Flowers - Boutonnieres

It’s time we talk about FLOWERS.  Ahhh, flowers.  I can almost smell them as I type.  Flowers can add the most beautiful touch to almost any photograph.  So many shapes, colors, sizes, placements.  But considering the fact that they’re so highly desired for so many occasions, it’s surprising how often I see them improperly worn or used.  They can actually become a distraction to the eye if you don’t quite know what to do with them.  So here’s the first of my blog series on flowers.  I’ll start with the well-known yet widely misunderstood boutonniere.

            Do all you men out there know the correct place to put a boutonniere?  Don’t worry – As long as you know the right method, you don’t have to know the right spelling.  (And pay attention, girlfriends and moms.  If you’re doing this for the man in your life, you want to get it right!)  You can’t just decide on a spot you think looks good, stick a pin through it, clap the pollen particles off your hands and be done with it.  This isn’t a bada-bing, bada-boom situation.  It always (as in, every time) goes on the man’s left side.  It always (as in, every time) goes above the pocket on the jacket lapel.  It never (as in, not ever) goes inside the pocket so the top petal tips are fighting to stick out without actually falling out completely.  And it never (you get the idea) gets pinned to a button-down shirt sans jacket.  It’s also important to use two pins instead of one, so your flower isn’t pointed upward at the beginning of the day and drooping over halfway by the afternoon.

I’ve put together a video clip of a professional florist teaching the correct way to attach a boutonniere.  Check it out below.