Project: Boutonnieres

Project: Boutonnieres

Inspiration: I wanted to craft the boutonnieres myself if I could for a few reasons: (1) I don't care that much about having fresh flowers for everything, (2) flowers are expensive, (3) I think boutonnieres are silly and heavy roses drooping because the little pin can't hold them up just looks sad, (4) since our wedding is in July, it's going to be hot out and the guys will only have their jackets on for a very short time. I didn't get inspiration from any particular image online, more just kept visiting the mini florals section in craft stores until something showed up that I liked (the mini calla lilies).

Cost/Materials: Over all, making the boutonnieres saved me a lot of money. Figuring a real rose one costs about $8-10 from the florist, and that's what I spent in TOTAL on making a dozen of these, it was a slam dunk in terms of saving. I also like that it is one fewer thing to worry about picking up from a vendor/not accidentally leaving in the fridge (per every prom I've been to) on the day of the wedding, because these are now safely packaged away until the big day. The faux calla lilies were 99 cents per bundle of six, leaves were 99 centers per bundle of ten, the coral/yellow sprays were $1.49 per bundle of six, and the floral tape I got a bunch of rolls of for 19 cents each (yes, 19 cents) during a warehouse closing sale from the sunshinecrafts.com site. Also pictured: washi tape purchased on clearance and ribbon that cost about 50 cents a spool. I thought I might tape the bottoms with these but ended up not going with it and just kept the floral tape exposed.

How I Did It: I pulled apart the mini callas into sets of three and then arranged them until I thought they looked aesthetically pleasing (usually close to each other, but on different levels in height), then popped two of the leaves and a tulle spray behind them. Take your time on this part to make sure you like where everything is placed; you can do some adjusting after you tape, but not a whole lot. After I was happy with how it looked, I gently twisted all the wired bottoms together, and then folded them in half, doubled-up on itself, which resulted in a shorter and sturdier "stem" (see picture). After that I wrapped the floral tape, typically staring at the very top where everything came together and then working my way down the stem to the bottom (making sure to cover the very end) and then back up. I usually wrapped it around the top area again a few times to be sure everything was very secure before tearing the tape off.

The Outcome: Cute, right? I'm pretty pleased.

Lessons Learned/Tips: Like I mentioned above, I tried wrapping colored ribbon around the bottom to tie it in more with the colors. I ended up just liking the exposed floral tape more. Also to note, if you haven't worked with floral tape before, it will take a little getting used to. It doesn't seem very tacky when you touch it, but it sticks to itself incredibly well. Don't be afraid to pull it tight, especially working on faux flowers.

Would I Do It Again: Yes, yes, yes! I suppose we'll have to see how they perform on the day of to really know, but my fiance likes them a lot and I like them, so that's really all that matters... they're just a very small detail of the day.

Update: They looked just fine at the wedding! And boy was I glad I didn't need to make boutonnieres when I was done with all the other flower stuff we did! [Photos below by Danyel Stapleton]