It’s your wedding day and the floral delivery has arrived with the boutonnieres for your wedding day and some of the men in your wedding party are scratching their heads wondering how they are supposed to be attached to their suit or tuxedo lapel. Since most people only wear a boutonniere a handful of times in their life, it’s understandable. There is no need to worry, we are going to walk you through this very simple process so that everyone looks like a million dollars on your wedding day and so that their boutonniere stays on their coat the entire day.
Before anyone attempts to attach the boutonniere please have them touch it, smell it, and feel how delicate it is. Pretend for a minute that the boutonniere is a strawberry pinned on to their lapel. Now have them think about every guy hug they have ever given to any groom, groomsmen, or anyone in general, and understand that the boutonniere is just a fragile as a strawberry pinned on to their lapel. They need to be aware of the fact that they have a delicate flower on their lapel. They should lean in to hug people with the opposite shoulder to keep the boutonniere from being smashed repeatedly. Even a boutonniere made by the best florists will fall apart with repeated guy hugs so please be careful.
Hold the boutonniere correctly. The floral center should be facing you, and away from your date’s chest. The greenery, such as the leaves, should be facing away from you, toward your date’s chest.
The boutonniere goes on the left side of the chest right above or around the heart. If everyone doesn’t follow this simple rule, people will notice it in the pictures.. It should be roughly equidistant between the left and right edges of the lapel.
Move the boutonniere so that the flower is on or just below the broadest part of the lapel, covering the top button hole. Position the stem at a slight angle so it is running parallel to the edge of the lapel.
Lift the lapel to expose the back, holding the flower in place with your non-dominant hand. Inserting the pin from the back will keep the pin hidden so the metal won’t catch the light when you take pictures.
Push the pin through the back of the lapel and through the stem of the boutonniere. Position the pin so that it is facing down. The point of the pin should go through the stem where it is thick, just below where it attaches to the petals.
Guide the pin back through the stem and lapel, as though sewing a stitch.[5] The pin should be secure and lay vertically against the lapel. The overall movement is a simple push out all the way through the fabric and the flower stem, then weaving back in through the flower stem and fabric.
You can also think of the pin as going forward through the fabric and stem, then back through the fabric again. The head of the pin and the point of the pin will both end up on the back of the lapel, hidden from view.
Wiggle the boutonniere to make sure it is securely fastened. Take a step back and examine the placement, making sure it is not askew or starting to pivot on the pin.
Use a second pin for extra support. If the boutonniere is heavy, you may want to secure it with a second pin. Simply stitch the pin through the lapel and boutonniere as you did before, with this second pin about half an inch below the first.
Demonstrative images courtesy of wikiHow.