How to Make a Craft Beer Boutonniere

We are smack dab in the middle of wedding season and many couples struggle finding subtle ways to incorporate their interests and passions in their wedding details. So I thought it would be fun to teach you guys how to integrate your love for beer into your wedding flowers.

Boutonnieres can be made a day ahead of your event (and even more in advance if you are using silk flowers), and stored in a cooler with a temps between 40° to 42° F. When storing fresh flowers, make sure there are no apples, berries or tomatoes in your cooler space, as these fruits emit ethylene which will damage your boutonniere. Use sturdy products to ensure that your boutonniere will last through all of the hugs, kisses, and craft beer “cheers” you will have on your special day!

Materials:

• Scissors
• Wire Cutters
• Floral Clippers
• Floral Stem Wire (~20 Gauge)
• Paddle Floral Wire (~22 gauge)
• Floral Tape
• A variety of ribbons or strings
• Corsage Pins
• Flowers & Foliage (I used all fresh flowers and foliage)
• Hop Flowers (If it’s not August/September when you’re making these, you can use artificial hop flowers to achieve this look)
• Bottle Caps
• Glue Gun
• Glue Sticks

Instructions

1. Select the flowers and foliage you will use in your boutonniere. Use sturdy materials, and if you live in a hot humid climate, you’ll want to use flowers that can withstand the day without wilting. Try to avoid using flowers that are heavy and do not have the support of a thick stem. I also encourage you to use flowers, foliage or herbs that are a little out of the box. This can help create different textures and can really showcase how unique you are as a couple.

You will see when looking at my finished boutonnieres that I used a number of elements to complete my beer themed boutonnieres. I used hops, labels from bottles and bottle caps from some of my favorite breweries. This is really the fun part because you have to open bottles for bottle caps! Which means you can explore your cellar while you put together this craft. I personally enjoyed The Bruery’s Jardinier and a couple amazing beers from Prairie Artisan Ales and Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project.

2. If you’d like to incorporate the bottle caps, try not to bend the caps when opening the beer. Next, take floral wire from the 22 gauge Paddle Floral Wire and cut about 12 inches off the paddle. Fold the wire in half and turn the bottle cap upside down. You will bend the wire to fit inside the bottle cap and use your glue gun to completely cover the wire inside the bottle cap.

< Let the glue completely dry before you handle the cap. Once the glue is dry, you should clean off any hanging glue or strings and then you can bend your wire together to create these bottle cap accents to add to your boutonnieres.

For my first boutonniere, I used a white Gerbera Gerrondo as my main focal flower and I accented with brown Fern Shoots, Gardenia Foliage and dried Amaranthus.

3. Cut the Gerbera bloom off the stem, leaving about 2 ½” of the stem.

4. Next, take a 20 gauge Floral Stem Wire and cross the wire through the base (called the calyx) of the flower bud taking care not to hit the bloom (this could result in severing the bloom from the calyx).

5. Bend the ends of the floral wire down, and hold between your thumb and forefinger. I like to then wrap the stem of the flower with the remaining wire to secure the stem.

6. Adhere the floral tape where the floral wire crosses through the calyx, and then unroll about 7 inches of tape to work with.

7. While pulling the floral tape taut (this activates the tape’s tacky quality), twist the floral tape downward around the floral wire and toward your body (counterclockwise motion) to cover the wire completely. When you reach the bottom of the wire, pinch the tape off.

Repeat the above steps if you are using a second large bloom in your floral piece. This will be the sturdy centerpiece of your boutonniere.

8. I arranged my accent foliage around the Gerbera to add height and texture. This is where you can really get creative and put together what looks good to you! I added a Bruery Terreux bottle cap to complete the arrangement of all my pieces. When you’ve settled on an arrangement you like, wrap floral tape around the entire ensemble to create one new stem.

9. Use floral clippers to trim to size – an approximately 2” to 2-1/2” stem worked to balance out our arrangement.

10. To give your boutonniere a finished appearance, wrap it in ribbon, twine, rope or anything you can get your hands on that you like. I used a thicker beige string rope and did a crisscross design to give the stem a cool textured look and tied a little bow at the end.

For my second boutonniere I used Variegated Cobra Lilies, Silk Hops, yellow Craspedias (AKA Billy Buttons) and orange Sun Stars. Wrapped with light green and white string and accented with a bottle cap from The Bruey.

For my third boutonniere I used Aussie Typha and formed a modern loop in the back of my boutonniere. I used red Ranunculus as my focal flower, and accented with yellow Craspedias and a Pretty Things bottle cap. I also peeled a Pretty Things label off the bottle and wrapped that around my stem and secured it with red and white striped string.

For my fourth boutonniere I used brown Scabiosa Pods as my focal flower and accented with brown Fern Shoots and Gardenia Foliage. I used a Prairie Artisan Ales bottle cap and wrapped with the stem black and white striped ribbon.

Post written by Elise Alexandria, our event planner and coordinator extraordinaire. She’s passionate about most things that start with the letter “B”. Beer, booze, bromeliads, brownies, books, Banaheim Ducks and Bisneyland.

Make some more summertime crafts with us. Check out our Pinterest board and these related blogposts:

• • Jessica’s Beer T-shirt Modifications
• • Benjamin’s Barrel Stave Bottle Openers
• • Matt’s Tie Dyed Tank Tops
• • Victor’s Reclaimed Pallet Herb Garden
• • Cambria’s DIY Floating Beer Bar
• • Chris D’s Upcycled Wood Barrel Planters
• • Cesar’s Upcycled Wine Barrel Cheese Board
• • The Bruery Pinterest board: Camp Whalez
• • Guest Blog: Beer Trekking Memory Boards
• • Guest Blog: Biggy Beer Label Letters
• • Guest Blog: Scrabble Wall Art
• • Guest Blog: Upcycled Beer Bottle Garden

The post How to Make a Craft Beer Boutonniere appeared first on The Bruery.