Best Of APW 2016

What we're proudest of this year

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Hey APW!

Some of you (particularly long time readers) may have noticed that I haven’t been writing as much of late. No, that’s not because I’m writing another book (I’m still in recovery from writing this one while pregnant), or having another baby. Nor have I given up on y’all and all things weddings.

In fact, quite to the contrary. I’ve spent the last half of 2016 doubling down on work, and leaning the fuck in. The amount of saying yes I’ve done this year has been life changing (hell! we even bought a house!), but it does mean I’m really in the weeds right now with work. Exciting weeds they are though.

Last week—while I was dealing with two horrifically painful ruptured ovarian cysts—we signed a lease on a new office space in East Oakland (look at that prettyness). It’s huge, at just about 2,000 square feet, affordable (hey East Oakland), TWO minutes from my house, the investment property of a married couple who turned out to be long time APW fans (y’all, #sob), and raw space that we’ll get to build out with our landlord. It also gives us a dedicated photo studio for the first time ever. Add to that the fact that Stephanie decided on November 9th to get out of TN and head to CA and go full time in the APW office, the fact that we’re finalizing a new hire, the upcoming launch of our lifestyle brand The Compact…. oh and the fact that we’re rebranding the site again. (Long story. Catch me over drinks.) Oh, right, and we’re in the middle of rebuilding the site from scratch.

You guys, these are the very best sort of problems to have, but I need a very strong eggnog…. which I can’t have because of the pain meds, because having a uterus is like running a three ring circus out of your pants.

But the year is ending right, since yesterday I surprised the core APW staff at the last meeting of the year, and gave them $300 cash that they had to spend on themselves in an hour and a half…. with a donation made to charity in the name of the person who delighted us (and herself) the most. Najva won, and APW is about to donate to the International Rescue Committee in her name. (I’m also putting down some sizable family cash on this today, and we’re cutting back on holiday spending, because that’s what matters right now.)

And with that, we’re closing out our publishing year for 2016. Though it was fucking nightmare of a year, and 2017 is shaping up to be worse, I was honored to spend it with the APW team and y’all. Smart, caring, community minded women who are working hard to make the world a better place.

Peace, Love, and as much Hope as I can muster,

Meg

P.S. If you check back on Monday morning, we’ll be publishing our intro guide to wedding planning, for all of your newly engaged besties… or those of you who realized that you better start planning this 2017 wedding already. Till then, we bring you some of our favorite work from 2016.

a bride standing alone

feminism

this is one sentence i am sick and tired of hearing at work: I bet you already know what it might be.

6 steps that will help you conquer the gender pay gap: Men are still regularly paid more than women and we’re over it.

if you’re not behind amber heard, where the hell are you?: #DumpDepp

i learned how to have a feminist marriage from the most surprising place: It turns out you never can tell where your lessons will come from.

surprise: I’m muslim and in a feminist marriage: Betcha didn’t see that one coming.

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wedding planning

Wedding music for when you want to get dooown: We have an awful lot of fun putting together our wedding playlists, but this one is it: the playlist you bust out if your wedding party is in danger of slowing down, or the one you use when you just want to party.

WEDDING INVITATION ETIQUETTE YOU CAN USE IN THE MODERN WORLD: Wondering how on Earth you can word your wedding invites in this day and age without sounding dated or stuffy?

DIY WEDDING FLOWERS: 10 SIMPLE TIPS THAT WILL SAVE YOU A MELTDOWN: DIYing your wedding flowers is absolutely a thing that you can do, and we’ll walk you through pulling it off without freaking out.

4 SUPER EASY WAYS TO WORD YOUR WEDDING THANK YOU CARDSIncludes bonus sample wedding thank you notes!

all the things you need to know about eloping: It turns out that there’s usually more to eloping than showing up at the courthouse and going for it.

how to plan a wedding as a white person without appropriating: Everyone has a culture. It’s up to you to figure out what yours is without taking someone else’s.

what you need to know about modern wedding etiquette: As with most things, weddings grow and shift with the times. Here’s what’s going on with twenty-first century weddings.

a couple laughing

engagements and wedding proposals

Engagement party 101: This is everything you need to knowLike, everything. When to have it, who to invite to it, and why you should resist picking your bridal party while you’re still at the party.

here’s your guide for announcing your engagement: Tip #1: Don’t put it on Facebook before you tell your mom.

10 proposal ideas that aren’t about the male ego: Have you ever realized how many common proposal ides are all about… dudes? That’s fine, I guess, except that half of us aren’t dudes at all.

proposing in public is the worst and you should never do it: What else do you need to know?

this is what you should say in your wedding proposalThere are no hard and fast rules about what exactly you should say, but we have plenty of ideas about what you might want to say.

4 things i desperately want to tell my newly engaged friendsHeed the word.

hair straightener and eyelashes

style and fashion

how to get dressed for a daytime wedding in the summerWhen you find yourself invited to half a dozen summer weddings and have no idea what daytime look to go for, we can help you out.

what makes a suit look good?It turns out that this is a whole Thing.

modcloth’s new swimsuit line will make you feel (and look) good: We’re still jazzed about these suits!

10 ways to style a suit that will make your partner look hot as hellWHEW WHERE’S THE FIRE.

kids blowing bubbles at a camera

kids/no kids

this is the conversation you need to have before becoming parents: Before you dive into parenthood, it’s time for Real Talk 101.

I’m pregnant (and I never wanted to be a mom)And… she’s excited about it.

i met the love of my life and then found out he’d had a vasectomyThis was one of our biggest “OOF” moments all year. What do you do when you meet the best person in the world, fall in love, and then find out kids aren’t an option?

what happens to a marriage when babies stop being babies?Some of us are just beginning to find out.

why raising my son finally made me a feministBecause really, again, now and forever: feminism is for everyone.

pink pig against a white background

money

5 reasons a budget can be good for your relationshipYou need this info.

the best business strategy is the one that makes you moneyIsn’t this the goal at the end of the day?

how you can solve your marriage’s most important money questions: First, do you know what those questions are?

the most important thing I learned in 2015: How to budget.

student debt is going to be a huge problem for millennial marriages: It already is, even.

 

flamingos walking on the beach

shit we’re just proud of

the 7 secrets i learned in 7 years of marriage: Every year came with a new lesson.

hillary clinton is actually tracy flick and we can’t handle it: This feels even more true after the election, tbh.

a muslim-raised queer responds to the orlando shooting: How to process, deal, and cope with tragedy and staggering loss.

is the new brand of body positivity actually hurting us?: Does it really do anything to combat our internalized programming? Because some days, we’re just aiming for body “I don’t hate you today.”

here is why women are terrified of getting older: Feeling invisible is the tip of the iceberg.

how beyoncé’s powerful new album “lemonade” speaks to the truth about marriage: When Lemonade dropped this year we just about lost our minds, so of course we had to write about it.

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