A dahlia boutonniere and a cheery polka-dot tie offset a groomsman's khaki suit at a celebration in Tennessee.

Nature offers vibrant colors and textures that can be woven into a wedding in unexpected ways. These boutonnieres consist of hydrangea and hypericum berries; chamomile, trachelium, and mahonia leaves; and unripe blueberries and mahonia.

A boutonniere can stand only so many hugs. All that love -- plus heat and lack of water -- can leave flowers wilted. Ask your florist to make two boutonnieres for the groom -- one for the ceremony and one for pictures. Some florists will provide the extra one at no cost.

Lustrous, unique flower-bead lapel decorations for the groom and groomsmen can be made well ahead of time -- and will also make a lovely memento of the day.

At this California wedding, the groom wears a cymbidium orchid boutonniere.

The medallion shape, pleated and flattened, evokes the pageantry of parade bunting and the pride of winning first prize.

A perfect-shaped rose makes a handsome boutonniere when wrapped with its own buds in brown silk ribbon.

Boutonnieres crafted from colorful tissue or crepe paper are graceful, inexpensive to make, and always in season.

Nowhere is it written that a boutonniere -- the traditional adornment worn on the lapels of tuxedos and suits -- has to be a flower; a few lovely leaves wrapped in ribbon can be just as dignified.

Boutonnieres and corsages are stylishly clad in silver-gray ribbons: The bride's mother wore orchids that matched the maid of honor's bouquet, and the groom, his sons, and ushers wore dendrobiums.

Decorate groomsmen's lapels with fresh and fabric boutonnieres -- tailored to an autumn affair. Pick one design or mix and match. The leaves are made of handsome textiles, including felt, wool-suiting fabric, and corduroy; the patterns mimic the veins of real leaves. Fiddleheads and sprigs of oregano, fresh lilac, rosemary, and grasses lend contrasting color. Make leaves ahead; add flora on the wedding day.

Boutonnieres made of ribbon have endless design potential (and, unlike real blooms, are always in season). Create them for your groomsmen with ribbon that matches the bridesmaids' dresses or the ribbons around their bouquets. Give them a masculine feel by using a striped, plaid, or checked pattern. Ours are crafted of 1-inch-wide grosgrain.

Boutonnieres are a special way to welcome guests to the wedding: Place a bowl filled with the florets of hyacinth, narcissus, or another fragrant flower on a table, along with a card, beautifully calligraphed, inviting guests to take one as they enter the ceremony or reception. Set a tumbler of glass-headed pins alongside the blooms.

The groom and groomsmen will have a special keepsake if they wear these everlasting beaded boutonnieres. You will need vintage or new beaded leaves and pearlescent floral pips, along with floral tape and green double-sided seam binding. The pips come four or five to a bunch. Cluster three or four sets of pips together with three leaves; wrap them with floral tape. Then wrap them again in the seam binding. Affix to lapels using straight pins.

A boutonniere of five minispray rosebuds is contained in a spiral of pale-peach silk.

These flowers complement tables in bursts of yellow blooms, shimmery accents, and an aura of luxe glamour. Boutonnieres glitter when wrapped in shiny ribbon and accented with silver millinery leaves

For this California wedding, boutonnieres made of pink nerines are tied with silk ribbon. Each is pinned to a knot of Mizuhiki cord, created using a Japanesse knotting technique believed to bring the recipient good luck.

Clockwise, from upper right: A green-ribbon-wrapped rose and bud; a sprig of chaste snowberries; three scented tuberose blossoms and buds; two green acorns and stephanotis, their stems twisted together in striped ribbon; the organdy-like petals of ranunculus bound in baby blue; a single fragile spray of lily of the valley on its own green leaf, doubly bowed; one fresh gardenia on its own gleaming leaves.

At this New Jersey wedding, the bride made a beaded boutonniere for her groom to wear -- and keep as a memento.

A simple clematis bloom, tied with satin ribbon, is the boutonniere for the best man at this California wedding.

To make this boutonniere, wrap ribbon around three fingers 7 times. Holding lightly at center, fan out loops into a circle. Pin to secure, and apply fabric glue between layers. Let dry, and remove pin.

A debonair alternative to a boutonniere for the groom or men in the wedding party is a neatly folded pocket square. It's a particularly nice choice for a suit or morning jacket worn at a daytime event.

Welcome everyone to the festivities with cheerful boutonnieres. Hardy, inexpensive Mokara orchids pluck cleanly from their stalks and are long-lasting; we embellished each with taffeta ribbon. About 20 minutes before the ceremony, have your florist or wedding coordinator set them on trays near the entrance along with glass-head pins and a sign inviting people to take one.

At this wedding in Jamaica, the groom's boutonniere is a tiny Swarovski crystal frog on a lily pad of miniature orchids.

The bride's own collection of old fabrics helped inspire the details of this outdoor wedding. The bride made the groom's lighthearted tie; his boutonniere of oak leaves and acorns is tied with a jaunty bow.

A boutonniere combines orchids and lamb's ear at an outdoor wedding in Connecticut.

Incorporate the shades and symbols of autumn into festive boutonnieres.

At this Virginia wedding, the groom wore a red leather poppy boutonniere.

Resting on scalloped tags, boutonnieres were laid out in a moss-lined basket for the groom, two of his groomsmen, and his father and grandfather. The adornments for the groom and best man were distinguished by golden bittersweet -- the clusters also combine blackberries, fuzzy bunny tails, and variegated dogwood, all tied with apricot-colored ribbon.

Boutonnieres made with (clockwise from top right) carnations and dianthus, a Dutch rose with hypericum berries, wax flowers, and scabiosa with wax flowers are trimmed with ribbon and then fastened with scarlet-tipped pins.

Fabric flowers make a pretty, wilt-proof way for guests to find their seats and then sport as corsages or boutonnieres. Simply use floral tape to attach a brooch pin to the stem of a fabric flower (these are from Dulken and Derrick). Have a calligrapher pen names onto strips of card stock, then punch small holes on one end and slip pins through.

Boutonnieres of nerines with hypericum berries and miniature cymbidium orchids with jasmine vine by florist Matthew Robbins rest in small silver dishes.

For this carnation boutonniere, simply cut a swatch of fabric in the shape of a leaf and stitch your groom's first initial.

The bride's bouquet has green ranunculus, Dutch roses, and sophisticated varieties of carnations; the carnations are the sole bloom in the bridesmaid arrangement. In both, the stems are bound with satin-and-organdy ribbon. A corsage with cryptanthus foliage looks lovely pinned to a pink leather clutch (by Lauren Merkin). For the men, santini mums and a single leaf are tied with felt rickrack.

Muscari buds and blooms over a collar of cyclamen leaves wrapped with jacquard ribbon.

Pink nerines and viburnum leaves with a button decorating the pink ribbon bow.

Pink hyacinth blooms wired into a circle.

Magenta freesia gathered with plaid ribbon.

Dutch spray roses and vintage millinery leaves and buds tied in vintage hand-dyed ribbon.

Blue hydrangea blossoms bound in lilac floral tape with print fabric knotted around the stems.

Yellow ilex berries in a nest of excelsior top an ilex branch; the bow is made of picot-edge striped ribbon.

Tiny pinecones bundled with cedar sprigs tied with plaid ribbon.

Lime-colored ribbon accents a monochromatic mix of acorns and ferns.

Rose hips and eucalyptus leaves gathered with satin ribbon, its ends notched.

Handmade bead-and-wire branches and a chrysanthemum leaf adorned with a decorative pink and bound with waxed linen thread.

A knotted jacquard ribbon ties up an unusual ensemble of ornamental chiles and wax flowers.

Vintage millinery flowers and leaves gathered with a dupion-silk ribbon.

Boronia branches knotted in a length of vintage ribbon.

Blue cornflowers and scabiosa pods mixed with button fern leaves; a crepe ribbon encircles the stems. 

Calligraphed quilling paper and flowering stems of heather in a velvet-ribbon band.    

Decorative grasses and brodiaea flowers secured with waxed linen thread.

Flowers made of sunflower-seed shells dyed pink, plus montbretia berries, and kunzea; the vintage ribbon is accented by an antique amethyst-head pin.

Dutch variegated rose and rose hips are set off with taffeta ribbon.

Edelweiss flowers and frog berries over dusty-miller leaves finished with jacquard ribbon.

French lavender, white chamomile, and bay leaves accented with herringbone ribbon and a green flower pin.

Ajania, a type of chrysanthemum, bears a plaid ribbon bow.

Felt flowers and dusty-miller leaves wrapped in double-face satin ribbon.

Pepperberries, sage, bay leaves, and sprigs of rosemary secured with waxed linen thread and a ladybug pin.