You may not need flowers and chocolates to show your affection, but Valentine's Day is the Super Bowl of love. And so many feel cupid's arrow, florists stay busy from dawn until dusk.
Customers like Doug Stephens wander in and out of Precious Memories in Temple, unused to the controlled chaos as they shop.
"This will be the second time in 14 years" that he stepped foot in a shop on Valentine's Day, he laughed as he looked around.
To get a taste of the holiday KCEN takes to the streets with 12-year veteran driver Mark Marshall. He usually makes up to 40 flower deliveries every Feb. 14th.
"They really get all excited about them being there," he says about many of the flower recipients.
He spends the morning opening doors to surprised wives and girlfriends like Barbara Forrest.
"He did great," she said after receiving a bouquet of red roses from her husband, "they're beautiful."
It takes six months of planning to pull the day off smoothly. They pack a month's worth of business into 12 hours.
"Everyone wants it all at the same time, so you start early and you just get as many people out there delivering flowers as possible," said Precious Memories owner Seleece Thompson-Mann.
And it's all to celebrate the real spirit of the day: true love. Something Doug says he'll deliver personally, just to see the look on his wife's face.
"You know that's what you always go for - the surprise," he said.
It takes nearly 50 permanent and temporary employees to get the flowers where they need to go, so couples across Central Texas can celebrate the holiday with tokens of their love.
Reporter: Rebecca Schleicher/Photographer: Thuan Nguyen
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