Dazzling Duo

Coordinating corsage and boutonnière for style-setting prom-goers

Floral design, photos and text by Nita Robertson, AIFD

The approaching prom season offers myriad opportunities for florists to show off their creativity and awareness of current trends to a younger generation of potential future flower buyers. By incorporating luxurious ribbons, glimmering accessories and accents into wearable floral designs, you can engineer knockout creations personalized for each customer that will be the talk of the prom and the envy of all other party-goers.

This dazzling duo of wearable designs showcases beautiful ribbon and radiant jeweled accessories from Reliant Ribbon, all of which will bear a hand in creating a night to remember. Reliant’s delightfully dizzying array ribbons, bracelets and wristlets, jewels and gems, and other accessories, will provide you with limitless options for designing enchanting wearables for teenage twosomes of every aesthetic, from hip and cutting edge to classic yet current. So, stock up on prom supplies now, plan and promote a “prom bar,” and get ready for a busy spring.

STEP BY STEP

CORSAGE

Step 1

Tie a corsage bow with four long tails, and secure with 22-gauge florist wire. Tie the plastic design base (included with the bracelet) onto the bracelet with the attached ribbon. Apply liquid floral adhesive to the plastic base, place the corsage bow onto the base and allow the adhesive to dry.

DESIGN TIP: This step can be done ahead of time.

Step 2

Glue Israeli Ruscus leaves and sprigs of Lepidium onto the plastic design base and into the bow with liquid floral adhesive.

Step 3

Glue individual spray rose and Ranunculus blooms into the bow with liquid floral adhesive. Apply drops of the adhesive to both the stem end of each bloom and the surface of the ribbon where the bloom will be placed. Allow the adhesive to become tacky before placing each bloom into the bow, and then hold each bloom in place for a few seconds until the adhesive becomes secure.

Step 4

Glue jeweled accessories into the corsage with liquid floral adhesive. I used fuchsia-colored gem sprays, sparkly crystal gem flower pins, and a pearl-and-gem butterfly pin. Attach a few crystal gem flowers and/or individual fuchsia-colored gems onto the ribbon tails with adhesive dashes.

BOUTONNIÈRE

Step 1

Cut a piece of cardstock or a Pocket Square into an elongated asymmetrical scalene triangle, to fit the dimensions of the jacket’s lapel. Wrap the triangular base with the same ribbon used for the corsage bow, securing the ribbon to the base with adhesive dashes.

Step 2

Glued individual blooms, leaves and gem accents (the same as used in the corsage) onto the boutonnière base with liquid floral adhesive, creating a linear design.

ATTACHMENT TIP: Attach the boutonnière to the jacket lapel using adhesive strips or corsage magnets.