These Girl Gang Shirts are the Best Thing to Happen to Bridesmaids Since Kristen Wiig

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Anyone who’s looked at wedding pictures on the Internet is probably familiar with the overwhelming phenomenon of bridesmaids in matching things: robes, tank tops, etc. But as soon as Najva and I saw these matching “girl gang” shirts from APW reader Sara, it was all over. Here’s Sara and her girl gang out of uniform:

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In uniform:

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I KNOW. Why didn’t you think of this? Why didn’t I think of this? We wanted to know more about the awesome crew that helped Sara get ready (and get tipsy) the morning of her wedding, and being awesome, Sara even included instructions on how to DIY your own #GirlGang situation:

Shortly after I assembled my bridal party, I sent a commemorative photo to my three bridesmaids—Kendal, Tiffany, and Jen—of two women in denim “girl gang” vests that I had found a few years earlier and filed away. When Kendal suggested that we make our own girl gang shirts to get ready in the morning of the wedding, Tiffany said she’d just mastered the art of freezer paper stencils and offered to show us the ropes. The weekend before the wedding, Kendal, Tiffany and I got together at my house to make the shirts. It was fun to get together and work with our hands in that otherwise hectic week, and it’s great to have one thing from the wedding I can wear over and over.

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I know some pretty amazing, take charge, badass women—a group that goes far beyond the ladies pictured here—and the wedding process really highlighted that for me. Tiffany made the sunglasses we’re wearing in the photos, Kendal learned how to use a plasma cutter to help make marquee letters for the wedding reception, and the women in my life threw me the best shower and bachelorette I could imagine. To quote the bag I made as one of Kendal’s bridesmaid presents (and Tina Fey), “Bitches get shit done.” Making and wearing the shirts was a way to celebrate that.

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Here’s how to make your own #GirlGang shirts: (Editor’s note: we recommend listen to this while you craft.)

1.Find a typeface you like (we used the website fontmeme.com), blow it up to be the font size you want, and trace it onto the non-waxy side of freezer paper (which is different from wax paper).
2. Using an X-Acto knife, cut out your letters to turn the freezer paper into a stencil. Don’t forget to leave a connecting strip for letters like “a” with a blank space inside. If you do forget, that’s okay, because you can just fill in any gaps later.
3. Iron the freezer paper onto your shirt, waxy side down. We started with a towel between the freezer paper and the iron so the freezer paper didn’t burn. Make sure it is thoroughly stuck to the shirt or the edges of your letters will be wavy. (Pro tip: If your lines come out wavy anyway, just cover them with glitter!)

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4. Use a foam roller to apply fabric paint to your shirt. Go for coverage.
5. Wait for your paint to dry. (Soon-to-be brides don’t have a lot of spare time in the week before their wedding—or, at least, this one didn’t—so we used a hair dryer to speed up this process.)
6. Peel off the freezer paper.
7. Fill in the connecting strip on any letters that needed one.

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8. Add any additional decorations to your shirt. We used gold glitter paint.
9. Wear and enjoy! (Pro tip: Girl gang shirts pair well with bubbly.)

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15 Small Wedding Cake Ideas That Are Big on Style

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

Turn Down For What Cake Topper via Host & Toast Studio

A few years ago, I got really into making fancy cakes. Or at least, I got really into the idea of making fancy cakes. I had a cousin who was sidelining as a semi-pro baker, and I’d watched her work just enough to convince myself I could totally do it. I even made some for an event that APW hosted. However, after a few epic fails in the kitchen that involved me sobbing into a pile of confectioners’ sugar at three o’clock in the morning, I learned something important: making cakes look pretty versus making cakes tasty and structurally sound (and also pretty) are two totally different beasts. Also I’m officially not allowed to attempt anything more ambitious than Betty Crocker anymore (it’s for my own good).

If you’re DIYing your wedding cake to save money, the best advice I can give you is to make sure that your plan is actually going to save you money. My cake efforts were ambitious, to say the least, and I’m pretty sure I spent more on supplies than I would have if I’d bought a modest yet pretty cake for whatever occasion I was baking for. But, you know, bragging rights. If you just want to save a few dollars and have a pretty wedding cake, then here’s my advice: buy or make or ask a friend to make an inexpensive (but tasty) small cake, and then decorate the heck out of it. (Assuming you want a wedding cake to begin with. Obviously it is not required.) The best part? If you do a small cake for a symbolic cutting, then you can feed your guests tasty sheet cake and no one will be any the wiser. So with that, here are fifteen wedding cake ideas that give small cakes a big dose of pretty:

Put a Flower On It

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

1. One of the easiest ways to take a simple cake from boring to wedding is with edible flowers. You can buy them fresh or dried. (Styled by Healthfully Ever After; photo by Bit of Ivory Photography via Swooned Magazine.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

2. Or if you’re not planning on serving your cake (that’s what sheet cake is for, right?) you can always ask whoever is helping with your flowers (which could be… yourself) to make a little something extra just for the top, like the above. (Cake by Earth and Sugar, photo by Jessica Lorren via Snippet and Ink.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

3. Or to hell with flowers. Use herbs to decorate the sides of your cake. (Photo by Amanda Berens via Toertchenzeit.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

4. Sometimes less is more. There’s a great tutorial for a DIY naked cake made from grocery store cakes right here and you can get a flat icing spatula for less than $10 right here. (Photo and cake recipe via Tú Eres El Chef.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

5. I never liked any of the beach-themed wedding ideas we found when planning our beach wedding, but I would make an exception for this. Mussels are the flowers of the sea, no? (Styling by Joy Thigpen; photo by Erich McVey via OnceWed.)

Sweeten the Deal

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

6. Flowers aren’t your only edible decor options. Add dried or candied fruit for a colorful cake topper (which you can make or buy). Also, it goes without saying that white cakes are not the only cakes deserving of the wedding cake title. Chocolate cake is delicious(Cake by Heritage Organic Cakes; photo by Michelle Able Photography via The School of Styling.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

7. Or whole fruit. Which you can then eat. (Cake by Sweet Haus; photo by Rachel May via 100 Layer Cake.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

8. Or combine fruit and flowers. Bam. (Cake by Kuchen mit Stil; photo by Thomas Steibl via Wedding Chicks.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

9. P.S. Florals and fruits can mean big ass coconuts and tropical flowers. Just saying. (Cake by Heritage Organic Cakesflorals by Forêt Design Studiophoto by Ruth Eileen Photography via The School Of Styling.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

10. Who said edible cake decor has to exist in nature? Arrange other confections artfully on top of your cake to make it double the dessert. You can even buy ready-made heart-shaped macarons right here, and as you can see here, regular macarons would also work just fine. (Photo and macaron cake recipe via Raspberri Cupcakes.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

11. Or live out my childhood dreams and create an ombre effect using rock candy. You can buy rock candy at most candy stores and online, or make it yourself using this recipe(Cake by Sweet and Saucy Shop; photo by Erin Hearts Court via 100 Layercakelet.)

Top it Off

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

12. You can give a short cake some extra height with a tall cake topper, like this geometric design from Host & Toast Studio. (Geometric cake topper via Host & Toast Studio; also available in teal, pink, gold, and silver.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

13. Or if you prefer something a little more nature inspired, Etsy is filled with cool customizable twig cake toppers, or you can make the featured above using these instructions. (Styling by Megan Forbes; photo by Christina Hussey via Gold Mine.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

14. Make a statement with tiny Mylar balloons. These look surprisingly easy to make, and the DIY is right here. (DIY Mylar balloon cake topper via A Joyful Riot.)

Small Wedding Cake Ideas | A Practical Wedding

15. Or just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. (DIY naked cake recipe by Cake Walk Bake Shopflamingo cake topper by BHLDN; photo by April Ann Photography via 100 Layer Cake.)

P.S. If traditional cake expectations have you stressed out, read this post by Meg and it will make you feel better.