But not the way you may be thinking… the smaller or understated, the better.

At one wedding I attended the Groom’s and Groomsmen’s buttonholes were so ridiculously large it looked like the bridal party had been attacked by a plant just before walking through the chapel door!

‘Understated’ is a good guideline to follow.

Traditionally the men’s buttonholes match the colour of the bride’s bouquet and/or the bridesmaid’s dresses. But different colours have been used in some instances and remained effective and elegant.

At one wedding, the Bridesmaids wore a dark pink and the Bride carried a bouquet of roses with the same pink intermingled with cream roses. The groomsmen wore soft pink buttonholes – the colour the dark pink mixed with the cream would make on a canvas… at least that’s how it was described to me. And the outcome – it looked gorgeous.

At another the wedding the Bridesmaid’s dresses were a rich blue and the Groomsmen wore black suits, paisly ties with the same blue featured throughout, a handkerchief of the same blue peeping out from a breast pocket, and a white carnation as their buttonhole. Ve-ery nice!

The moral to the story? Don’t be afraid to break with tradition. The only guideline I’d recommend is keeping the buttonholes to a reasonable size – no one wants their groom to look like he treked through the Amazon to get to your wedding.

Important Notes:
Buttonholes are worn on the left coat lapel.
They are generally worn by:

• the groom 
• groomsmen
• bride’s man
• father of the bride
• father of the groom
• grandfathers of the bride
• grandfathers of the groom, and
• ushers