We are going totally non-floral for the wedding. All things typically floral will be feathers instead. So Bek and all suit-wearing attendants and parents will have feather boutonnieres, all dress-wearing attendants and parents will have feather corsages or fascinators, I’ll have some sort of feather business hapenning on my head, and all centre-pieces and table decorations will be feather arrangements. I’m glad we went with this idea because we are planning an out-of-town wedding, which means that a) we don’t have to coordinate with a florist from a distance, and b) I get to have everything put together well in advance and just throw it in the car when we leave!
So the first feather project was the boutonnieres. I picked out all the feathers a while ago, and had yet to hit on exactly the perfect way to put them together. I was initially trying to construct them as much like floral boutonnieres as possible, so I was playing around with trying to place them together at exactly the perfect angles and proportions and hold them together with floral tape. But several failed attempts made it pretty obvious that feathers just aren’t as flexible with flowers, and it was going to require more drastic measures. So I resorted to *gasp* the GLUE GUN. Not as classy, perhaps, but it worked like a charm.
In fact, this project turned out to be so freakin’ easy that I almost feel silly even putting this online. But here goes…
Stuff You Need:
I figured out how I wanted the feathers arranged, and then broke it down into pieces – you need to stick the feathers together in layers and bunches. I started with my large “base” feather, then built it up with a couple of contrasting ones.
Then I stuck a longer feather in the back so it would peak out from behind…
For the next layer, I first glued three smaller feathers into a little bundle and then stuck ‘em onto the first bunch.
Then I used floral tape to shorten and fluff-out a small bundle of long, soft white feathers. Then I stuck it to the very front, and secured the whole thing with floral tape.
I covered the whole floral-taped bottom with black ribbon, and… Ta Da! Feather boutonniere!
I made ten of these little fellows! I think they look extra adorable all lined up. Ready and waiting to adorn the lapels of our loved ones!
So that’s it! The short version: stick feathers together and then hide the ugly glue part with ribbon.
Photos by me
PS: I’m going to make a similar one for Bek, but I want hers to have a little bit more pizzazz. I’m waiting till we find her suit so I can make it exactly the right size and shape, and find some other snazzy feathers to mix it up a bit.
OMG, those are fan-freaking-tastic. SO adorable!
These came out really amazing. We are also not having flowers, but I will be substituting with pom poms. I was thinking I would do a felt leaf with a pom pom flower for the boutonnieres. As a knitter, I have a bookcase of yarn and I am trying to use resources I already own.
I love those! What do the corsages look like?