A fresh, colorful bouquet is always a welcome gift. Whether to or from colleagues, parents or significant others, a bouquet can always brighten a room and add warmth to holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. Choosing the right flowers and prices, however, can feel daunting because there are so many choices.

Use these pointers to get a bouquet at a price within your budget.
Use the Section for Occasions at Online Shops

Flower merchants realize that many buyers do not have a great deal of knowledge on what flowers and colors are best for every occasion. For this reason, sites include sections for those who shop by purpose, and they are labeled accordingly. Examples include Get Well, Birthday Bouquets, Anniversaries, Sympathy and others.

Each Flower is a Symbol

It is safe to leave the symbolism to the online floral shop and just choose from the bouquets in the section for your occasion. Nevertheless, if you're buying flowers for Mom, wouldn't she love to know that you got her irises because they symbolize hope and wisdom? Or, if you are sending a get well bouquet to a hospital, sunflowers are a symbol of warmth and adoration. What about romantic bouquets? While red roses are the symbol of never-ending love, mixed bouquets are also a great choice. A bouquet with roses, lilies (faith and devotion), and carnations (a symbol of love and fascination) would make a thoughtful, romantic gift for any occasion.

Compare Base Prices

Flower shops differ wildly on prices for the exact same bouquets. Start by finding one bouquet that you like--then compare the price of the same bouquet on a few competing online shops. You can easily find that identical bouquets differ by $10 or even more.

Use the Shop By Price Tabs

No matter what your purpose--whether for Mother's Day, parents of a newborn, or your new girlfriend, you can nearly always buy flowers by price. FTD offers a flowers under $35 page. 800flowers offers gifts under $30 page. Proflowers offers bouquets, including rose bouquets, for under $20, though there is no designated page limited to that price range.

Look for Sales

The window for sale and delivery of fresh flowers is short. When shops have an inventory that outnumbers potential buyers, they can offer gorgeous bouquets at remarkable discounts. A sale price can take the price of a premium bouquet from $60-$70 to the $40-50 range. Or, it can make a low-priced bouquet at $29.99 down to $25.99 or even $19.99.

Use Coupon Codes

Nearly every online flower shop offers codes that will save buyers totals such as $10 off, 15% off or, around holidays, even 25%. Survey FTD coupons for their ongoing 20% off link. 1-800flowers coupon codes include an ongoing 15% off and larger discounts occasionally. Be sure to do the math! A code for $10 off may seem smaller than the 25% off code; on a bouquet of $30, however, the $10 coupon will save you more money.

Free Delivery Often Saves the Most

Often an offer for free flower delivery saves customers more than a code for $10, 15%, or even 25% off depending on the price of the bouquet. Compare prices. On a $40 bouquet, a 15% code will save you $6. A free delivery code will save you about $15. A 25% code will save you $10. Free delivery will save $15 on average. To find free shipping, look for shops with ongoing offers like the Proflowers free shipping page or codes that are offered around holidays.

What are your favorite flowers? Do you have any tips that help you shop for bouquets quickly? If you do, please share them with us in the comments below.