Custom Flower Boxes
A flower box has to hold damp foam without softening, survive being carried by the lid, and look immaculate in the photograph the recipient takes before anything else happens.
- Shapes
- Round hat box, square, tall square, shallow tray
- Board
- 2 mm grayboard wrapped, or 24pt lined folding carton
- Liner
- PE-lined interior or separate plastic tray
Get a price for Flower Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
The liner is not decoration
Floral foam is soaked, and it stays soaked for days. Against uncoated board that means a soft base within hours and a collapsed one by the second day. Every flower box we build for fresh stems has either a PE-lined interior or a separate plastic liner tray.
The liner also decides whether the box can be reused. A lined box that is wiped out survives a second arrangement, which matters to florists selling a keepsake rather than a delivery.
If the arrangement is dried or artificial, skip the liner entirely — it adds cost and does nothing.
Round or square is a handling decision
Round boxes are cut from more board and nest badly. If most of your volume goes out by van or courier, square costs less at every stage — and the difference is largest on freight, for the reasons in our note on box size and shipping cost.
| Round hat box | The photograph everyone wants. Harder to pack, wasteful in a van. |
|---|---|
| Square | Stacks, ships and stores better. Slightly less romantic. |
| Tall square | Suits long-stem roses without cutting them down. |
| Shallow tray | For flat-lay arrangements and letterbox delivery. |
Carrying by the lid, and why boxes fail
Customers pick a flower box up by the lid. Every time. A lift-off lid with no other support will separate, and the arrangement lands on the pavement.
Two fixes, both cheap: a ribbon handle anchored through the base rather than the lid, or a lid that seats deep enough to grip by friction. We build the second by default and add the first on request.
Sizing to stems, not to blooms
Measure to the stem length you actually sell, plus the depth of foam, plus 20 mm of head clearance so blooms are not crushed by the lid. Most first-time florists size to the flower head and end up with a box that is too shallow.
For mixed arrangements, quote us the tallest stem in the range rather than an average. A box that is 20 mm generous costs almost nothing; one that is 20 mm short is unusable.
Flower Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Shapes
- Round hat box, square, tall square, shallow tray
- Board
- 2 mm grayboard wrapped, or 24pt lined folding carton
- Liner
- PE-lined interior or separate plastic tray
- Handles
- Ribbon anchored through the base
- Wrapped printed paper, foil and emboss available
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build flower boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetallised and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: flower boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Flower Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about flower boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes, in any of the builds we make.
Do you supply the liner?
We can, or the box can be built for the liner you already use. Tell us which.
Will the box survive damp?
With a lined or coated inner, yes. Bare board against wet foam softens quickly.
What shapes do you make?
Round hat boxes, square rigid builds, tall sleeves and carry builds with a handle.
Can it be posted?
With a corrugated outer, yes. A presentation flower box posted alone arrives corner-crushed.
How do I keep the stems from moving?
A base insert or a foam recess. Movement is what damages the arrangement, not impact.
Will the box hold wet floral foam?
Only with a liner. Unlined board softens within hours and collapses within a day or two, whatever its thickness.
Round or square?
Round photographs better; square costs less to make, ship and store. If most orders go by courier, square wins on money by a clear margin.
Can the lid have a window?
Yes, though it adds a film liner and lets light onto the blooms. For a same-day delivery that is fine; for anything sitting in a shop it is not.
What size for long-stem roses?
Measure your longest stem, add foam depth and 20 mm of head clearance. Send us those numbers rather than the flower type and we will build the die.
Same range
