Wedding Wednesday: Bits of Pretty

Hi there! I'm trying to find out what works best here on Not the Marrying Kind, and I'd really like your help. I've created a short survey in order to get some feedback on what goes on with my wee small blog. I have a lot of lurkers that visit, seemingly consistently, but are silent observers. I respect silence on blogs, but if you could please break your silence in a completely anonymous way and let me know what you think of some stuff around this, here stretch of the internet, that would be oh, so wonderful! You can access the survey here and it will be up until July 15th. I will probably remind you about this on a daily basis, so please don't get mad at me, k? (PS. A.P. told me that nobody would fill out my survey. Help me prove him, and all men, wrong by sticking it to him. Seriously. Go here.) And thank you to those that have already filled it out! Your feedback is very helpful!

My favorite thing about the wedding, besides marrying the guy I love, that is, are all the small details. To me, they are what make a wedding special. I think all those things should be as personal and meaningful as possible, but there are a lot of small things that are less about meaning and more about the pretty. It's those things that make a wedding beautiful. These things need not break your budget either. Here is a small collection of pretty inspiration that is easily DIY-able. (Click on the links below for original images. The ones with an *asterisk* also contain DIY instructions.)

Vintage Spoon Table Numbers*

Late night snack for your guests: milk and cookies. (Chalkboard labels available here.)

Mason jar and Burlap centerpieces

Favor idea - Succulents wrapped in kraft paper

Escort Card Pegboard and Clothespin Display*

Save the date buttons (Looking for an inexpensive no fuss version? I'm loving these pair of pears buttons from Shop Olio on etsy. 100 for $100 and completely customizable.)

(Photo credits linked below each image.)

I Could Have Danced All Night

Before I begin the Friday dance, I want to announce my photo a day project. Those of you who follow this blog know that one of my goals for 2011 was to do another photo a day project. It took me a little while, but I've finally come up with it! Announcing...stripes every day for the month of May! Basically, I plan on wearing stripes of some sort every day for the entire month of May. I am going to try not to repeat outfits, but I make no promises. You can track my progress here beginning on Monday. Now, on to the dance!

I know I should probably be covering the Royal Wedding or something, but I figured there's enough people in the covering that. So instead, in honor of my coming around to Florida, I've decided on a Florida wedding this week. Take that, U.K.! Ruffled featured this adorable, vintage wedding recently, and, yes, it made me fall in love with Florida a bit more. Who knows, right? Maybe by the time I'm 80, I'll live in Florida!

So beautiful, right? And don't you love that cake topper?? And her vintage fur wrap???

Alright, enough gushing. Here are your dance moves for the week:

25 Things Every Woman Should Know

Adorable library card save the dates

I'm thinking about finally making some macarons this weekend. They're a difficult cookie to make, and I've failed a bunch in the past. I think I'll use these tips from this awesome new blog I discovered.

Have you heard of woading??

Check out this awesome use for your hubby's old ties. I bet you could DIY this!

I never did dare to make this cake, but I'm more tempted to give this beautiful rainbow cake a crack. It's pretty (and easy)!

Steal a pallet from behind a grocery store, and turn it into this!

Okay, okay, one reference to the Royal Wedding. Wouldn't it be cool if Kate Middleton had worn these shoes and had crowns like that for the kids at the reception?

Have a wonderful weekend!

(Dance Friday photo by Me; Florida Wedding Photos via Ruffled Blog)

Dance All Night

photo by me!

As promised, here's a Dance Friday post for you! This includes stuff from last week, too, since the FILs were here visiting. But some stuff is just too good to not post even though it's a little, tiny bit old. Like Liz's chocolate mustaches and noses:

photo via avoision

Liz is Felix at avoision's fiancee and though I've posted about her awesomeness before, she really has gone above and beyond this time. Check out the latest favors she made! Chocolate mustaches and noses for her candy bar! How cool are those? Plus how freaking adorable is that picture of the two of them with their little chocolate face accessories? Liz=kitchen genius!

Speaking of genius, I'm loving Miss Bunny at Weddingbee's homemade place card holders. She's got a great attitude about not spending money and she fashioned these out of old cookie cutters and wire. And though that might sound a little too MacGuyver-ish to you, they totally rock. Check them out here.

Little details like the place card holders are my favorite thing about wedding planning. I know when people show up to my wedding eventually most of them probably won't notice, but I know there's always those two or three people who appreciate the little quirky details, like my friend Mimi's post about this totally unique cake topper. Although A.P. isn't the tall one, I am. I'm thinking we'll need a bride ostrich. Haha! Mimi was really on a roll, too, because she also posted these pictures of her arrangements from her own wedding. I'm loving all the different white vases. Fantastic! But I expect nothing less from someone who came up with such an awesome guest book.

I'm loving all the Save the Dates that Brooklyn Bride has been posting lately. But I adore these and those. These because I love photobooths, and those because I heart The Little Prince! So much so, I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate him into our invites! No such luck yet, though. And though Brooklyn Bride also featured these, I saw them first at Once Wed.

So, as many of you know, I'm a city girl. A big city girl, born and raised. And with the city life comes the train. If you're from Chicago, it's the "L". Anyway, as many of you also know, I heart me some Jeremy Lawson Photography. And if you live a hop, skip and a jump from Logan Square, then these pictures will make you swoon. I've told A.P. a million times that I want to take train photos on our big day. He doesn't get it at all, but I'm hoping these photos will convince him. Look at that train rushing past behind them as they kiss! I love it! (Btw, go check out the original...my polaroid doesn't do it justice!)

photo via Jeremy Lawson Photography

Speaking of wedding photography, you heard it here first: Fuck balloons, shopping carts are the new trend. Seriously.

Good God this is a long post! That's why you don't ever stop blogging! But it's worth it, right? Especially if you didn't already catch these weddings: Bowen & Brett at Green Wedding Shoes, Emily & Chris at Snippet & Ink, and Wren Handmade's wedding as featured at Once Wed. Part of what drew me to all three of these weddings were the clothes. Chris gives good suit, and I'm in love with Laura from Wren Handmade's dress!

photo via Once Wed

photo via Snippet & Ink

Finally, since A.P. and I will celebrate our three year anniversary in a month, this post with all it's sparkler fun reminded me of our first date, when we made a cake and lit sparklers on my back porch. It was fantastic, and I, like Something's Hiding in Here, am looking forward to the next set of adventures!

photo via Something's Hiding in Here

Have a greet weekend, everyone!