I'm not usually the type of person who oo's and ah's over little girls clothes. This might explain why I hardly ever post about flower girl... anything.
But I think these dresses are just too much fun to ignore! The yellow and orange one? I want it my size! Both dresses are from the very grown-up sounding Smitherman & Barnwell, who assure me that all of their little gowns can be ordered over the phone by calling them directly at 212.201.1309. I don't even think you need a wedding on the horizon to get one of these. I don't even think you need a child. Just get one, then when children come over to your house you can make them wear it. That's what I'm going to do. What? That's perfectly reasonable.

I think one of our readers put it best when she called posts like this one "Cake Porn". Today's delicious installment of Cake Porn has been provided by Cakegirls of Chicago. I had such a hard time deciding which of their cakes to post, they're all amazing!

Give a little Good Karmal away... and get a little good Karma back! Oh, yeah. I did just craft that sentence. I'm a little bit of a dork, but I'm essentially OK with it.
If you get your favors from these good folks, 10% percent of all sales go to a group of environmental charities including The Nature Conservancy, The National Arbor Day Foundation, The World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International.

Some unique and memorable Lilly Pulitzer for your shower, your day-after brunch, your cousin's wedding, your rehearsal picnic... I love, love, love the yellow for a party, especially if you've got dark skin or a nice tan (from a bottle).

Every week Xochitl (pronounced so-cheel), our resident wediquette expert and owner of Always a Bridesmaid Wedding Consulting, answers an etiquette question submitted* by one of our readers. So, (without further ado):

Q: I fell in love with a short Chantilly lace Monique Lhuillier dress and bought it. But now I am having second thoughts since my wedding is in the evening in July (but outdoors in a garden). Is short really appropriate?--SellingMyselfShort

A: First, I should tell you that I'm biased because I wore a tea length dress to my wedding! Also Monique, btw. Here's the thing: etiquette and appropriateness are a lot like abstract painting. It's only BAD when you couldn't do it in any other way! If you are a short dress kind of girl, but know that maybe you "should" be in a gown- make it a point to glam your short dress up with gorgeous heels, an amazing pill box hat & veil perhaps and other gorgeous traditional trappings. Even though evening is more formal, your dress is your dress and it should reflect you! The dress is one key personal stamp that you can put on your day that's unforgettable. If you are a short dress kind of gal, your guests are not going to say "Wow, look at her SHORT dress!",they are going to say "Look at how gorgeous! Of course she is in a short dress!!! It's so her!" Have no fear and hike up your hemline!!! Happy Dancing! --Xochitl of Always a Bridesmaid

*If you've got a question for our expert, submit it by clicking "submit your question" in the right hand column, under "wediquette".

Monday update courtesy of Samantha who is getting married in a little over 1 month! Yikes!

It’s getting down to the wire. We’re running out of time!!! I’m not frantic yet. I probably should be. You may have noticed an air of nonchalance in previous posts. Furthermore, you may have noticed that the nonchalance often accompanied long lists of things we’ve yet to accomplish. Well here’s the current to do list and the actual count down of days left to do these (not so small) tasks…35…egads: Illustrate our wedding contract (modernized, more egalitarian Ketubah), finalize our 7 readings for the ceremony, finish a funny video Dave is making to show at the wedding, get a dress for the day-after brunch (I’m thinking the white dot dress by Kate Moss due to come out May 9th), figure out natural flower hair accessory, earrings, necklace, whether or not to alter dress, where to do it for under $200, get Dave’s shoes and suit alteration, finish cake topper (I’m making these little birdies sitting in a nest out of pom poms, twine and fabrics, figure out ipod mix for when the Cuban band stops, song for friend to play on violin while we walk down the aisle and finish scanning 100000+ childhood photos of the both of us for a slide show. I’ve scanned only about 100 so far. Here are a few cute ones. We have to put together the slideshow too, and try to find good juxtapositions. So that’s possible right? On top of writing my 200+ art report cards for my students? Did I mention that the wedding is June 9th and my last day of school is June 8th? Should I be sweating right now? Probably.

Every once in a while, I do something cool over at KenzieKate, and I can't help but toot my own horn a little.
I'm sort of proud of the fact that I can make any of our invitations in any color scheme, often at little or no extra cost. I've tried to tell people just how flexible KenzieKate can be but I do realize that it can be hard to visualize ALL the possibilities. So we've made it a little easier! We just installed a new feature on the KenzieKate website that will allow you to see just how different our invitations can look in colourways other than the ones featured. Just find the purple "more colors" button to see some of our favorite combos. While I can't possibly showcase all the options, I hope that this new feature will show you a little more of what KenzieKate can do!

Check out Indie Fixx for a great (indie only) summer wedding resource list. Love indie. Love the list!

"Double Duty Objects For Budget Weddings"; I think this is a great idea for an article in a wedding magazine. Just wait and see! Sooner or later, this will be an actual article and I will feel very smart indeed.
OK so first on the list of useful, budgety, doubley-doodley items is the Blumebud; placecard extraordinaire, and favor. Ooooo. Next on my list is stolen directly from Miss Tomato over at Wedding Bee, and that is fans that are programs. Programs... in the shape of fans. Fans... in the shape of programs. Get it? Ooooo.
I was on a roll there for a second. But now I'm stuck.
Help me flesh this list out... What Would Martha Do?

The nice ladies over at Funky Oysters would like to offer SO, SN readers a big fat 20% Mother's Day discount on their beautiful freshwater pearl jewelry. The Adrienne is my favorite, followed closely by the Eve. Aside from Mother's Day gifts, I think both would be wonderful and wearable bridesmaid's gifts. The price is right, especially with the discount code below.

Mother's Day Sale coupon code: JUST4MOM07
Expires 05/31/07

*I was going to try and think up something quippy for the title involving that old saying. The one about the pearls, and the swine? How does that one go? And what the heck does it mean? And while we're talking about swine, what's with the "sow's ear" saying? How does that one go? What's that one mean? I'm full of unanswered questions.