It's easy and economical to embellish your envelopes with a great polka-dot paper. Even if the invitation is classic, the liner can be colorful.

At a reception, bowls with floating candles, peonies, roses, and ranunculus "dot" a boldly striped runner. Neutral linens give the eye a place to rest.

Striped and solid ribbons trim the board where this confection, inspired by a chocolate sampler, sits. The cake itself mimics a pastry box with its bands of tempered white chocolate piped with royal icing.

The fanciful quality of this buffet will instill childlike anticipation in every guest. Treats are playfully displayed on stands and sticks and in cups and bags, as they would be at an old-time carnival. The striped awning, in muted candy colors, echoes the swirled lollipops, rock candy, taffy, and fondant "ribbons" on the cake.

Caramel corn looks sharp in striped paper bags.

The classic ensemble of a striped button-down shirt and French-knot cuff links inspired these favors in summery hues, which we filled with saltwater taffy.

Here, we put the notion of icing on ice, relying instead on unadorned pastel layers for graphic appeal. Coconut pound cake, tinted with gel-paste food coloring, serves as the foundation, while white fondant and passion-fruit curd rest on top (the curd is also between each layer). Sorbets in mango, passion fruit, lychee nut, and coconut are paired with strawberry sugar wafers that mimic the look of the cakes.

This colorful cake gets an artistic swirl of stripes.

Make your reception table pop with matching table runners and napkins.

The cocktail hour is a good place to have fun with pattern, even if the wedding is more formal. Have your bartenders wear colorful aprons, or set out stacks of striped cocktail napkins. Tie it all together by matching them to the colors you're using elsewhere.

Ensure a cheerful end to the evening with confections. You can package them in endless ways. Polka-dot paper cones keep the candy a surprise.

How do I love thee? Let me count the dots. In this 1950s-style bouquet, chocolate cosmos pop out of a dome of blushing roses framed with polka dots and tied with a lavender ribbon.

This polka-dotted box makes a sweet package for favors.

Your guests will fill the sky on your wedding day with a shower of paper confetti. Playful polka-dot bags will hold confetti until guests are ready to release it. Premade fabric bags are decorated with ink from a circular pad. These make perfectly round impressions. Slip a piece of card stock into the bag to prevent the ink from bleeding through; fabric needs more drying time than paper does.

To ensure that they would have unique keepsake photographs of their guests, the couple set up an outdoor portrait studio made up of lengths of bright floral fabric draped over a clothesline. The photographer chose the background best suited to each subject's outfit, mixing unlike but complementary patterns to create a jubilant, richly textured collection of pictures.

Lines and dots are combined here; the striped place cards are held up by circular bases. The bases' patterns vary, but the colors are the same. This project is easy when you use a pad of patterned paper (commonly sold for scrapbooking) that comes packaged in matching colors; the kind used here came from a pad of 6-inch square paper by Making Memories.

This modern nod to luminarias -- paper bags with votives inside -- updates the look with chic stripes printed onto vellum and wrapped around straight-sided square glass vases.

Who knew cork and ink could be such a pretty pair? Use them to stamp a charming polka-dot pattern onto every last detail of your day, including place cards, drink stirrers, and toys for the children's table.

Circles cut from metallic contact paper add a playful touch to an otherwise empty space. Recruit friends to stick them up before the party starts and peel them away after the night winds down.

Con-Tact Brand "Metal FX" contact paper in copper (amazon.com). Martha Stewart Crafts Simple Circle Cutter (michaels.com for stores).

To take inexpensive boxes from basic to vibrant, wrap pieces of colorful adhesive around each, creating a graphic striped pattern. You can also use the tape to punch up plain pieces of bulk taffy -- or to cover a lackluster label.

Give a childhood treat a grown-up twist by pairing raspberry sorbet with lemon soda, and lemon sorbet with orange soda. Deck out a standard cart for your reception by taping colorful striped paper to the front and adding a fun umbrella.