WHEN IT COMES TO WEDDING seating arrangements, you have a few options. A) Enlist a pushy family member to escort guests to their tables. B) Let anarchy reign as guests snatch up seats next to their buds, giving you flashbacks of elementary school field trips. Or C) Give everyone a card that leads them pleasantly and directly to their assigned seats.

Sure, craft stores and Web sites sell place cards and holders and frames by the dozen, but if you're feeling inventive, you can break out of the folded-paper rut by pairing cardstock with some artful accents from a craft store. (We like A.C. Moore). Designers, beware: You will end up spending more cash and time if you go the DIY route. These designs each took only two to five minutes to throw together, but when multiplied by your guest list, those minutes will add up.

But if you have a short roster — and some willing friends and family — glue, glue away.

» 1) GARDEN PARTY
Spongy reindeer moss gives this combination a rainforest-yfeel. Plug the flower pot (49 cents) with the moss ($4.49 for 2.5 ounces). Found in the garden section of the craft store, this feathery butterfly ($1.29 cents for a set of two) is attached to a bendable wire. Stick the wire in the moss and then fold the butterfly over a place card.

» 2) BEACH BASH
Pair a wee bucket ($1) with some sand ($2.49 for a 2-pound bag) for this whimsical display. Add an accent like a beachball sticker ($1 per sheet) to the card, which can be tucked askew into the sand as if it washed up on the beach.

» 3) DOUBLE-TIMER
Make that place card do twice the work by attaching it to a small pillow box ($1.49) containing reception favors, like chocolate or matchbooks. We dressed up this simple version by looping a band of ribbon ($1.99 per spool) around the middle and gluing the place card to the front.

» 4) MESSAGE ON A BOTTLE
Fill an artful miniature vase (99 cents) with colorful glass pebbles (96 cents for a bag big enough to fill two containers). Attach a place card to a T-pin ($2.39 for 100) with tape or glue and stick the pin into the top of the container.

Written by Express contributor Julia Beizer
Photo by Marge Ely/Express

Posted by Express at 12:00 AM on January 23, 2008
Tagged in Do It Yourself , Lifestyles , Top Stories , Weddings