How to do up a buttonhole with Poppy Culture

Putting a buttonhole on before your wedding can be tricky! After all, it’s not something you do everyday.

I speak with Steph from Poppy Culture to get the lowdown on the BEST way to secure that buttonhole. We’re talking stress free, safe as houses type stuff!

I see it all so often, the mad rush just before the groom needs to leave for the ceremony, family around and a box of buttonholes to put on.

There’s inevitably a look around the room and a general “does anyone know how to put these on?".

For a long time that was me too! so I wanted to educate myself. I thought, who better than one of the hallmark wedding florists on the Mornington Peninsula, Poppy Culture to help!

In the below video, Steph guides you through the process in under a minute. Seriously, it’s that easy! You’ll actually SAVE time by watching this because you’ll be so efficient at it on the day. Or perhaps you’re watching it before your ceremony right now! If so, have the best time ever!

Don’t believe me? Watch the video below where I chat with Steph about the best way to secure a buttonhole on your wedding day.

Did you love that little piece of gold of how to secure a buttonhole on your wedding?

Perhaps you’d like to know some more history about buttonholes, and why they are a modern-day tradition - read below to find out.

The ‘official’ name for a buttonhole is Boutonnière, a French word so i’ll forgive you if you don’t quite know how to say it. Mention a ‘buttonhole’ at your chosen wedding florist and they’ll certainly know what you’re after!

They’re primarily designed to sit on the lapel of a suit jacket, and quite commonly seen on suits for ceremonial occasions such as weddings.

Now it wasn’t always this tricky, or simple if you’ve now watched the video above! Traditionally, buttonholes (or Boutonnière’s) were designed to fit through the buttonhole on the lapel of a jacket. Let’s all gasp together! That’s where it got it’s name from!

Which side should they sit?

Buttonholes have traditionally sat on the left side of a suit, high on the lapel as if it’s gone through the button hole itself. Woman may choose to wear a similar addition to their attire called a corsage. Generally this is worn by the mother-of-the-bride and / or the mother-of-the-groom. The corsage would be worn on the right side.

Have we always used pins to secure it?

It seemed like a simple process with older suits, the stem of the flower would simply slide through the hole and there would be a loop ‘built in’ to the suit just below the buttonhole to secure the base of the stem. This would then sit in the perfect position and be secured for the day and night.

Modern suits are missing this loop, therefor we use the aids of pins in order to secure.

The above should help as a guide as to the perfect position of the buttonhole. Imagine it’s slid through the hole in your suit, and the flow is sitting just above it.

As Steph instructs us, the head of the flower should be secured with a pin from behind. Now don’t be too gentle here, being only a small diameter, sharp pin, it won’t damage the flower if you insert it all the way to the middle. In fact, if you don’t secure the head of the flower enough, it may bend or sag and cause more damage.

The second pin is used to run up the stem of the flower, securing this to the jacket. This will ensure it remains in an upright position, even during all the intense dancing that happens at the end of the night!

I hope you now feel confident in securing a buttonhole on your wedding day.

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