Last year I was involved in a very special shoot with Ashlee Taylor, of Taylor Barnes Photography and Jessie Thomson, super stylist and wedding planner which was featured on Style Me Pretty. Aside from creating beautiful bouquets and table decorations which can be seen here, I did a little DIY buttonhole tutorial. For those brave brides willing to go it alone this may prove helpful!
All images below from Alex Miller.
Materials and Equipment:
Florist secatuers or scissors
Florist stem tape
Twine or pretty ribbon of your choice
Selection of foliage sprigs
Pearl headed pin
Gather your various types of foliage together, here I have used eucalyptus, olive, astilbe, wild grasses and stachys. If you would prefer to add in a few small flowers this would also work. Make sure you have your scissors, floral tape and ribbon to hand too.
Start by snipping off a selection of the foliage sprigs, you are looking to cut them about 8- 10cm long and remove any of the lower leaves. It is important to use different types of textures of foliage so they all sit well together when making the buttonhole and look interesting.
Once you have cut about 10 small foliage sprigs, lay them out together and begin making the buttonhole. Start by holding the largest, most robust sprig in your hand and layer up the remaining foliage sprigs, try to keep all the stems in line. Any delicate sprigs try to place these between the tougher ones as this will help protect them
Tape the foliage sprigs together at the point where you are holding them using florists stem tape. This is a slightly sticky tape and needs to be pulled when wrapping the stems in order for it to stick. If you do not have tape, you could also use twine or a thin string.
Trim the ends of all the stems to finish the buttonhole in a neat way, the overall length should be about 8cm
Finish off with some pretty ribbon or twine, here I have used cotton lace and secure to the lapel with a pin.
I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into the behind the scenes of a working florist! DIY can be great fun if you are organised and have thought things through such as ordering your flowers, giving yourself time to condition the flowers, and of course make the flowers up themselves! It is not for everyone though and some things are best left to a professional for peace of mind. I for one am not planning on making buttonholes on the morning of my own wedding next July… any takers?! I will be looking forward to getting my florist nails painted with a glass of bubbly for sure!
