A boutonnière (French: [butɔnjɛʁ]) is a floral decoration worn by men, typically a single flower or bud. The word comes from the French word for buttonhole, which is the British term.[1]
Well this morning's post was definitely worth the wait for (sorry about that – technical issues!). Let's take time to consider the humble buttonhole, or boutonnière, as our wonderful American friends are accustomed to calling it; that traditionally floral addition to the Grooms attire, that adds an element of consistency and styling when it comes to your wedding day flowers. What's more dashing than seeing a Groom in a well cut and beautifully fitting suit, topped off with a pretty buttonhole, aka, boutonnière to match the bride's bouquet?
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Images Copyright (c), 2013, Lucy Shergold
I invited Jenny Stone of Jenny Rose Flowers, a rather talented South Devon based Florist, to share some ideas for creating beautiful, vintage, retro and countryside inspired buttonhole ideas with my readers. I know you're going to love these images. You might want to register an account with Pinterest immediately after having devoured this post, if you haven't got one already!
Over to you Jenny…
The buttonhole remains a time honoured feature of most Weddings, but have you ever considered where the idea came from… It is a tradition that arrived in England in the medieval period when Knights of the Realm would wear a flower in his lady’s colours upon his armour to symbolise his enduring love and devotion.
Ok, so it might not be at the top of your Wedding planning list but buttonholes can be a chance for your Groom to inject a little of his own personality into his outfit for the big day (we can’t deny the hours that have gone into trawling the internet for our perfect dress!). So forget the customary Carnation or Rose and inject a bit of retro, quirky or vintage style to bring the buttonhole bang up to date….
Vintage….
Think Old English Roses in subtle pastel hues teamed with silvery foliage such as “Dusty Miller” scabious pods and sage green succulents for a dreamy yet striking buttonhole.
Or for the epitome of English Country Garden consider having blooms of Peony or Hydrangeas add vintage lace ribbon to complete the romantic look.
Retro…
For more of a natural retro look consider brightly coloured unusual shaped flowers and foliage, personalise with scrabble letters – How about the initial of each groomsmen for their buttonhole?
If you are planning an alternative retro style wedding, consider a “Pinwheel” or
a paper flower button hole for some really quirky style. Easily adapted
to your chosen colour scheme and a great DIY option for crafty brides…
Try embellishing them with interesting details like these Star Fish or buttons.
Or make a bold statement with these fabulous Origami paper
flowers….choose vibrant shades of double sided craft paper and adorn
with contrasting buttons.
Naturally Wild…
For a relaxed outdoor wedding try using scabious heads, and hypericum berries with rustic foliage, such as green wheat and Bupleurum, add Rosemary for scent and succulents for texture. Finish with a relaxed natural coloured ribbon.
Or try wheat, succulents and lavender tied with twine for a strikingly simple look.
Alternatively add a pop of colour by using Craspedia, Nigella, Hydrangea or Tanacetum
Whimsical…
Add a quirky style to your Whimsical Wedding with a striking Peacock Feather Buttonhole.
Or use delicate sweet peas, alliums, astrantia, waxflower, lavender
and senecio to create an exquisitely scented button hole, decorate with
statement ribbon to give an imaginative look.
I hope you love these ideas for beauitful buttonholes and boutonnières – please leave some feedback for the talented Jenny Stone of Jenny Rose Flowers and photographer Lucy Shergold for providing plenty of pretty images for our pages today.
I'd love to know which of the above you're loving the most, and if you have any other suggestions for stylish buttonholes and boutonnières. What buttonholes and boutonnières do you plan on having at your wedding? You can see the one my husband wore at our wedding here.
Lots of love all,
Annabel