: you are the only one.
- 3 roses
“I love you.”
- 9 roses
Love that lasts forever.
- 12 roses
Complete love.
- 99 or 100 roses
A hundred years together.
For a birthday, a popular touch is one rose for every year of her age: 25 roses for her 25th birthday. For larger numbers, people round to a tidy 20, 30 or 50.
For most birthdays, a bouquet of 9 to 12 roses is romantic without being over the top. If you have only just started dating, keep it light: a few pink or white roses with baby’s breath.
Flowers and colours to avoid
- Large white or yellow chrysanthemums, and white tuberoses
In Vietnam these are the flowers of ancestor altars, the Lunar New Year and funerals (tuberose is hoa huệ). Small daisy-like chrysanthemums mixed into a bouquet are fine; a bunch of big white or yellow ones is not a birthday gift.
- An all-white bouquet
White roses look lovely mixed with pink, peach or red, but a bouquet that is entirely white can read as sympathy.
- Shoes and handkerchiefs
Some Vietnamese avoid giving a partner shoes (she might “walk away”) or a handkerchief (said to bring tears). Not everyone minds, but it is good to know.
Timing: getting it there on her birthday
Everything runs on Vietnam time (GMT+7). When you order, you choose the date and a two-hour delivery window between 08:00 and 22:00.
2-hour express delivery in the inner city of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Da Lat, Hue. The delivery fee shows as soon as you choose an address. Elsewhere (Phu Quoc, Sa Pa, Mui Ne, Ha Long, Hoi An and other areas): order at least one day ahead. We confirm the delivery time with you after you order.
- At her office
A morning delivery to her workplace is a favourite surprise: the flowers start her day and her colleagues see them arrive. Add the company name and the floor to the address.
- A real surprise
At checkout, tick “It is a surprise: do not call or message the recipient before delivery”. Our courier will not contact her beforehand; if anything is unclear, we contact you.
- At a hotel
If she is staying in a hotel, we deliver to the reception desk.
- Proof it arrived
We send you a photo of the actual bouquet before it goes out, and another once it has been handed over.
The card
Every bouquet can come with a card. Write in your own language: messages in scripts other than the Latin alphabet, such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Russian, are handwritten by our staff and copied character by character.
Two or three lines are plenty. If she reads Vietnamese, add a line of it: Chúc mừng sinh nhật em yêu means “Happy birthday, my love”.
Paying from abroad, and what it costs
You pay online when you order, by international card (Visa, Mastercard, JCB) or PayPal. No Vietnamese bank account is needed, and you pay the same price as customers in Vietnam; product pages show the price in your currency next to the Vietnamese dong (VND).
Most birthday bouquets cost between 650,000 ₫ and 1,450,000 ₫; a typical one is around 1,000,000 ₫. Chocolate boxes and sets of flowers with a gift cost less.
