Staff Writer

Announcing Our August Newlywed Giveaway!

It’s time for our August newlywed giveaway! What to give the girl who got everything for her wedding…how about over $350 worth of custom photo thank you notes?! Etiquette encourages one to send out thank you’s within a month of the wedding, and we thought we’d help some lucky newlywed reader by providing the notes. We’re happy to announce that our August Giveaway includes 100 of the fabulous notes shown in this post’s photo, customized with the winner’s wedding photo.

Our friend and fellow wedding vendor Beth, of Forever Friends Fine Stationery and Favors has teamed up with us to provide this month’s Thank You Note giveaway! She’s your best source for fine quality personalized printed products, offering stationery for every budget and occasion (wedding, baby, greeting cards and graduation—to name a few). She even offers brand names such as Chloe B, Disney and Red Leaf Papers! “Our representation of the nation’s leading printing companies allows us to provide you with the best product at the best prices, says Beth.” If you have a product to print, they will print it!

Anxious to win our awesome August giveaway? Leave a comment on this, or any of our thank you note posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us how many notes you need to write or why you’ve been procrastinating on the project. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on August 31^st!! If we don’t hear back from the winner within 2 weeks, we will randomly select a new winner to make sure someone ends up with this great goodie!

Newlywed in New York: New Requirements at the NY DMV

Newlywed in New York? There is one thing that will forever remain the same –the DMV– with its long wait times and complete chaos at the office! This 3-letter acronym is dreaded among most and is always spoken about with anything, but enthusiasm! However, one thing you can be sure to count on with your DMV, is they constantly update rules, restrictions, and forms, which can cause you more unnecessary stress and aggravation.

Since the DMV is the only office that you must visit in person when changing your name due to marriage, it is important to have all of your ducks in a row before you make the trek to the office! One trip is bad enough; let’s not have to make a second! So if you reside in New York, please read on…

Public safety and security has tightened all around us, for obvious reasons. When changing your name it is especially important for you to properly identify yourself and prove that you really are who you say you are.

Some state’s DMVs have already implemented the 6-point ID requirement system and now New York has decided to implement the same system.

New York 6-Point ID Requirements for Name Change

Before a NY state DMV will issue any photo document (learner permit, driver license, non-driver ID Card) for the first time, or if your document expired more than 2 years ago, you must show the following points of identity:
-Proof of your date of birth
-4 points of proof of name along with your Social Security Card, OR if you are ineligible for a Social Security Card, 6 points of proof of name plus a letter of ineligibility from the Social Security Administration that they (SSA) used to determine that you are ineligible. All proofs of name must show the same name.
-If you already have and can show a valid NY DMV photo document, that is all you need as 6 points of proof of name to get a new or different photo document. However, if the DMV has no record of your Social Security Number, you will have to show your Social Security Card too.

For more newlywed in New York information, please see the list of acceptable documents to show proof of identity found on the New York DMV website. For more help with your name change, check out our 20 step name change check list!

Maiden to Middle Name Change

Taking her maiden name as a middle name after marriage is one of the more popular name change choices of newlyweds today. Many women are attached to their maiden names for various reasons: they built a career using it, they are the only child to carry on the family name or they can’t imagine “being anyone else”. Adding her maiden name as a middle name allows for a woman to “keep” her maiden name while taking her husband’s last name, but avoid the mouthful of a hyphenated name.

News flash! More and more states are no longer recognizing a woman’s right to change her middle name based on marriage. What does this mean to newlyweds in the middle of name change? If you live in California, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Ohio (unless your Marriage Certificate shows your intended middle name), Pennsylvania or Washington you are unable to take your maiden name as your middle name as part of your married name change.

Be aware of your state’s policies regarding name change. If you file your government forms with a new middle name, but live in a state that disallows maiden to middle name change you will end up with mismatched identification documents. The reality of having a different name on your state driver’s license and your U.S. Passport can be unsettling. Travel will be tedious as you need to book any international flights in the name on your passport, but local flights should match your state driver’s license. There can also be issues if security is requiring two forms of ID (as yours won’t match). We highly recommend choosing one married name option and using it on ALL of your documents.

Petitioning the Court System

If a bride is dead set on changing her middle name, she will have to petition the U.S. court system via an attorney for a legal name change. This can be a very long and expensive process, but it might be the only way a couple can come to a married name they can agree upon. The moral of this blog posting is be sure to research your state’s name change policies before you begin your name change.

If you’d like to speak with a married name change expert about your particular state and situation, call the gurus at MissNowMrs. They’ll provide you with the most up-to-date information on your state for free! They can also help you consider alternate name change options if you end up being in a non-middle name change state.

Have you tried to change your name and run into red tape and state-specific issues? Share your story today and help another newlywed avoid unnecessary name change hassle! You can also check out our name change checklist for more help.

Newly Married & All Wedding’ed Out

Have you and your spouse found yourselves to be all wedding’ed out!? I’m not talking about feelings of exhaustion from your own wedding, but suddenly now everyone you know is getting engaged and shower and wedding invitations are flooding your mail box! Everyone seems to say the same thing, that if you’re one of the first of your friends to get married, you will have one “golden” year where you will find yourself loading up your calendar with showers, bachelorette parties and weddings to attend.

Of course you are so excited for your friends, and look forward to sharing this special time with them and helping with preparations for their special day, but you may also find yourself feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and unfortunately not being able to accept all invites due to other schedule conflicts, and not to mention the obvious… budgetary restraints.

My husband and I have now attended 4 weddings so far this year and still have another 5 remaining in 2010! Is it selfish of me to want a vacation of my own? Well I’ve come to grips that it’s not going to happen this year, so my husband and I have promised each other that we’re going somewhere fabulous in 2011!

With so many weddings, and your free weekends becoming well… non-existent, how do you choose when to decline some invites, and… if you have mutual friends, when is it OK to decline some and accept others?! This is becoming an on-going, harder-to-handle issue as you certainly don’t want to create hard feelings!

There are a few obvious questions that come into play when making your decision on whether or not to accept your invite! Are you available that weekend? How far away is the wedding (is it a destination wedding with plane tickets and a car rental), and can you afford it? Is it a family member’s wedding? Did you invite them to your wedding? Did they attend your wedding?

I have recognized one thing when making your decision to attend or regretfully decline… Remember to make your decision based on logical factors, not based on whether or not that couple attended your wedding! Even if you’re not the best of friends, the couple must have thought highly enough of you in the first place to put you on their guest list, so you should take a moment to decide on how to mark your reply card. Sometimes you will be forced to decline if you have a conflicting event or just don’t have the funds, but do be sure to mail a card! It is considered courteous and acceptable to send a card and/or gift up to six months after the wedding date.

Remember, it’s an honor to be invited to someone’s wedding, so always be sure to handle your response with care… but above and beyond anything, be sure to respond! There’s nothing more awkward and annoying for a bride and groom than having to call guests who didn’t respond! So hang in there if you’re trudging through your golden year of weddings, and do yourself a favor and keep a photo book of the weddings you attend… its fun to reminisce about these events down the road!

How have you handled being all wedding’ed out? We’d love to hear your solutions in a comment.

3 Secrets to Preventing Newlywed Weight Gain

After your fiancé pops the question, there are a million thoughts that immediately run through your head, and then the planning begins! Along with the preparation for a wedding, most newlyweds also begin physically preparing themselves to fit into the wedding attire they’ve always dreamed of. This is usually accomplished through strict dieting and long hours at the gym! You probably haven’t thought about newlywed weight gain. Have you?

Well, what happens after the wedding? Your time is no longer consumed with wedding plans and it can be very easy to put on those extra few pounds, so get your spouse on board with you and come up with a diet and fitness plan to suit the both of you!

Healthy lifestyle tips and sites to help avoid newlywed weight gain

1. Healthy eating is an important concept when trying to loose or maintain your weight, but shopping healthy is probably the most important! If you and your spouse decide to establish a healthy lifestyle and learn to eat healthy early on in your marriage, it’s easier to maintain this habit down the road! Find yourself some healthy recipes, and construct your grocery list from there. Check out one of my favs: EatingWell.com. Try to stay away from the junk when you’re shopping; this is a true test of will-power ladies. As you know the more accessible it is, the more frequently you’re going to help yourself and indulge! And remember the golden rule… do not go grocery shopping when hungry!

2. If you’re like me, then you’ve tried every diet regimen out there and have completely exhausted your ‘dieting’ efforts, and now realize that not all diets were made for every BODY, because not all bodies are created equal, so decide what works best for you! Diets are often times short-lived, so just deciding to eat healthy, and watching portion sizes can be the key. Check out WebMD’s breakdown of healthy eating and diet. Sign up for their email newsletter and you’ll receive some cool healthy recipe ideas as well!

3. Some of you may already have your own routine at the gym and enjoy your alone time when exercising, but working out a few days with your spouse will give you the extra push your body needs. If you’re not a gym go-er, home video workouts is the new craze to really whip yourself into shape. If this is something you and your hubby can both commit to, it can be a fun activity and improve on teamwork! My personal favorite is: BeachBody.com.

Regardless of how you choose to exercise, it is important to find something you love. Remember to switch up your workout so that you’re not just going through the motions, so-to-speak, but also giving your fitness level an extra push! The summer months are the perfect time to take advantage of the warm weather when you have the opportunity, and plan your workout, outdoors! For some fitness tips and tricks around newlywed weight gain, check out what Self has to say.

Whatever you decide to do, do it together, you’ll be appreciative of each other’s support and establish a long, happy… healthy life together! You can also work together on your name change using our 20 step name change checklist.