Photo by 217 Photography

What side should the guys wear their flowers?  Oh boy.  If I let the guys put on their own flowers for my weddings, it would not look pretty.

I once had a groomsmen show off his boutonniere to me, and he had somehow wrapped the corsage pin around the stem of the flower and rigged it onto his tux.  It looked futuristic, but not in a good way; actually it looked pretty scary!

But I digress!

The boutonniere (the flower guys wear on their tux/suit lapel) should go on the left side.  I always think “above the heart,” and is usually placed at the thickest part of the lapel.  Some men include a pocket square with their tux; yes, the flower and pocket square are on the same side.

Above is a wire flat boutonniere on our handsome groom Chris (Rita and Chris’ wedding recap to come very soon!) created by our good friend Papertini.  She is known for making modern and eccentric boutonnieres, which many of the grooms favor.  Also, her pieces use super strong magnets, not pins!  So they’re easy for the guys to put on themselves.

If you’re having a traditional boutonniere with a corsage pin, make sure you snake the pin through the back of the lapel.  This way the pin does not show in pictures.  Most florists will provide pins with black heads, others provide white pins.  If you do it correctly, the pin head could be hot pink and it wouldn’t matter because no one would be able to see it.  The flower can usually be secured using only one pin, but use a second if the head of the boutonniere is heavy.  If the boutonniere is longer (like a calla lily one) you can use the pin vertically, in the back of the lapel.  I also use this method if the lapel is thinner, especially in the newer suits.

A video is in the works  and I hope to post it soon!

Thanks to 217 Photography for the image!