There’s a lot going on right now. The virus. Huge shifts in US politics. ‘Married At First Sight Australia’. So it’s pretty reasonable that many of us have found our memories have gone a bit, er, wobbly. It’s hard to remember which day of the week it is, let alone when our best mate’s birthday is. BUT if you have woken up this morning and suddenly realised that today is actually the day of a Very Important Event that you should have bought someone a gift for, do not fear. We’ve collated all the best same-day delivery gifts you can order in London.
For pretty-but-cool flowers
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An easy one. For an eco-friendly bunch (delivered by bike and wrapped in biodegradable or recyclable hessian) try Petalon. Appleyard’s bunches have an extra-long shelf life and can be ordered with Champagne and candles on the side. The Flower Station in Marylebone offers Londoners 24-hour service and same-day delivery (ordering flowers at 4am is the new rock'n'roll). And, if you’re still stuck, there’s Floom – basically Deliveroo for flowers – where you can browse independent florists near the home of your chosen giftee and get a beautiful bouquet delivered to their door within hours.
For not-twee craft kits
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Got an incredibly Type A friend who’s spending their lockdown evenings working their way through a timetabled schedule of hobbies? Don’t send them a fully-formed bunch of flowers, send them one that they can put together – like a DIY Flower Kit from Grace & Thorn (£55). Available with fresh or dried flowers, they contain everything your bud needs to make their own pretty bouquet, and are delivered same-day if ordered before 12pm. Or how about ordering a Botanical Boys terrarium set (starting at £55)? The kits come with potted plants, moss, soil, cute little rocks and a glass container to build a mini garden in.
For good food stuff
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Let us lay it all out for you: no-one can criticise a gift of very good food. Who would ever look at a delicious hunk of organically made cheese and think: what a terrible present? Who would receive an improvised hamper of nice things to eat and look away disgusted? No-one, that’s who. Which is why, if you’re stuck on what to get, just order your loved one something to eat. The Supermarket of Dreams in Notting Hill has an obscenely good range of products – Neals Yard Cheese, perfect cuts of meat, La Superlativa chocolate – and delivers to all of west London and quite a lot of the rest of London too. Chelsea institution the London Cheesemongers, will courier over a selection of its carefully curated cheeses to anywhere in London within the day. Borough Box from Borough Market does everything from gourmet hampers to extra-special condiments. Plus, Theo’s Fresh Produce, run by Michelin-starred chef Theo Randall, does hampers filled with primo Italian produce that are available on Deliveroo throughout west London.
For luxurious pastries and patisserie
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Do you suspect that the loved one that you’re gifting to today might be spending a big chunk of their day on a long walk? Worried that whatever you send them will arrive while they’re on said walk and you’ll end up spending half the day on the phone to someone at Hermes? Catch them before they go out with a breakfast of dreams. Gail's – the most queued for spot on the high street right now – has a selection of its fine, fine pastries on Deliveroo for £3-ish each. For something cheaper: Paul does a really decently priced breakfast selection of five flakey boys for around a fiver. Want to go properly bougie? Get your pal something delicate and colourful from Kova, a Japanese/French patisserie that now does delivery.
For chic wellbeing prods
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Whoever said candles are basic is, quite simply, wrong. They're the quintessential little luxury and we won’t hear a word said against them. Flowerbx – a painfully chic gift delivery service set up a former Tom Ford staffer – does a glamorous selection, with expensive-smelling unisex numbers, for £50 a go. (There’s also room fragrances, if you reckon your giftee would rather spritz their way to scent nirvana than burn it.) For luxurious skincare, try a posh supermarket. The Grocery’s website has an unexpectedly expansive range of really nice skincare products on offer considering that it’s actually a whole foods supermarket in Shoreditch. Go there for Ren, Neom, Sukin, Dr Bronner, Faith in Nature… basically something natural and organic for every price point. Meanwhile the posh Spar in Walthamstow has some decent stuff too, and you can order it on Deliveroo, baby.
For boooooooze
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The two biggest wigs in the last minute booze delivery game right now? Shop Cuvee and Peckham Cellars. The former is the lockdown pivot of very nice restaurant Top Cuvee and will deliver everything from a magnum of natural wine to a pre-mixed cocktail from one of the city’s top bars (think: Three Sheets, Scout and Mr Lyan) to most of north and east London. The latter just bagged itself a Bib Gourmand award and serves up tasty, unusual and affordable wines to the south of the city. (You can get a bottle of quirky fizz for around twenty quid.) The aforementioned Grocery, Supermarket of Dreams and Walthamstow posh Spar all do nice booze that you can order for people too.
And for birthday cakes?
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London-based Freddie's CakeShop does same day delivery of a selection of sugar-pumped feasts – iced in colourful creams and topped with everything from fruit, biscuits and macarons to unicorn horns and ice cream cones (they start at £35ish). North London chain Wenzels does everything from doughnut-shaped celebration cakes to football themed numbers, all available on Deliveroo for a similar price. Or – you could roll back the years to the SATC heyday and order a bunch of heavily iced cupcakes from Lola’s.
Best grocery delivery services in London.
Meal kits to order this week.
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