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All photos and ideas from Martha Stewart Weddings.

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Escort-Card Posies: All you need are fabric flowers, map pins, and glue to bring your seating assignments into bloom. Would look great with little multicolored fall leaves, too!  Click here for the  How-To!

Blossoming Backdrop: A string of white lights, vellum and card stock, hole punches, and glue!  Click here for the How-To!

Paper Links:Vellum and double sided tape make paper chains chic! Mix-n-match colors to get the perfect look. Click here for the How-To (as if you really need it!)

Wooden Seating Cards: Paper-thin wood veneer, craft punches, and calligraphy pens make these distintive place cards! Get the How-To Here!

Flower Girl Cardigan: Sequins and fabric glue make it fun!  Works wonders for all sorts of other things too, including shoes, sashes, bouquets, headbands, and favors.

Poster Guest Book: Instead of having your loved ones write messages in a book, put out a poster on which they can sign their names. You can download the editable (and free!) clip art here, send the file to a printer, and it’s done! Or put together your own poster using stencils, paint, ribbon, and anything else you fancy! Get the How-To here!

Seasonal Fruit Favor: You’ll need fruit, tissue paper, and rubber stamps for this one! For personalized stamps, have an office-supply store make a rubber stamp with your names, wedding date, and  illustration. Get the How-To here!

Harvest Wedding Centerpieces: The beauty of these is that they can be made weeks in advance!  Wheat, grains, and other dried grasses (available at crafts stores), tied with a luxurious satin bow. Get the how-to here!

Mini Candied Apples: For these dainty nibbles, embellish candied apples with a paper leaf. You’ll need a leaf-shaped craft punch, glue, and short skewers. You can hand-write, stamp, or print “Enjoy” on each leaf. Get the Candy Apple recipe here!

Flower Girl Basket: For this charming look, get yourself a pretty basket, some cotton fabric, silk ribbon, and leaves. You can order pressed leaves if you don’t have any real ones in your area! Get the how-to here!

Fall Wedding Boutonnieres: Incorporate the shades and symbols of autumn into festive boutonnieres. Get the How-to here!

Martha Stewart suggests drying and framing  your blossoms, creating a beautiful framed arrangement:

1. Snip blossoms and lay them on newsprint.
2. Fold newsprint over to cover, and insert in a flower press (or between the pages of a phone book).
3. Leave them for 10 to 12 days, until dry and papery.
4. Use tweezers to transfer the flowers to card stock and arrange. (In the photo, dusty miller leaves and hydrangeas are arranged alone, in pretty grids, and in a heart shape.)
5. Use tweezers to gently lift each blossom, and a paintbrush to apply a dot of glue to the underside, then press into place.
6. Let dry, and frame.

For more adventurous pressed flower art, Kate Chu has some amazing designs, like the one below, that you might like to attempt yourself.

After you have dried your flowers using a flower press or between the pages of a large book, here are some more fantastic ways to use them, by wisegeek.com:

Stationery: Choose high-quality paper that enhances the flowers you are using. Using a small paintbrush, apply a thin layer of glue to attach the flowers in a predetermined arrangement to cards, envelopes, or paper. If you apply too much glue, blot the area carefully using a paper towel. Allow the glue to dry thoroughly before using the stationery.

Paperweight or Sun Catcher: Using two identical pieces of plastic or glass, position the flowers on the bottom piece and secure with a small amount of glue. Once the glue is dry, you can place the top piece of plastic or glass in position. For a sun catcher, bind the edges with copper tape and attach a copper wire and suction cup for hanging. To form a paperweight, drill two holes and use binding posts to secure.

Decorated Candle: Apply glue to the back side of each flower and then press gently them onto the candle. If the dried flowers do not lay smooth, wrap firmly with waxed paper and hold in place with tape. Once the glue is dry, remove the paper and tape. Apply a second coat of glue to the candle and then use melted paraffin wax to seal the flowers.

Decorated Lampshade: Use slightly diluted glue to attach the dried flowers to a lampshade. Before the glue dries, place semi-transparent, handmade rice paper over the lampshade. Pat a layer of diluted glue over the paper; do not worry about being neat because creases will create texture.

botanicallampshades.com

There are many other uses for dried flowers. Browse online for more ideas such as bookmarks, wreaths, and doorplates. You can even have your flowers made into mirrors or jewelry!

Note that finished pressed flower arts need to be sealed before displaying, in order to keep flowers away from moisture in the air. Always allow the picture to dry completely before sealing. For various methods of sealing your flower art, click here or here.

• Swarovski crystals
• ribbons & trims
• laces
• appliques
• buttons
• buckles
• handbag handles
• cords
• jacquards
• nailheads
• sequins & rhinestones
• beads
• flower pins
• & lots more!

Their blog has some great ideas and photos to inspire you! Here are some projects to take a look at… and let the creative juices flow!

• Magnetic Save The Date Cards!
• Bridal Wedding Veil
• Wedding Cake Embellishment
  
• Unity Candles
• Bridal Shoe Clips
• Velvet Ribbon Wedding Corsage
• Bridesmaid Organza Beaded Necklace
• Dog-of-Honor Ribbon Collars
• Ring Bearer Pillow
• Bride’s Garter Belt
• Toasting Flutes

Jumping Castles

If you are having an outdoor reception or using a very large hall, get one of those huge, inflatable Jumping castles. Kids of all ages will love it. You can rent one from Birthday Party supply stores. Just be sure that someone will supervise the kids when they are on it.

Professional Entertainers

A magician, clown or other type of children’s entertainer can provide kids with a very welcome distraction for a couple of hours. Another good option is a balloon pump and modeling balloons, which can be made into hats, animals, and other fun shape.  If you want to go all out for your little friends, professional crèche organizers can entertain children with anything from dolls and ball pits to dance mats and Playstation games.

Candy Toss

The single ladies may not enjoy vying for the bouquet with a bunch of kids! (And the kids’ moms might not like if their kids are jumping for the garter either!) Solve the problem creatively by having a Candy toss for the kids first. Buy assorted soft and hard candies and toss them for the kids to collect. Provide for little bags for the kids to take home their loot.

Outdoor Sports

Outdoor weddings can accommodate some more things for the kids. You could choose some kind of sports like croquet, beach balls, kite flying etc. to keep the kids busy. Choose a far end of the reception venue for the purpose and once again, make sure that everything is supervised by an older kid or an adult.

An Activity Table

Devote one table to the kids and give them a lot of activities to keep busy with. Coloring books, washable crayons, stickers, legos, jigsaw puzzles, piñatas, board games etc. Be warned that kids can get messy so keep the table in a separate corner of the room and have someone to supervise (and clean) them.

Flower Girl Doll

Give your flower girl a sweet gift that will provide not only sweet memories, but also something to play with at the wedding. You can get her a doll who wears a matching dress, or any other type of doll you think she would like, such as a fashion Barbie.

Kiddie Food

Think about your kid guests when planning the menu. Include some fun kid-friendly food such as macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, or pizza in the menu. Or you can also order fast food, such as McDonald’s kiddie meals (complete with toys which double as favors). Keep bowls of candy (or easy-to-eat fruits like grapes and melon balls) on the kids tables, or make a lollipop “topiary” by inserting round, colorful lollipops into a floral foam base form the local craft shop. It looks pretty and the kids will enjoy it more than the flower centerpieces!

Put Them to Work

Kids are amazingly capable of rising to the occasion — especially when they have an “important” job to do, like passing out wedding programs, manning the kippah station or ushering guests to their seats. And they needn’t clock out after the ceremony. At the beginning of the party, give each child a disposable camera labeled with his or her name and explain that they have been hired as a junior photographer. In doing so, you’ll not only keep little hands snapping and out of trouble, you’ll capture unique, child’s-eye-view imagery of your celebration that you wouldn’t otherwise have.

Wind Them Down With a Video

If your wedding celebration will last into the wee hours, arrange for someone to set up a television and DVD player in a nearby-but-out-of-earshot spot. As the bewitching hour draws near, have your counselors invite all of the children to watch a G-rated late-night flick. Supply pillows, blankets and a couple of bags of popcorn and — with a little luck and a well-chosen movie (nothing too peppy or scary) — your crowd will be crashed by the closing credits.

The bottom line

Kids seem to have fun at weddings, regardless of whether there are bouncy castles or coloring books or assigned jobs to keep them busy. The novelty of the experience, and the obvious enjoyment and happiness that the adults are having, will keep most of them in good spirits. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared with a few back-up ideas!

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About.com provides this list of DIY wedding tasks:

• Wedding Favors
• Simple Floral and Candle Centerpieces
• Cupcakes (instead of a wedding cake)
• Ring Pillow
• Flower Girl Basket
• Using an Ipod instead of an MP3 player. (Enlist a tech-savvy friend to make sure your first dance song, entrance music, cake cutting music etc. is playing at the right time)
• Bridal Hair and Makeup
• Save the Date Cards, Programs, and Seating Cards
• A decorated guest book, card box, photo album, or other keepsake

Not every DIY project will be as successful or as inexpensive as hiring someone else to do it. You’ll be surprised to find that some projects are cheaper for the experts to do, and others can be extremely affordable, depending on the materials you use.

It is also recommend that the bride limit the amount of projects she decides to take on. One project per month is a good way to pace yourself, and make sure you are done with all projects at least a couple weeks before the wedding. You don’t want to be stressed out over unfinished projects the week before you wedding!

Here are some things that are best left to the pros:

• Large Flower Arrangements and Centerpieces
• Your Wedding Dress
• A Wedding Cake
• Catering
• Photography

There are endless wedding sites and blogs that can offer creative DIY ideas. Here are a few sites to get you started:

Dream Weddings on a Budget

DIY Bride

Save on Crafts

DIY Network

DIY Weddings