Hey APW,

As you may recall, Meg and I were at Alt Summit back in February (so long ago, how?!). When we’ve been at Alt in years past, the running joke is that we are always the only wedding people in a sea of crafters and design bloggers, and no one there is ever quite sure what we’re about. But this year that was not the case. Instead, we were joined by Christina McNeill of the former Snippet and Ink (RIP) and Amy Zawacki from Wedding Chicks. I’ll admit, when they invited us out for drinks, I was like… am I cool enough to hang with these people? We had met Christina at a BHLDN event last year and immediately loved her, but we’d never met Amy before, and she seems impossibly cool online. Because real talk: this industry can be really isolating with a lot of unnecessary competition and unfriendliness. And I’m a Hufflepuff. But as it turns out Amy is something like the love child between Cameron Diaz and Chrissy Teigen (aka straight talking and super nice, with zero bullshit). She was all, “Competition is stupid, let’s be friends!” And so here we are.

So today I just wanted to share some love with the ladies over at Wedding Chicks. They’ve got a whole different ballgame than what we’re doing here at APW, and they do it really well. Their free printables are legit, I love this maternity wedding dress roundup, and if you’re looking for something to lift your Friday spirits, this fifty-fifth wedding anniversary feature is so sweet I can barely stand it. But probably the coolest thing they’ve got going over there right now is this tutorial for envelope liners. I actually did this exact project for my own wedding, and while it was pretty time consuming, it was also a great multi-generational crafting experience that I hold really dear to my heart. Though their version (shot by the brilliantly talented aforementioned Christina, fun fact) totally blows mine out of the water. (Even if it features a disappointing lack of zebra print.)

Though, since it is happy hour, how about I leave you with these over-the-top-in-the-best-way spring cocktails? I legit want that Cadbury egg cocktail, even if my bartending skills are more on the level with the cotton candy stuck inside champagne and covered with sprinkles.

So go check out our friends over at Wedding Chicks. Because competition is stupid, and everyone needs more friends.

Cheers,

Maddie

P.S. I’m serious about this makin’ friends business. If you follow us on Instagram stories, you know I’ve been deep in woo woo shit, feeling feelings this week. And inspired by this Ask APW, I’ve been using it as an excuse to reach out to old friends I haven’t talked to in forever. And y’all, it feels really good (if not a little bit vulnerable) to set aside my insecurities and reach out to people. I challenge you to do it with at least one person this next week and tell me how it goes!

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