More grooms now treat their wedding look as a chance to experiment rather than a uniform to get through. Honestly, it’s about time. Wedding editors are seeing the flower traded for a brooch, and the red carpet has made the move feel completely normal. Frank Everett, vice chairman of jewelry for the Americas at Sotheby’s, has said you can barely watch a red carpet now without seeing a man wearing a small lapel brooch. Some grooms go all in on jewelry, from pearls to embellished ties, while others keep the botanicals and rethink them in silk, feathers or even a tomato vine. Here are 14 ideas to choose from before your final fitting.
Silver Floral Lapel Pin
A silver flower gives you the boutonniere silhouette without the expiration date. The prettiest versions are long and delicate: a single rose or tulip on a slim stem that runs down the lapel, sometimes with a pearl tucked in like a bud. Others go looser, with sculpted silver blossoms and leaves dangling from an oversized safety pin. Silver looks crisp against a black tux and almost tonal on an ivory dinner jacket. The best use of this idea is personal. Pick the same bloom that anchors the bridal bouquet, so her roses show up in silver on his lapel. Unlike a real stem, it survives the dance floor and goes home as something he will actually wear again.
Veggie and Berries Boutonniere
For couples who want something alive but not predictable, florists are reaching past flowers and into the produce aisle. Recent WedVibes coverage featured strawberries on the vine trailing down a black lapel and a dried chili pepper paired with a pearl, as florists move into vegetables, berries, and fruit. Take a look at the tomato vine here, paired with a sprig of red currants. The tomatoes bring a little garden-fresh weight, while the currants hang like tiny glass beads. This idea shines at destination weddings, where it can borrow straight from the local table, like a sprig of olives in Puglia or a tiny lemon on the Amalfi Coast.
Photo: Flor Nativa, Blooms Uncut
Feather Brooch
Feathers bring movement to a look that’s usually all straight lines. The biggest recent moment came at the 98th Academy Awards, where Pedro Pascal skipped the jacket entirely in custom Matthieu Blazy for Chanel: a white tuxedo shirt and black trousers, with an oversized chrysanthemum brooch of silk and feathers and a matching cummerbund. Pinned straight onto the shirt, a piece like this works for the reception, after the jacket comes off. Grooms can borrow the idea at almost any scale. A plume of gray ostrich feathers above a jeweled drop looks sharp on a black tux, while a cloud of white feathers spilling across the chest is pure editorial drama. Keep the rest of the outfit plain and let the feathers move every time he does.
Photo: Jamie Mizrahi, Chanel, Tyrell Hampton for Alexander Roth, Pinterest
Sculptural Brooch
Some brooches are less jewelry and more tiny sculpture, and grooms are finding them in surrealism. The motifs are anatomical: a gilded eye that seems to watch the room, or half a face cast in matte gold. The idea has deep roots. Jean Cocteau designed an eye brooch with a pearl tear for Elsa Schiaparelli, and under Daniel Roseberry the house has made the human form its visual signature, including a trompe l’oeil eye brooch with crystal piercings. On a wedding day, that single tear hits differently. It turns the brooch into a quiet nod to the moment that gets almost every groom during the vows. For a softer take, tuck a sprig of fresh flowers behind it, so the brooch borrows a little of the boutonniere’s life.
Photo: Studio Galla, Tosin Josh
Statement Lapel Brooches
One brooch is a statement. Several start to feel like a collection. At the 2019 Golden Globes, Chadwick Boseman wore a trio of Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger clips on his lapel. Ke Huy Quan paired two Fred Leighton pieces at the 2023 Oscars, a vintage diamond floral brooch and a diamond lapel pin. Some grooms now go for six or more. The trick is editing. Choose one thread, like a single metal color or one recurring motif, and cluster the pieces tightly near the collar so they read as one composition. Mixing in borrowed family pieces turns the arrangement into a quiet guest list of people who matter.
Pearls
Pearls moved into menswear a while ago, with Harry Styles and A$AP Rocky among the names who made pearl strands and earrings look easy on men. And weddings are catching up as grooms are wearing them as part of the tailoring itself. A long strand can replace a tie entirely, looped under a button-down collar and left to hang down the shirt front. On the lapel, a single pearl drop hanging from a polished silver brooch feels sculptural and minimal, while a pin draped with several pearl strands reads more romantic.
Photo: Kate Evseeva, Pinterest
Chain Lapel Brooch
A chain brooch links two pins with draped chains, so it spans part of the lapel instead of sitting in one spot. The main piece carries the look, whether it’s an enameled eye or a jeweled monogram, and a smaller pin anchors the chains a few inches away. Menswear retailers suggest pairing chain brooches with simpler jackets, and that advice holds here. Keep the chain short enough that it doesn’t swing every time he hugs a guest, and let it be the only jewelry on the jacket.
Photo: Louis Vuitton, Pinterest, Pinterest, Pinterest
Fabric Flower Brooch
A fabric flower keeps the softness of a boutonniere and adds the scale of a statement piece. Dolce & Gabbana keeps coming back to it. In the Spring/Summer 2024 menswear collection, “Stile,” floral details moved onto jacket lapels and shirt collars, and the house followed with a silk floral brooch for men nearly five inches across. Two years later, huge flowers returned to the runway for Fall/Winter 2026-27. Tone-on-tone is the safest bet, like a black silk flower on a black tux. For more drama, pin a black bloom to a white suit with black pinstripes, where the flower picks up the stripes and looks completely intentional. Unlike fresh petals, fabric never wilts.
Photo: Dolce & Gabbana, Pinterest
Modern Botanical Boutonniere
Not every groom wants to give up fresh flowers. Some just want them to look nothing like prom. Florists are treating the lapel as a tiny canvas, working with shape and empty space instead of a tight bundle of blooms. Hyacinth florets get strung into a curl or even tied into a bow. A single green bean stem is knotted like a ribbon and finished with a couple of berries. Curling tendrils spill past the edge of the lapel, while a lone orchid floats in a cloud of airy greenery.
Floral: Blooms Uncut, Mandy Floristry, Nonaked, Blooms Uncut
Metal Tie Knot
Picture the knot of a tie, then cast it in metal. This piece is worn at the collar in place of a fabric knot, and it can be engraved or set with small stones. It lands exactly where the eye goes in every close-up, right under the chin, which makes it a strong choice for a groom who wants one statement and nothing on his lapel. Match the metal to the rest of the outfit, from the cufflinks to the wedding band, so the knot looks like part of a plan.
Embellished Tie
Rule-breaking neckties moving into the menswear. Picture crystal starbursts running down a black silk tie, or a cluster of pearls and rhinestones pinned just below the knot. Others scatter oversized green stones across the tie or dot a pink one with vintage buttons. Some grooms build the look themselves, stacking safety pins hung with pearl drops. The tie sits dead center in every portrait, so it gets more camera time than anything on a lapel. With this much sparkle, keep the lapel quiet.
Collar Jewelry
The collar sits right next to the tie knot, and grooms are starting to dress it up. Collar tips are the classic option: small metal caps that slide onto the points of a shirt collar, a detail with roots in Western wear. With a tie, they sharpen the collar and frame the knot like a setting frames a stone. A collar chain goes further, with two pins fastened at the collar points and a chain draped across the tie just below the knot. Mr Porter has tracked collars getting more playful, and Sprezza writer Clayton Chambers links this to suits themselves becoming more fun. Silver works with a black or charcoal tie, while gold looks warmer against burgundy or deep green silk.
Gold and Enamel Flower Pins
Where silver feels cool and minimal, gold and enamel bring warmth and a little color. A gold rose with a single pearl at its heart looks romantic on an olive suit. A pearl-studded sprig with green enamel leaves feels like a pressed flower turned into jewelry, while a red enamel ginkgo leaf curving around a pearl adds one bold note to neutral tailoring. Even the fastening can become part of the design, like a gold rose set on an oversized safety pin. These pieces also solve the groomsmen question. Each friend can wear a different pin in the same metal, the groom’s stays the most distinctive, and every pin goes home as a thank-you gift.
Necklace Worn Over a Tie
This one breaks a rule most grooms never knew they could break. Instead of hiding a chain under the shirt, he wears it on top of the tie, so the necklace drops past the knot and rests against the silk. A fine gold chain with a single pendant feels personal, especially if it’s an initial or a medallion that once belonged to his father. A strand of pearls or a chunky link chain turns the same idea into a fashion statement. Contrast matters here. Gold pops on a black or deep green tie, while pearls look softest against charcoal or navy. Keep the necklace short enough to stay centered when he moves, and leave the lapel bare so the neckline remains the focal point.
