Boutonnieres (round 2)

Or "button-holes" for the non-francophiles of us. 


As you might remember from the Ultimate Floral Test back in August, I tried 2 different boutonniere for the males. 


Have just read this post on APW - Boutonnières: or making a marriage legally binding  especially the comments, 

• "If you choose not to have boutonnieres, you will undermine the institution of marriage" 
• "My two cents is that bouts were origionally a man wearing his lady’s colors. If he doesn’t where your favorite flower, how will you know who to marry?" 
• "the tradition is that the groom wears a part of the bride’s bouquet" 

and now I'm rethinking it all. 




What about handkerchiefs? What if I tried to find handkerchiefs (I almost said vintage, I think because it's trending, but let's face it - we're not doing much else in vintage fashion and will it really matter in the end?) in different yellow/grey/black patterns? 
Grant has stipulated (I did consult him just now, honest) that he wants a plain colour. That's fine; can I get patterned ones for the rest of the boys? "I don't care as long as I don't look dumb." I'll take that as a yes :) 
The other request was could he use it, cos, you know, handkerchiefs are made to be used. I said yes, after the photos. Fair compromise, don't you think? 


Pros of handkerchiefs: less fiddly, less stress/worry to make them work, easier for boys to organise themselves (give them a bunch and they sort it out I guess), less matchy-matchy, safer in the face of seatbelts, outlet for screen-printing creativity (maybe print the stationery motif?)
Cons: not flowers (I like flowers), could end up being more expensive, more hassle in lead-up to find them all but easier on the day. 


I think I'm convinced. 

*love love love love love* 
Kiwa.

Flowers - the ultimate test

Finally, after many months and workplace emails and discussion, Allison and I got round to testing the flower theory: whether or not we would be able to make the bouquets ourselves.

 

Taking inspiration from this photo in particular (which comes from this post), and with instruction from the wonder that is the internet (including this video and others on www.ehow.com) this is how we spent Saturday: 

1. We needed flowers. So we ventured to the Brisbane Flower Market in Rocklea (about 1hrs drive from Allison's and 20-odd minutes from mine). Now, I don't know about you, but I've seen many a television show/movie from the US particularly where they have giant warehouses of florists and flowers and all you can see for miles are petals of various colours...
   BMF is nothing like that. In fact, I think it's pretty safe to say they're crap. There were 3 vendors open, all with coldrooms the size of my lounge (which is tiny cos we live in an inner-city 2bdrm apartment) that were just 1/3 full (2/3 empty?) of half-dead flowers. And there was hardly any variety of types or colours. CRAP. Absolute crap.
   However, in the end, we spent just $50 and got a few bunches of different flowers and some floral tape and yellow ribbon. Not a complete waste, I guess... Oh, and as a comparison, one of the "wholesale florists" there had a price list - an 8" bouquet of roses would cost $150. And that's not even "proper" florists in the city prices! Ah, no thanks!
   
2. We needed food. It was now almost lunchtime and neither of us had had any breakfast, so food was needed desperately. Subway it was.
   
3. We got started. Here is where it got a bit tricky. But, suffice it to say there were no fights or even non-fights between MIL and I, in fact we worked pretty well for the afternoon especially given how different our tastes and approaches to problems can be. Allison's a lot fussier than me, but really I think it's just that I'm lazy and good enough will do ;) terrible really... but they're just flowers people!
   I won't go through all the steps because we pretty much just followed the steps in the numerous videos we found on the net.
   Instead, here are some photos...