Danielle Tate, MissNowMrs Founder

Exciting news! MissNowMrs.com gift cards are now available for sale at all David’s Bridal 300+ stores! That means that brides and newlyweds nationwide can purchase married name change gift cards for themselves or for bridal shower/wedding gifts in stores or online.

As an entrepreneur it is very gratifying to see a company life-long goal come to fruition. I remember founding MissNowMrs and hoping to someday make large wedding industry partnerships that would put my service in front of millions of brides. MissNowMrs is the very first company to EVER sell a gift card in a David’s Bridal store, and we are very proud of the achievement!

Curious what the gift card is good for? MissNowMrs gift cards give the recipient a free name change account. This account auto-completes all of the necessary name change forms in the U.S., such as the Social Security form, IRS 8822, U.S. Passport form, State Driver’s License form, Vehicle Registration Form, Voter Registration form as well as custom notification letters for all banks, credit cards, insurances, utilities, professional licenses, etc. Sum total, that $29.95 gift saves each bride over 13 hours of name change hassle!

Imagine 7 days of luxury accommodations in Turks and Caicos, $1200 towards airfare, a free rental car and more!  If you and your spouse could use a getaway, it’s very easy to enter. Simply click here to view the contest rules and then Like MissNowMrs and WedPics for 2 chances to win.  If you’re feeling generous, tell your other newlywed friends about the contest so they have the opportunity to kick back in the Carribean!  The winner will be picked June 1st.

Curious about Turks and Caicos?  This amazing island was rencently names one of the world’s best beaches by TripAdvisor.  The sand is sugar white, the water is crystal blue and the temperature is always 82 degrees.  Add in amazing activities (like scuba diving, kite boarding, etc) and over 100 restaurants, you have found the ultimate vacation destination!  Want to learn more? Check out this cool blog about the best beaches and restaurants on the island.

Looking for the perfect shower or wedding gift?

A MissNowMrs.com gift card will save a bride 13 hours of hassle on her married name change. That’s 13 hours she can spend decorating her house and hanging out with her spouse instead of standing in endless government office lines.

It gets even better.  Right now, Living Social has a nationwide deal offering the MissNowMrs married name change service or a MissNowMrs gift card for $15! What better time to stockpile gift cards than right before wedding season kicks off in April?

Check out the Living Social Wedding Sale before it sells out and tell your friends!

If you’re hosting a combined family meal, consider dietary restrictions.  Is anyone allergic to nuts or keeping kosher for the holiday?  If you’re hosting friends, you’ll need to juggle everyone else’s family obligations and meal times.

Once those details are understood you can start planning your menu. I am a huge fan of frittatas to feed a group.  They’re fun, fancy and not very hard to make.  Here are a few links to my top 3 frittata recipes: Baked Potato Frittata, Leek Potato & Gruyere Frittata, and a Spring Pea Frittata.

Not feeling the frittata?  My other suggestion would be an Egg and Wild Mushroom Tart or a Strata.  The advantage of these is that you can prep most of their components the night before.

Once you select a main recipe, you will need fruit (I suggest raspberries and black berries in a bowl) and a bread of some sort to round out your menu.  Muffins, a coffee cake or croissants are great choices.  Add a pitcher of juice and or mimosas and you’re brunch is ready for rave reviews from family and friends!

Are you hosting a holiday brunch for the first time as a newlywed?  What’s on your mind and menu?

My KlutchClub box (which is the size of a shoebox) arrived jam packed with samples.  Earbuds shaped to fit women’s smaller ears, Omega 3 squeezes,  coupons for free fitness video downloads, dream water, a mud mask, superfood water mixes and several varieties of power bars. I was like a little kid at fitness Christmas! My favorite item was the good greens power bites.  These chocolate chunks contain 3 servings of fruits/veggies as well as 30 vitamins and minerals.  Best of all, they’re 50 calories and don’t taste like dog food!

At $10 a box plus shipping, KlutchClub boxes make great gifts. If you’re married to a fitness freak you could order a box (they have ones for women or men) and use it to create a healthy Easter basket for them!

p.s.  MissNowMrs readers get a discount on Best Of Boxes (containing the best goodies).   Use coupon code NOWMRS to save $5!

Photo Source: BANG Showbiz

Think you’re having trouble deciding whether you should change your name after marriage? Imagine being famous, like Jennifer Aniston famous, and deciding whether you should take his name, keep your name or hyphenate. Based on an article I just read, it seems that America’s sweetheart is considering becoming Mrs. Theroux.

Jennifer’s reasoning is that taking a new married last name will give her a fresh start.  She has the challenge of figuring out if a married name will dim her stardom and recognition. Personally,  I don’t think anyone will have any trouble recognizing Jennifer.

Brides-to-be who aren’t famous still have to decide if a new name will affect their careers in a positive or negative way. Many are taking two last names or keeping their maiden names as middle names to maintain recognition.  Still other newlyweds are happy to have a new name on their business cards and new initials on their monogrammed bags!

What aspects of career and personal life weighed into your decision to change your name after marriage or not?

p.s. Jen if you read this, MissNowMrs would love to help you change your name!

Name Change: If you or your spouse changed your name after your wedding, be sure to alert the Social Security office by filing the SS-5 form. When the Social Security Administration issues your new social security card in your new name, they typically alert the IRS.  Here’s another article on the topic of name change and taxes as newlyweds.

Worried that your name change might slip through the cracks? File the IRS 8822 (it’s free) and you can rest assured that you’ve completely covered your name-change with the IRS. The IRS 8822 form alerts the IRS of your new name, preventing them from holding your tax returns should they be confused about your identity (yes that really happens).

Mine, Yours, Ours: As a single woman, I loved to get my tax return and put a portion in savings and then use the rest to splurge on something great! Be it a purse, furniture or a trip, my tax return sprees took some of the sting out of what I handed over to Uncle Sam. When I got married, I suddenly had someone else’s return money and ideas to deal with.

Now that you’re married, I suggest having a discussion with your spouse about what to do with your returns. If you filed together, will you both determine what to do with the lump sum? Will you split it evenly? Will you split it based on who made what in 2012? Tricky questions to answer, but much better to hash expectations and ideas out now then fight about them when the check comes in the mail.

How do you handle taxes and returns in your marriage? Have you ever had an arguement about it? Have you come up with a great solution?

A chicken is my solution.  Yes, a whole roaster chicken cooked on Sunday so you have time to prepare it.

Meal 1: Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Roast* your chicken in the oven for the amount of time specified on the label.  I suggest liberally shaking kosher salt on the inside and outside first.  You can also mix crushed garlic and herbs ,such as sage and thyme, with a tablespoon of butter and slide this under the upper skin of the chicken (it’s sort of like giving it implants).  This ensure a moist well-flavored chicken.  While it roasts you can whip up mashed potatoes and any vegetable you have on hand.  Have you heard the expression “winner winner chicken dinner”? That is how your spouse is going to feel about this classic home cooked meal!

*If you’re too busy to roast a chicken, you can put it in your crockpot for 4 hours.  Just add 1 cup of chicken broth so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Meal 2: Layered Chicken Enchilada Bake

Shred ½ of the remaining chicken and make this quick layered chicken three cheese enchilada recipe.  It takes 10 minutes to assemble and 30 minutes to bake.  Blend some margaritas while it’s cooking and you’ll have an instant fiesta dinner!

Meal 3: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Shred the remaining chicken and use it to make Asian chicken noodle soup.   If your spouse is like mine, soup doesn’t count as dinner, so you may want to make this for both of you for lunch.  Here’s the recipe adapted from The Londoner Blog:

Ingredients:

Splash of sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, chopped
2 handfuls of shredded chicken

2.5 cups chicken stock
1 cup boiling water
Piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, thickly sliced
3/4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red chili, chopped
1 can of sweet corn
1 big handful of thin noodles (I use somen noodles..but any will work)

Directions:

Put a saucepan onto medium heat and add a few splashes of sesame oil, add your garlic until it starts to sizzle. Stir it around a bit & add your spring onions. Fry until they start to soften.
Toss in the chicken and stir to make sure it gets nicely coated in the oil & garlic. Pour in your stock & boiling water. Add your ginger slices, fish sauce, soy sauce, coriander & chili. Just before it comes to the boil add your sweet corn & noodles.  Boil 2 more minutes and serve immediately.

So, from one chicken on Sunday you ended up with 3 completely diffent meals for the two of you.  Not a bad way to begin the week!  It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out how to utilize one ingredient a few different ways to make quick and interesting dinners for 2.  I also thew out a lot of leftovers and felt badly about it.  I hope you and your spouse enjoy these dishes and that he washes them!

Here’s the secret to problem free passport filing: send your envelope via USPS Priority Mail. FedEx and UPS will not deliver to a PO address, and that is exactly what the State Department address is. If you use one of those companies to ship your passport envelope, it will be returned to you as undeliverable. This is bad for a few reasons. One, you’ve delayed the processing of your passport several days. Two, you’re out the money you spent to ship your envelope and must now go to the post office and pay their shipping fee. Finally, your passport envelope may be left on your front porch or out in the open where someone could walk away with it…scary!

Once you’ve mailed your envelope via USPS, you can rest assured that it will be delivered to the State Department and your new passport with your new married name will be created and mailed back to you within 5 weeks. Now you can start planning a fantastic trip to christen your new passport! Let us know where you’re headed!

There are all sorts of hang ups and stigmas that can appear once you’re married and sharing a kitchen. There are the sexist concepts from long ago, such as a woman’s place is in the kitchen or barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen depending on who you’re speaking with.  There is also what you consider normal kitchen roles based on both of your childhood observations of parents.  Add busy work schedules into the mix and you could be headed into kitchen chaos.

My newlywed kitchen meltdown was 100% my own creation.  My husband walked in the door on a Friday night to find me face down, crying on the carpet.  After pulling a 60 hour work week I was frustrated that the roasted chicken wasn’t going to be ready the moment he came home from work.  He calmly took me out for Chinese and got to the root of the problem: I was trying to be my mom.  She is an amazing cook and always had a gourmet dinner on the table at 5:15pm.  The fact I overlooked was that she was a stay at home mom and had more time to prepare family meals.

Newlyweds, learn from my mistake.  Discuss which of you can actually cook (take out on plates does not count) and decide what the other spouse can do to help.  If you both cook, it may be easiest to alternate nights instead of collaborating.  My mother’s marinara recipe versus your Nonna’s can be one ugly argument.

Whatever kitchen formula you come up with, just make sure that it is fair to both partners and results in a meal that allows you to enjoy each other’s company and reconnect after your day.

In honor of the holiday, MissNowMrs.com is having a special 3 day sale.  Use promo code: VDAY to save $10 on our online name change service! Our simple 3 step service will guide you through the completion and filing of all of your state and U.S. government name change forms.

As most state driver’s license offices issue your new ID in your married name the same day you file your form, you still have time to add your new license to your hubby’s Valentine’s Day card and watch his face as he reads your new name for the first time!

Not planning to change your name…no problem.  We have a list of 5 Unique Valentine’s Day Ideas to make certain that your man knows that you heart him.

However you choose to spend Valentine’s Day this year, remember that it’s great to be in love and a newlywed!

Remember your single buds and to try not be “the nouveau newlywed.” You know, the girl who coordinates all of her outfits with her spouse, spends all of her time with him and can’t possibly have a conversation without overusing “we”.   Examples: “We love that restaurant”, “We plan to move in the next few years”, “We think that you should date so and so.”

Make a point to go to brunch with the girls and listen to what is going on in their lives.  Ask about their relationships and jobs.  Seems simple, but in the midst of your newlywed bliss it is all too easy to skip out on all-girl outings or blabber entirely too much about how great love and marriage is (trust me they’re happy for you, but enough is enough).

Time spent and conversations had with your girlfriends are priceless. Allotting time and attention to them from the very start of your marriage will ensure that you don’t look around in two years and realize that you lost touch with the people that knew you best before “I do”.  You’ll also get to smile and pass on this advice when those friends get married and can’t help the “we” speak!

Have you been caught up in “We-dom” or been guilty of it yourself?  We’d love to hear all about it in a comment.

Check out the entire photo gallery by Brilliant Photography (one of the top 5 photography studios in the Carribean).  I love how her dress slowly dips into the ocean in the fist photo and in the final shots both the bride and groom are underwater.  Props to that newlywed for holding her breath for breathtaking photos!  She made the most of her destination wedding and truly caught the beauty of the turquoise water in Turks & Caicos!

Did you have a destination wedding that resulting in amazing photos?  We’d love to see them in a comment!

Photo Credit: Brilliant Photography

Organize – The beginning of Spring is the last time I feel like cleaning.  I want to be outside soaking up the sunshine!  Use your freezing winter weekends to organize your closets, kitchen cabinets or any other parts of your house that are causing chaos and possibly a few squabbles.  This way when Spring does arrive you’ll have your house in order and your weekend calendar free for fun things!

Play Games – Too cold to possibly go out for a date (seriously, no one wants to put on a dress and then multiple scarves, a parka, hat and boots…it does not feel sexy)?  Break out some board games with your spouse.  You can play by the conventional rules or mix things up with drinking versions of twister and scrabble or play naughty Jenga.  Laughing together will make you both feel warmer and closer to each other at the end of the night.

Dream – I love to dream about what my husband and I will do when the weather is warm.  Take picnics, visit the national zoo, go boating, plan a beach weekend with friends…the list is endless.  If you can get your husband to help you “dream up” some warm weather activities with you, the happy result is a list of fun to-dos that will actually get done this year. Tape your list to the fridge to remind you that Spring is coming and to help you make time for your planned activities on the calendar.

Work Out – Nothing warms you up like a serious work out!  Browse Amazon for a new DVD (I’m loving Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown), and when it arrives prepare to break a sweat.  Come spring break time and swimsuit season, you’ll be really glad that you did your Winter workouts instead of sitting on the couch with cocoa.

How are you handling the cold as a newlywed couple?

Please note that I said a few things. A house that looks like a shrine to your wedding day  is not a  look many people (including your single friends) can appreciate.  Choose a few of your best wedding photos to display in frames or as canvas art, add a pillow or another item that reminds you of how in love you are and voila…newlywed chic!

What are your favorite newlywed pieces of decor?

Favorite Things: Just like Oprah…only with a $5 to $10 limit.  Figure out how many friends are attending and then have each guest bring one less than that number of their favorite things.  You’ll have tons of fun unwrapping, explaining and using everyone’s favorite things.  The party I attended resulting in cool nail polish, a miracle hangover cure, holiday socks, satin pillow cases and much more!

Spa/Slumber Party: Send out an evite to have all your girlfriends come over for a little pampering and a chic flick.  Mud masks, nail painting, pizza and the latest girly movie will make this an event everyone can look forward too.  Party favor idea: attach mini rhinestones to disposable toe separators…cute!

Swap Party: Plan a get together where you and your friends bring accessories to swap.  It’s easiest to trade one size fit all items like scarves, jewelry and clutches.  If you’re all similar sized, you can open it up to belts, jeans, etc.  Everyone will leave with something “new to them” and a little more room in their closets!

Whatever kind of party you choose to plan, just having something to plan and knowing that you’ll be seeing a group of your friends will give you a much needed boost this January.

Please let me know your favorite party themes in a comment!

It’s 2013…a new year to be a newlywed!  While there’s great debate about whether anyone keeps the resolutions that they make, just the creation of a resolution can be helpful to a new marriage. If you haven’t made any resolutions with your spouse, here are a few resolutions that may be worth talking about:

1. Use Your Words - This is a cornerstone of my marriage.  We promise to use our words to tell each other how we’re feeling and what we need.  It keeps little things and annoyances from brewing into big things and arguments.  If you and your spouse could use a little more communication, consider resolving to “use your words” in 2013.

2. Make Time - Every newlywed couple I know is juggling careers, families, friends, hobbies and figuring out how married life works.  Making time once a week or twice a month to spend an entire day together without family, friends and cell phones will do wonders for your relationship.  By scheduling “couple time” your making sure that your marriage remains a priority amongst the million other things clamouring for your attention!

3. Do Something Positive - Whether you join an indoor soccer league or soup kitchen, doing something positive and new in 2013 is only going to benefit your marriage.  You’ll have new experiences to talk about during dinner (instead of re-hashing work drama) and a new network of friends to explore.   There’s also the great feeling of helping others or being part of a team to boost your mood.  If you’re unsure what new thing might work for you, check out www.charitynavigator.org, which helps people find the best charities in their cities.

Resolutions or not, 2013 is going to be a great year for you as a newlywed!  Do you have any resolutions that you made with your spouse?  I’d love for you to share them in a comment!

Are you feeling freaked out about what to get your spouse this holiday season?  As the woman married to the man who has everything, I feel capable of giving you some ideas.

1. Hobby Subtlety: Does your spouse have a hobby?  If so, don’t buy him the obvious (fishing flies for the fly fisherman)…go for something special like a monogrammed case to hold his fly collection or a special gear bag designed for his specific sport.

2. Photos: If you’re newlyweds, this is the one time you can give him an amazing photo of you two without being lame.  This acrylic photo block is really cool and would look nice on any desk in any office.

3. Adventure: If you’re totally stumped on what to give him, consider some sort of adventure activity.  Often Groupon or LivingSocial have local deals for skydiving, kayaking and race car driving.  Can’t you hear him telling the guys at the office..”Oh yeah, I didn’t get a golf club this year.  My wife got me passes to race Ferraris!”

So what did I get my husband for our first newlywed Christmas?  This is terrible…I can’t remember! What I do remember was deciding to open our gifts for one another on Christmas Eve instead of during the big family hubub of Christmas Day. It has become a tradition to light a fire, pop a bottle of champagne and open our gifts privately.

Moral Of The Story: No matter what you end up buying your spouse, the time you spend together will end up being what you remember.  Try not to over emphasize the gift…emphasize the love!

If you are considering changing your name, you can painlessly make the transition from Miss to Mrs. with MissNowMrs. Here’s our Cyber Monday Deal: use MRSNOW to save $5 off our easy online name change service! You could even surprise your spouse with your name change by keeping it a secret and putting your new driver’s license in an envelope in his/her stocking this Christmas.

Whatever your holiday and name change plans, be sure to savor this time as newlyweds. It’s your first Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa together, so be sure to take time for yourselves during the mad rush.

Fun Behind the Scenes Story: As I was having my makeup done before the show, the makeup artist looked at me and said “You’re that name-change girl, aren’t you?!” It turns out that she had been married for 2 years and had just used MissNowMrs.com to change her name.