A few weeks ago I attended a wedding, with the ceremony held outside complete with touches of craft and bespoke decorations to make the space their own. The symbolic hearts in the garden were sweet, but the best moment was whilst the bride made her way down the aisle (made from rose petals) that I leaned to the girl next to me and asked – is that bouquet made of buttons?!

And sure enough, it was. Possibly the most gorgeous – and original – element I have seen in a wedding for a while, the bouquet was fashioned from buttons, silk flowers, diamonte details and, while I have no idea what holds the whole thing together, I was in awe. I immediately photographed it from every angle and once home, jumped on Etsy to discover just where I could obtain my very own button bouquet.

I discovered that button bouquets might just be the next big thing in weddings – they have them in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colours and budgets – each more impressive and classic than the last. Just as Alice fell down the rabbithole, I fell into Etsy, each click taking me further and further into a world of vintage and crafty cleverness. 

As it turns out, Etsy’s Head of Visual Merchandising Specialist, Emily Bidwell (who is based in NYC) is in Melbourne this week for LMFF, speaking at the Business Seminar on March 21 about social curation. It seems Emily has the coolest job in the world. She is Etsy’s resident Style Expert and gets to shop on Etsy all day looking for really amazing products. I asked her about her fave pieces on Etsy and she cited this classic vintage Emanuel Ungaro watercolour dress from the 80s. I liked her already.

Etsy in Australia receives 1.5 million visits each month, so it’s good to know someone with Emily’s experience is at the helm, picking cool stuff for us to shop. As one of the first employees at Etsy, Emily believes that curation is a co­creation between the Etsy community and the professional merchandisers who can guide content to the right audiences. Like button bouquets to potential brides, one would think.

‘The best curators are trusted because there is no direct commercial relationship to the featured content. Brands can gain credibility and generate authentic interest when their curators share high quality information and products. Curation can work to aggregate the noise, but most importantly, it’s to reach like­minded audiences.’

I’m looking forward to hearing Emily speak on Thursday, and asking her about button bouquets. I am truly fascinated by how they are put together.