Danielle Tate

Easy DIY Projects That Will Change Your Space

Looking for easy DIY projects for newlyweds? You’re married, you’ve moved in and now you’re wondering how to improve your home or apartment together. If the two of you are looking for a fresh look, but you’re not ready to move, DIY projects are often the perfect answer.

You don’t have to commit to a 2 month renovation of your home or apartment to get that great new feeling. Here are a few quick projects to consider that will give you the satisfaction of improving your home as a newlywed couple.

Repaint your Trim
Whether you’re talking about the interior trim in your apartment or the exterior trim on your house, a quick repaint is a simple project the two of you can do together, and it won’t cost you a bundle. Pick out a color you think will look nice at the hardware store, grab a gallon and a couple of brushes, then get busy painting! Worried about trying a color other than white? Check out the Sherwin-Williams paint visualizer. You can upload a photo of your room and see what your trim will look like in thousands of colors.

Add a Light Fixture
Stop by Lowes or check out LightingDirect.com for inspiration. Did you know that there are fixtures that can change your boring overhead lighting into cool hanging lights by simply screwing them into the current socket? Pick something fun to hang over your dining room table or entryway and be prepared for compliments the next time you have friends over.

Plant Some Flowers
Whether the two of you are apartment dwellers or you have your own home, adding some flowers in the spring, summer, or even the fall is a great way to improve the look of your place. If you live in an apartment, add a window box or a few pots out on your balcony. If you don’t have either of those options, there are certainly some blooming plants you can put near a window.

If you have a home, put in an entire flowerbed. Just make certain you know what grows best in your geographic zone before you ever start the planting process. If you’re at Home Depot you can scan the QR code on a flower pot to get all of the care tips for the plants.

DIY projects always make you feel better about yourself and are a great way to build your marriage as you improve your surroundings. What DIY projects have you done recently?

Potential Name Change Voter Woes

We’ve heard a symphony of name change voter woes over the years. As you know, many women in the United States opt to change their names after marriage. The ideal scenario is to change your name right after your wedding on every identification document you have, down to your gym membership card. While this is the ideal, it rarely happens.

Day-to-day newlywed life and its balance of work, love, friends, family, etc leaves little room for standing in long office lines until you’re an official Mrs. Until recently, there weren’t too many consequences to partially changing your name, but times they are a changing.

One of the new possible consequences of halfway changing your name: not being able to vote. I just read an article in the Columbia Daily Tribune and the author is very concerned about a mandate regulating what forms of ID are considered acceptable proof of citizenship before you can cast a ballot. The mandate in Missouri would require any person who wanted to vote to show a valid driver’s license or U.S. passport in their legal name.

That can be a bit sticky for a woman who changed her name with Social Security, but not on her driver’s license and/or passport. Should the mandate pass, there will probably be a mad dash to the DMV to make the necessary updates, or scads of ladies turned away on election day due to mismatches.

The moral of the story is, if you change your name after marriage be sure to do it completely! Using a name change service like MissNowMrs can streamline the process and save you hours of time and costly future headaches.

Help Me Change My Name

What do you think of the Missouri Photo ID mandate? Is the state you’re living in considering something similar?

A MissNowMrs Proposal Story!

Are you ready for a MissNowMrs proposal story? Everyone loves a creative proposal story….it warms your heart and makes you remember how special love is. Now if that proposal story involves your business, that makes it even more special! We have a great proposal story to share with you that involves a MissNowMrs name change gift card and the adorable couple in the photo!

So we were writing out MissNowMrs gift card messages earlier this week and I saw one that said “I would like you to be Mrs. Smith*. Love, Grant.” This first thought that sprang into my mind was “Is this a proposal?!”. So, we emailed Grant and he did indeed mail one of our gift cards to his girlfriend asking her to become his wife.

Can you imagine her curiosity as she found the blue swirly envelope we mail our cards in along with a stack of her regular mail, bills and catalogs? I wish there was a hidden camera to record her reaction as she read Grant’s proposal and our gift card fell into her lap!

Kudos to Grant for such a sweet and creative way to ask the woman he loves to become his wife! We love when fiances send gift cards to their significant others to save them time and hassle on their transition from Miss to Mrs., but this is by far our favorite gift card gifting to date.

Do you know anyone that gave their fiance one of our cards? We’d love to hear and share the story with our readers. We’d also love to hear about your own proposal stories.

*Name has been changed to protect the couples’ privacy

Your Holiday, My Holiday, Our Holiday?

Your holiday, my holiday, our holiday? These are questions all newlyweds face. Passover and Easter are right around the corner. Do you know what your holiday plans are? Hopefully the answer is “yes”. As a newlywed couple it’s really important to discuss the holiday, who you’ll see and what the expectations of each family are. Communication and prior planning are the best ways to avoid disappointing both families and your spouse. Below are a few of the most common holiday scenarios and some suggestions to make them successful!

In-Law Holiday

Are you spending quality time with your in-laws this weekend? There are a few things you can do to make the holiday go smoothly. First, get the scoop from your spouse. What does his family typically do (it helps to know if you’re expected to play flag football or croquette) and pack accordingly. Also, email or call his mom to ask if you can bring something. If she says no, be sure to bring a hostess gift of flowers or chocolates! You can also score family bonus points by bringing something for your new nieces and nephews.

The Holidays with Your Family

Preparing to spend time with your folks? Talk to your spouse about what your family traditions are and ask what his favorite part of the holidays are. You can ask your parents to add a favorite dish or activity to make him feel included.

Holidays at Both Family’s Houses

If you live close to both sets of your parents and they can be flexible on meal times, this may be the best way to begin your holidays together. Brunch with your family and dinner with his gives you the best of both worlds and satisfies both families, but be aware that you may be setting the expectation that you’ll do double holidays for eternity!

Combined Family Holiday at Your House

Hosting a holiday as newlyweds is a great way for your families to get to know each other post-wedding. Just be sure to talk to both sides and make sure that they’re okay with spending time as a group. The first celebration will be the biggest adjustment for all of you (especially if you are a mixed religion couple), but if you can incorporate traditions from both sides and let both moms bring something for the meal you’re on the road to a successful event. Don’t forget to add a tradition or dish that is totally yours!

Just the Two of You

Too far away to spend Passover or Easter with your families? Consider the weekend as a great way to spend time together as a couple and create a memorable holiday and possibly some traditions. You could go out for a meal or make your own elaborate feast. Making Easter baskets for each other can also be fun!

Party of 2 + Friends

Spending the holidays away from family and know a few other people who are too? Host a holiday brunch and have each guest bring a component. You’ll all bond over a meal and not feel like you missed out on the holiday hubbub that families share. Feel free to be creative when planning your holiday event, I often host an Easterita (pastel colored margaritas) party in the evening for friends and neighbors to unwind after time spent with their families!

However you spend the coming weekend, be grateful that you have a loving spouse to share the holidays with. We’d love to hear your plans in a comment!

Newlyweds & Shower Gift Givers Get Your GROUPON: $15 for MNM Gift Cards

Listen up newlyweds and brides-to-be…Groupon has a 1/2 off deal for the MissNowMrs name change service and/or gift cards for all of your engaged friends! For a limited time you and your friends can save 50% off our online name-change service for brides! Who wouldn’t spend $15 to save 13 hours of standing in long office lines as they transition to a Mrs.?

For the sale price of $15, MissNowMrs.com will help you auto-complete & file your Social Security, U.S. Passport, IRS 8822, USPS, state driver’s license, vehicle title & registration, and voter registration forms! We’ll also help you notify of all of your banks, credit cards, insurances, mortgages, medical providers, investment companies and professional license boards of your new married name. Our instructions will give you the inside scoop on the order you need to file your forms in, how to file by mail and any items you need to file each form successfully (you’d be surprised at what some offices need to see).

Yet another perk of our service: access to our name-change experts. They will help you understand your state’s name-change laws, assist you with complicated questions and generally make your entire name change a million times easier than trying to sort through an enormous stack of government forms on your own!

So what are you waiting for? Take advantage of this amazing sale and save money, time & stress on your name change! We can’t wait to help you go from Miss to Mrs.! Already a Mrs., but have a few friends who are getting married in 2012? Use this sale to stock up on gift cards at half price! They make the ultimate shower gift, as they’re unique and very useful for any brides to be.