DIY Boutonnières For Weddings and More!

Not to leave out all other boutonnières-y type wearing affairs, hence the more part. Let it be known that 2014 is indeed the year of the boutonnières. I’m seeing men (and women! SO HOT) bust them out for all types of casual and memorable fancy dress occasions and I have to say – I’m a fan.

I’m not one to wax poetic about making crafts, it’s really quite simple. I love making things, I’am a crafty bitch and I’m good at it. That’s it, that’s all. We’ll save the prose and narrative for other topics yes? When it comes to crafts and recipes around here, I think I’m going to keep things highly visual, honing in on my photography skills and informative. Step by step, but not as if you’re a JK student. (Unless that’s what you’re looking for and if that’s the case you can always email me – not Jen – she hates crafts. I LOVE getting emails! I currently have over 1K unread in my inbox! Sidenote? I really have to manage my subscriptions. Don’t worry, I get back to everyone that I’m supposed to.)

Onto these fresh little lapel decorations. (All DIY photos by me and all wedding photos by Ratul Debnath of Image Pros Photography)

YOU’LL NEED:

• cream floral tape
• wire wrapped burlap
• floral scissors
• hot glue gun and sticks
• pruning shears
• corsage pins
• lavender (fresh or dried)
• sage
• cedar
• succulent clippings
• baby’s breath

STEP ONE:
Lay-out all materials and fresh florals. I like to work in a procession line when working alone…this project was much fun to do with my ladies out on the patio, listening to tunes and sipping on something fine. As we did. I preferred to make these small and understated, about 4 inches tall each at most. Using the pruning shears I clipped some bottom branches from the cedar trees in our backyard to use for clippings. Begin by trimming everything down to your desired height/width. Leave about 3/4 of an inch in stem(even if you have to trim) at the bottom of all clippings, as this is where you will wrap the floral tape and eventually pin to lapels.
STEP TWO:
Layer the cedar, then the baby’s breath, followed by some sage and lavender, making a little tiered cluster. Finish close to the base with a succulent clipping. Position them roughly how you’ll want them to sit as your boutonniere, you may to trim some off of the back so everything sits nice and flat on the lapel when the time comes.

STEP THREE:
Carefully begin by tightly wrapping floral tape around the base until secure and all you see in the floral tape. Cover the floral tape with burlap (you may have to trim, depending on width and definitely length of your roll) and secure it with a little dab of hot glue at the back.

C’est fini!
Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours in a recycled salad greens container.
Carefully pin using corsage pins and try not to die from the cute.
You can see the rest of our wedding photos here and here!