Q: How do you upgrade the boutonnière?

Uncommon floral adornments for lapels, buttonholes, and pockets

Designer Ellen Frost incorporated unique biking elements like tiny wheel cogs into the boutonnières, a nod both to the groom’s favorite pastime and the venue, a park close to biking trails. “We used simple elements— gomphrena and rosemary— to let the cogs shine,” she explained.

Kris Bennett is a fan of pocket boutonnières for their simplicity and ease. “They stay where they are placed and photos are always great!” Ranunculus and succulents lay flat and are attached to ribbon. Design one to two days before the event, and use a hydration chamber to keep things fresh.

For a black-and-white wedding, Sarah Wagstaff wanted a timeless, classic floral look. The boutonnière elements come from SUOT Farm (variegated Fatsia japonica; fern tips; a flowering plum branch tip, and boxwood), and from MV Blooms, which grew the white anemone. It’s tied with a simple black ribbon to complement the palette.

Srini Perera

KREATIVEHANDS | WOODLAND HILLS, CALIFORNIA WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

Srini Perera was delighted that the groom wore a floral tie, so she created a mini version of the bridal bouquet for his lapel. The design includes dried bittersweet berry, pepper berry, castor bean pods, leptospermum pods, nandina foliage, sea holly, and 'Miss Piggy' rose with outer petals removed.

XENIA D'AMBROSI

SWEET EARTH CO. | POUND RIDGE, NEW YORK WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

Created for a wedding with a white and green palette, this Sweet Earth Co. boutonnière includes astrantia and viburnum foliage (grown by the designer), California-grown spray roses and ruscus foliage. “Most of the time, we tend to design in groups of three, but for this boutonnière each of the elements— the accent flowers, focal flowers and greenery—is grouped in pairs,” Xenia said. The resulting design is quite handsome!

Pilar Zuniga

GORGEOUS + GREEN | OAKLAND WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

To complement a “mushroom and colorful fairyland-themed wedding,” Pilar Zuniga included hydroponic mushrooms in hair crowns, bouquets, and boutonnières. The groom donned a pocket square of mushrooms and flowers, while his attendants’ bouts included mushrooms, dianthus, belladonna, craspedia, and echinops. A vintage sewing pin with an orange head held everything in place.

Sandy Figel

VERBENA FLORAL | SEATTLE, WASHINGTON WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

These modern boutonnières accented a wedding with an all-succulent floral palette. “It was fun to collect a variety of different succulents—in green, silver, and golden colors—and deconstruct them for all of our pieces, including the bouquets, corsages, centerpieces, and boutonnières,” Sandy said. The boutonnières’ twine stem wraps coordinated with natural textiles for a simple, elegant style.

Susan Larder Carol Millett Foraged Florals

HARRISTON, NOVA SCOTIA WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

For a spring, forestinspired wedding, a "nest boutonnière" embodies the intimate nature of the event. The woven willow means change, growth, and new beginnings. The live moss and rock lichen provide soft textures. The designers say this piece was prepared well in advance of the ceremony. The flat, woven back of the nest rests tightly against the lapel and is easily affixed with floral pins. Alpine succulents and miniature daffodils are the ideal size and scale, tucked into the basket-like structure and providing beautiful contrast to the groom's navy suit to herald the season.

“This pocket square was designed for the wedding of dear friends, a female same-sex couple,” said Blair. “With a little more pizzazz than a regular boutonnière, it is a perfect floral style for anyone wearing a suit (male or female; or gender non-conforming members of the wedding party).” Ingredients include spray roses, delphinium, and larkspur blossoms, thistle, brunia berries, and umbrella fern.

Vecchi

"Cranes are majestic birds that mate for life, symbolizing loyalty, honor, good fortune, and longevity," explains floral designer Christa Vecchi. For complementary boutonnières worn by her clients, a gay couple, she began with origami cranes as the foundation. The everlasting botanicals represent enduring love, and include dusty miller (Senecio cineraria), celosia, gomphrena, and strawflower (Xerochrysum bracteatum).

feast & flora.

charleston, south carolina

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Feast & Flora is a hybrid enterprise that reflects the dual passions and seasonal aesthetic of its farmer-florist owner, Laura Mewbourn.

She founded Feast & Flora as a flower farm in 2016, and the business has evolved from growing specialty-cut flowers for wholesale sales, to offering wedding and event floral design since 2018, to establishing a 1,400-square-foot retail flower and gift shop in 2022.

“Opening this retail space helped diversify us,” Laura explained. “I was designing in a detached, single-car garage at my home. It was an amazing space to have at the time when I needed it, but as weddings came back full force after the pandemic, it was just ridiculous trying to get anything done.”

At the same time, Feast & Flora’s retail business—including everyday orders from consumers and a few regular grocery accounts—spiked during the pandemic, creating another reason Laura needed more space. “I was getting retail orders that I had to turn down because I didn’t have room to hold that much product, nor did I have the labor to manage everything because I was doing most of the designs by myself,” she said.

An online Feast & Flora shop was already in place prior to the physical retail opening, which allowed for a seamless transition to everyday flowers for delivery. “If a customer calls to order a dozen roses or something that indicates they are not directly familiar with our work, that prompts us to have a conversation with them, explaining more about who we are and why we are different,” Laura explained. “Most of our arrangements are ‘designer's choice,’ and some customers aren’t used to that. I use the phrase, ‘we pick the best of what's blooming’ repeatedly, because we give preference to seasonality and bloom quality.”

Feast & Flora leases three acres of farmland on Wadmalaw Island, located approximately 30 minutes outside of Charleston.

“We painted one of the inside walls black, which I just love,” she said. “I was going for this vibe that causes people to sort of gasp and rave over it when they come inside. It’s happy flowers against a dark, moody feeling.”

The elegant composition is reminiscent of a Dutch Masters’ still-life painting with vivid botanicals against a black canvas. Interior lighting includes a large, gilded fixture that hangs above one of the design tables; other pendant lights are suspended between the rafters. Freestanding fixtures are an eclectic mix, sourced from Facebook Marketplace or Laura's family pieces. One of her cherished fixtures is a table with legs salvaged from a baby grand piano, built by her greatgrandfather.

Laura found the space after potential leases on two other locations fell through. Previously occupied by a real estate office, the building has a symmetrical façade, with large picture windows flanking two doors that face a busy thoroughfare. Inside, the wood flooring and ceiling-to-floor wall of built-in shelving was almost move-in ready. Laura installed an 80-square-foot CoolBot system and updated the building’s exterior with her signature evergreen palette, white trim, and signage.

“I had this mental image of placing one of our workbenches in a window, almost like a candy shop or a bakery where people walking past can stop and watch someone doing the work; or a chef’s table at a restaurant, where you can see your meal being prepared, which amounts to a completely different experience when you’re eating that dinner,” Laura said. “I wanted the same thing with our flowers, so customers would feel free to come in and have a conversation with the designers and learn more about what we’re doing.”

Having conversations with customers helps to develop long-lasting ties, Laura noted. It often starts when a shopper wanders into Feast & Flora. “We get a lot of rush-hour traffic in the mornings and evenings, so people may see us in passing and then stop one day because they’re curious. When they walk into our shop, I want them to see something different from that older concept of a florist. Our merchandise is as much of a draw as our flowers. To me, it’s all about curating a nice collection of gifts, items made by local artisans, and other things that I love.”

Laura’s personal aesthetic and love of giftgiving means she stocks jewelry, paper items, specialty and gourmet food staples, home goods, and plants.

“We wanted to create space for impulse shopping, and that means serving a broad audience with a wide variety, and price points between handmade items and lessexpensive items,” she added. Rental vases are organized on shelves and cubbies that flank one wall; not surprisingly, customers also want to shop from this inventory.

Laura relies on Heather Duby-Tharpe, her full-time designer/manager, to run the daily operations, which allows her to spend more of her time at the farm.

“Basically, I now run three businesses,” she said, noting that each is focused on such a different market: the flower farm; wedding and event design; and retail floristry. “I’m finding myself less inclined to sell my flowers wholesale and instead, want to focus on our retail services. Of course, that would let me grow more unusual flowers, and smaller quantities of unique varieties, which is what I’ve wanted to do all along. I feel like the universe put me in this spot, and this is exactly where I want to be!”

GORGEOUS + GREEN | LOS ANGELES WEBSITE INSTAGRAM

To complement a “mushroom and colorful fairyland-themed wedding,” Pilar Zuniga included hydroponic mushrooms in hair crowns, bouquets, and boutonnières. The groom donned a pocket square of mushrooms and flowers, while his attendants’ bouts included mushrooms, dianthus, belladonna, craspedia, and echinops. A vintage sewing pin with an orange head held everything in place.