Florist Donates Hundreds of Bouquets to Widows on Valentine's Day

Manning and her team bring flowers and gift bags to hundreds in the Charlotte area on Valentine’s Day, Good Morning America reported.

Manning, a mother of four, worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep before she became a stay-at-home mom in 2021. During that time away from her former job, she turned her flower-arranging hobby into a business.

When she started her business, Pretty Things by A.E. Manning, she often thought about those who were going through difficult times. That included friends and her children’s teachers. Manning made bouquets for them.

Eventually, she thought, “I have the platform now to maybe involve more people.” Manning decided to share her idea on her Instagram page to give flowers to those who’d lost a partner or spouse.

Within hours of posting in 2021, Manning had received hundreds of dollars in donations and the names of women who had been nominated by friends and loved ones.

That first year, over 100 women and two men received surprise floral arrangements and a gift bag. There was also a note with the song lyric, “There's never been a moment you were forgotten," from the song "Rescue" by Lauren Daigle.

One of those first 100 women was Meggs. She was spending her first Valentine’s Day without her husband, who died of colon cancer on February 21, 2020. Meggs was 37 weeks pregnant with their child at the time.

"I wasn’t expecting it, and I was shocked and so surprised by such a sweet thing," Meggs told Good Morning America. "Before, I never thought of what widows are doing on Valentine’s Day, but it’s just in Ashley to think of others all the time. It’s just who she is."

The next year, the project had grown significantly. Manning raised $22,000 and worked with 300 volunteers to deliver arrangements to 400 widows. This time, she partnered with local businesses that included wine and gift cards in the gift bags.

"It just kind of snowballed, but it's a neat thing to see a good thing snowball," Manning said. “They say misery loves company, but I think happiness loves company, too."

In 2023, one of the arrangements went to Meggs' mother-in-law, whose husband died unexpectedly last year. "She’ll be totally shocked, and I’m sure it’ll make her happy and make her smile," Meggs said at the time.

"Like my husband, my mother-in-law loves Valentine’s Day. She instilled that in my husband, and that’s why he made it so special for me throughout the years."

Manning said the whole project has been a reminder to follow your heart.

“When you feel that tug on your heart for whatever it is, because this world is full of things that are sad and hard and there are people that are aching every day, when you feel that nudge, actually listen to it," she said.

"Whether it's widows or widowers or if it's military spouses, or whatever it is that tugs at your heart, you just listen to it and act on it, and the reward is far greater."