The Bride Loves Sunflowers: Boutonnieres for an Autumn Wedding

Something simple, understated, perhaps. That's what the bride wanted for the boutonnieres in her autumn wedding. The groom enjoys nature and is basically a simple guy.

The bride showed me a picture of what she had in mind. I looked at it once and then couldn't find it again. As I recall, it had some seedpods, maybe some grain. Well, we knew we wanted to include wheat in the wedding. The bride's grandfather and uncle are farmers who have raised wheat for many years and her aunt gave me a generous supply of stalks. Combining the wheat with the beautiful leaves of the season and adding a sprinkling of  dried centaurea or little orange and golden flowers seemed almost too simple, but bride assured me this was the look she wanted. I finished the boutonniere by wrapping the stems with raffia. The cost was minimal.

Let me mention that we have loved the centaurea and have included it in almost everything, including the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets and some of the corsages. It is natural material, but dyed a brilliant "chili".  It looks like something you would expect to find growing wild on a Kansas prairie, but is actually imported from Italy. We purchased it at Hobby Lobby.

Should you wish to make something similar, I'd be glad to show you how I did it. Let me preface the instructions by telling you that I am not a professional florist, just someone who enjoys playing with flowers. 

Begin by wiring the leaves. I snipped leaves from a bush. These are silk oak leaf bushes purchased at Hobby Lobby. The long narrow oak leaves work better than something short and squat like maple leaves for the shape of this boutonniere. Using a straight pin, I poked a hole in the leaf, threaded the wire through and twisted in down the stem. The wire gives me a longer stem to work with and allows me to move them where I want them.  This is the most time consuming and most tedious part, but you do it first and then you're done with that part. 

Line up your material. I sometime resist being so organized, preferring to pick and choose as I go, but it really does make things go faster and smoother.
Lay two leaves together, slightly overlapping.











Lay three stalks of wheat on top, angling them as desired. Top with little flowers or centuarea. Twist a wire around your grouping at the neck. Twist all the wires around and down the stem.
Snip off the end, leaving about  a 1 1/2 inch stem.












Wind floral tape around the stem, stretching the tape so that it sticks. 


Wrap raffia around the stem, leaving a 6 inch tail as you begin. A drop of hot glue at the bottom of the stem will keep the raffia from slipping off the end (something it is inclined to do). Wrap it loosely back up the stem until you are about even with your tail. Snip the raffia and tie in a double knot. Snip again to even out your tails.

 Your boutonniere is complete. Repeat as necessary.


 Now you're almost ready for a lovely wedding.
Boutonniere on the groom


Sunflowers for the bride, wheat for the groom

Want to read more about our Autumn wedding? Click here.

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