Your essential guide | How to pin on a wedding buttonhole

Pinning a boutonniere is one of those things that you might suddenly realise on your wedding day you don’t know how to do.

Here’s your essential guide so that you know what to do on the big day!

Make sure to practice before your wedding. It’ll make things so much easier.

Step 1:

Hold the boutonniere correctly. The floral center should be facing you, and away from your chest. The greenery, such as the leaves, should be facing away from you.

Step 2:

Lay the boutonniere flat against the left lapel of the suit. Think of it as going above the heart. It should be roughly equidistant between the left and right edges of the lapel.

Step 3:

Move the boutonniere so that the flower is on or just below the broadest part of the lapel, covering the top button hole. Position the stem at a slight angle so it is running parallel to the edge of the lapel.

Step 4:

Lift the lapel to expose the back, holding the flower in place with your non-dominant hand. Inserting the pin from the back will keep the pin hidden so the metal won’t catch the light in photos.

Step 5:

Push the pin through the back of the lapel and through the stem of the boutonniere. Position the pin so that it is facing down. The point of the pin should go through the stem where it is thick, just below where it attaches to the petals.

Step 6:

Guide the pin back through the stem and lapel, as though sewing a stitch. The pin should be secure and lay vertically against the lapel. The overall movement is a simple push out all the way through the fabric and the flower stem, then weaving back in through the flower stem and fabric.

You can also think of the pin as going forward through the fabric and stem, then back through the fabric again. The head of the pin and the point of the pin will both end up on the back of the lapel, hidden from view.