{Green} What Inspires Me: Eco-Friendly Florals

If you're crafting your own wedding, handmade florals can add a special touch. First I must caution you - it takes a lot of time. We tried a few tutorials and came up with some spectacular mis-shaped wads of paper that looked as if we'd plucked them from the recycling bin. We also came up with some gorgeous pinwheels. The one from our step-by-step DIY walk through got demolished by our cat. They also took a really long time. Needless to say, you only saw one pinwheel at our wedding. We opted for a combination of Real Touch Silk and locally grown, real flowers.

Those weddings that chose to do something different for their florals grab my attention. Maybe it's the effort that goes into dreaming up and bringing that vision to reality that I appreciate. (If you're curious what goes into making these flowers, check out My Favorites posts from the past two weeks which showcased tutorials for fabric and paper flowers.)

The obvious place to start is with the bride's bouquet and the groom's boutonniere. 

Credits: Top Row (from left to right) - Paper Bridal Bouquet handmade by Wire & Paper and Ring Shot, photographed by KIM+PHIL Photography, spotted on Weddings Fresh. Fabric Bridal Bouquet, photographed by Candice and Mark of Mark Brooke Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes. Bottom Row (from left to right) - Fabric Boutonniere, photographed by Candice and Mark of Mark Brooke Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes; Paper Boutonniere photographed by KIM+PHIL Photography, spotted on Weddings Fresh; Paper photographed by Pat Furey, spotted on Project Wedding.

Besides on the wedding party, flowers can appear almost anywhere, sprinkled throughout your venue to tie your day together.

Credits: Left Images (top to bottom) - Branches with Paper Flowers and Butterflies, photographed by Emma Case, spotted on Love My Dress; Giant Paper Flowers, photographed by Ali Degraff Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes. Center Images (top to bottom) - Paper flowers made from book pages, spotted on Ruffled, top photo photographed by Feather Love, bottom photo photographed by Jenna of Flutter Glass. Right Images (top to bottom) - Table styled by Lo Bjurulf of Agent Bauer, spotted on Bustled Blog; Paper Flowers, photographed by For You Love Me, spotted on Ruffled.

Other places paper flowers or fabric flowers can appear: around or on the cake. At individual place settings. Or on the ring bearer's pillow.

Credits (from top to bottom, left to right): Photograph of Bride and Groom Cake Topper, photographed by For You Love Me, spotted on Ruffled; Cake flowers, photographed by James Bass, spotted on The Sweetest Occasion; Floral napkin rings, photographed by Caspix Photography, spotted on Ruffled; Ring bearer pillow, photographed by Ben and Maddie Haisch, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes.

One thing you should note. If you're not using treeless, responsibly made materials or out-dated phonebooks or old books, substituting paper for real flowers might not be better for the environment than choosing locally grown, pesticide-free flowers. With the exception of the giant paper flowers, most of the brides and grooms featured used scrap materials.

DIY: The Boy's Boutonnieres

Remember this detail on cubes' suit?

Well after considering and reconsidering both eco-friendly and traditional boutonnieres, I keep coming back to the pocket watch detail. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of pocket watches for each of the men in the wedding party as well as our dads.

So I still have a DIY project on our to do list, but at least it's one that's now more defined.

Where I Found the Supplies

• Amy Stevens Originals (Etsy)
• BigDaddyO (Etsy)
• BS Vintage Watch Parts (Etsy)
• Creative ARTifacts (Etsy)
• Insects, Steampunk, Assemblage Supplies (Etsy)
• Steampunk Supply (Etsy)

{Green} What Inspires Me: Eco-Friendly Boutonnières

Have you thought about the flowers for your groom? Typically referred to as boutonnières. Or commonly misspelled as boutinnieres. Or easily abbreviated as Buttons.

Created/Photographed by Ruffles and Stuff

For our wedding, I'm trying to figure out if go with real flowers (snuck out of my parents' yard under cover of darkness), paper flowers, fabric flowers, or something else for the boutonnières. And whether we make them ourselves or buy them.

What do you suggest we do?

Fresh Flowers
If you're aiming to be green, flowers seem to be the thing you should avoid at all costs. If you feel you have to have flowers, well then be sure that you're choosing in-season flowers that are locally grown without pesticides.

To avoid this whole environmentally insensitive area I'd begun dreaming of raiding my parents' garden (they're local; anything that would be in bloom for our wedding would be in-season; and they don't use pesticides). Cuttings from my mom's Australian Tea Bush (Leptospermum scoparium 'Ruby Glow' - New Zealand Tea Tree 'Ruby Glow') would compliment our soft romantic vintage look.

Leptospermum scoparium

(Source)

And if the tea bush isn't blooming, there's sure to be Heather a plenty (blooms from July through November).

(Source)

However, I'm not sure my parents would appreciate us appropriating their landscaping. It would definitely be a very personal DIY touch. Moving on from that day dream, a truly eco-friendly boutonnière would be one that isn't made from fresh flowers. I started thinking we could make our own. Here are some of the DIY Boutonnières that have caught my eye.

Paper Flowers

Photographed by Pat Furey, spotted on Project Wedding

So far I've found a tutorial on Just Something I Made for how to make the paper leaves using a page from an old cookbook, our printer, Matte Modge Podge, and scissors. This is a relatively inexpensive DIY Project, our only cost would be the Matte Modge Podge; 4 oz runs about $3. I also found a tutorial on Elizabeth Anne Designs that could be scaled back in size to create the flower itself.

Photography Credit: For You Love Me via Ruffled

Crafted/Photographed by Miss Trail Mix for Weddingbee

Crafted/Photographed by Miss Guinea Pig for Weddingbee

There's even a handy step-by-step tutorial for making these origami flowers. This seems like a more manageable task if we're just using origami flowers for the boutonnières in place of escort cards.

Fabric Flowers

Boutonnières by Emersonmade
$38 to $42

(Source)

Eco-Proper via The Broke-Ass Bride (includes video tutorial!)

(Source)
Boutonnière by Peppermint Cloud (Etsy)

$19.99 to $29.99

Depending on the material you chose, nylon or organza for example, you can create romantic corsages for your MOB and MOG.

(Source) Includes step-by-step tutorial for creating the flowers.

(Source) Includes step-by-step tutorial for creating the flowers.

Twigs and Seed Pods

(Source)

Feathers

(Source)

Photography Credit: Simple Photo in Ontario via Style Me Pretty

Boutonnière by Pomp and Plumage (Etsy)

$10 to $14

(Source)

Boutonnière by Rationale (Etsy)

$8.50 to $10

(Source)

Unique

(Source)
Boutonnière by Drinking Stars (Etsy)

$20 for 1; $125 to $150 for set of 5