DIY Gilded Cotton Boll Boutonnieres

Before even thought about my bouquet, I knew what I wanted to do for boutonnieres for the wedding. Anthony and I met at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park, Dallas so I thought natural cotton bolls would be a sweet nod to where we met (like our engagement photos).

Rather than paying $135 on boutonnieres (9 x $15 is what I was quoted), I DIYed my boutonnieres for $17.

I made the bows with metallic velvet ribbon and hot glue, then adhered them to the stems of the natural cotton. I was going to keep the stems natural, but last minute I decided to gild the stems with supplies I had leftover from making my wooden menus. I love how they turned out. I made silver boutonnieres for the dads, groomsmen, ushers, and officiant, but I painted Anthony’s gold.  I think these are perfect for fall wedding and could be painted any color. They can be made months in advance, and and add great texture to the grooms(men) attire.

Originally I planned on hot-gluing pins behind the ribbons to attach the boutonnieres to the guys’ lapels to make it easy for them, but in the middle of making them, I found out the head of the cotton were just to heavy to stay upright. Typical straight pin application worked just fine.

All photos were taken by Jeremy & Krisitin photography.