Bridal Style, Events & More

Looking for name change advice or some tips for newlywed life? The MissNowMrs experts have created state-specific name change articles and checklists for you. We’ve chronicled our recommendations for how to travel while changing your name AND how to handle voting during the transition.

We’ve also compiled our best guidance for how to handle difficult sister in laws, holidays as newlyweds, the ever-annoying baby questions, and much more. Why? Because, while we are name change experts, we’re also newlywed wives, moms, and sisters.

We hope our name change advice articles help smooth your transition to your new name, and a whole new phase of life. Congratulations and best wishes from the entire MissNowMrs team!

DIY Wedding Makeup Made Easy!

Flowers, check. Dress, check. Photographer, check. Now all you need is the perfect DIY wedding makeup for the Big Day. Always remember that when planning to apply your own bridal makeup, what you see in the mirror may not necessarily be what you get on film. But have no worries, here are a few tips that every bride should consider before the big day to achieve a flawless camera-ready look.

Practice Makes Perfect
Take the time to practice putting on your makeup prior to the big day and have a camera handy. Snap away after doing your makeup and study the photo critically. Don’t put it to rest after one try— if you are not a professional makeup artist, experiment until you get it right!

Moisturize
The camera tends to capture oily skin. Be sure to moisturize with an oil-free moisturizer. Let it sink in for a minute and then start applying makeup. Also, don’t experiment with a new moisturizer on your skin or you may end up with blotchy or breakout surprises!

Blend and Match
Wearing a beautiful strapless gown? Room lighting may be tricky. Look hard and close, and make sure your neck and chest match your face color. Pat some powder on your chest and neck to even out your skin tone. Before doing so, insert paper towels securely into your dress and let it cover your neckline to avoid a powdered messy dress! Be sure to blend the foundation around your neck and hairline to avoid apparent multi-colored skin in photos. Steer clear of shimmery bronzers and blush; they do not translate well on camera.

Paint Those Lips
Natural lip color or applying sheer gloss is a no-no for the big day. Color on your lips will bring life to your photos. Lip gloss should be applied on top of color, not substituted for lipstick. To make your lip color last, prior to applying lipstick, line and fill in your lips with lip liner.

Touch-Up
Bridesmaids are girl’s best friends and “foundation”, in more ways than one. So pass along a wedding day touch-up kit to your maid of honor. Be sure to include the essentials—lipstick, eyeliner and powder/foundation. Have her keep it throughout the night and remind you to refresh your makeup so your photos look good— from your vows to your late now wows!

DIY Wedding Makeup Tips from Susmta Patel

Just Dance

Weddings have gone from very traditional modest events of the past to huge extravaganzas with everything coordinated down to the very last detail. These days couples are more creative when adding their personal touch to their wedding (thanks to all of the DIY wedding inspiration and How-To blogs). One of the newest trends is to put your own spin on your first dance such as choreographed moves or an impromptu thing in the moment. I’ve attended many weddings where the bride and groom have clearly taken dance lessons and have showed their ballroom dancing skills off to their guests (making parents and grandparents incredibly proud). Some couples keep it simple by choosing their favorite love song to dance around to, holding each other tight (sneaking in little smooches and smiles while guests are taking photos like the paparazzi). There’s nothing wrong with that (my husband and I did it), in fact that is still the norm; however, I have to say I wish we would have shocked our guests with a dance routine after watching some of the glorious videos on YouTube. If your special day hasn’t already passed and you’re looking for an idea to WOW your guests at no further cost to you, your parents, your in-laws (or anyone else chipping in to make your wedding an event to remember), I encourage you to watch the following videos. Seriously, consider the possibilities (if for nothing else, just watch them for entertainment) …

Bridal Party Dance: Whether it’s down the aisle like the YouTube sensation JK Wedding Entrance (also featured on the Today Show) or a choreographed dance at the reception your guests will truly enjoy watching you and the honored members of your bridal party pop-n-lock, do the ‘robot’, or classics like ‘the sprinkler’ or the ‘shopping cart’…almost no move is inappropriate (notice I said “almost,” there will be grandparents there)!

Bride and Groom First Dance: Do you and your man have “swagger” much like Jay-Z and Beyonce? Or are you beyond outgoing and confident enough to not care whether people are laughing with you or at you? If so, this is your opportunity to let loose (go ahead, do ‘the worm’ or ‘get low’) and show your guests your sense of humor like the couple featured in the Awesome First Dance for Bride and Groom at Wedding Reception video did.

Father-of-the-Bride and Bride Dance: This is time to share a few minutes with your Daddy (the man who loved you first) and is meant to be special. If the two of you love to dance or clown around then you could totally pull off a choreographed performance such as the Father/Daughter Hip Hop Dance. Read more about how this dance was put together to the groom’s complete surprise on thegroomsays.blogspot.

Whether you go the traditional route or end up looking like a dancing machine on the dance floor, make those special moments, moments to remember!
*All videos are on YouTube titled exactly how you see them listed in this post
Did you feature a surprise dance that left your guests screaming ‘You Go Girl’ during your wedding/reception? If so, we’d love to hear about it!

Announcing Our Marrily Winners!!

We had the good fortune to give away 5 lifetime accounts with Marrily (a $100+ each) to readers who left a comment on our newlywed blog. Guess what?
Everyone that left a comment won a free lifetime account!!!

Planning your wedding can be fun, but it can also be frustrating (even if you’ve been married for years you can remember that). The list of to-dos seems endless and some doesn’t even want to remember about the pain they went through for the wedding. But there is a better way to stay organized and prepared for your big day. Marrily.com is a premiere online wedding planner that can help relieve your pre-wedding stress disorder or that of one of your best buds.
Winners, please check your email for the details on how to redeem your complimentary account!

Follow Marrily on twitter at @marrilyhappily, facebook at http://facebook.com/marrilyhappily, and check out their blog at marrily.com/blog

Eliminate Stress & Plan Your Wedding Marrily!

Planning your wedding can be fun, but it can also be frustrating (even if you’ve been married for years you can remember that). Quickly you’ll find yourself buried in all kind of details, from appointments, to-dos, expenses, tracking guests and RSVPs, etc. The list seems endless and some doesn’t even want to remember about the pain they went through for the wedding. But there is a better way to stay organized and prepared for your big day. Marrily.com is a premiere online wedding planner that can help relieve your pre-wedding stress disorder or that of one of your best buds.

The main differentiation between Marrily and the rest of the other tools out there is that Marrily is built for the couples, not for the advertisers or wedding vendors. Alex Le, the founder behind the site, had put a lot of effort into making an easy to use wedding planner to really save the couples’ time. Moreover, Marrily users enjoys great customer support via live chat, email, twitter, and phone. If you have any issue using the site, you can pick up the phone and actually talk to a real person. With an average cost of $25,000 per wedding, Marrily is a great and cost-effective way to stay stress-free when planning your big day!
Notable features of Marrily are:

Invite your significant other, friends, family members, or event your wedding planner to share Marrily with you. You can limit them to see just the right sections.
Simple guests list management to track RSVPs and Gifts.
Seating arrangement tools with drag-and-drop and printer friendly functions.
Ceremony and Reception Checklists to get new couples started
Plan unlimited number of events and guests so you can use Marrily to not only plan your wedding and reception but also your Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party!
An iPhone app is in the works so that couples can access their Marrily account on the go.

MissNowMrs.com is giving away 5 lifetime accounts with Marrily (a $100+ each), so please leave a comment to enter in our 2 week contest. You can also use the coupon “missnowmrs2011” to recieve a 15% discount to any subscription plan (coupon valid till end of 2011).
What are you waiting for?! Enter yourself or a bride-to-be in your life in this great giveaway today!
Follow Marrily on twitter at @marrilyhappily, facebook at http://facebook.com/marrilyhappily, and check out their blog at marrily.com/blog

Webs 4 Weddings: The Complete Wedding Management Tool

The idea for Webs 4 Weddings came from Rusty and Beth Abston, a couple in love who wanted nothing more than to share every aspect of the biggest day of their lives with those they love most: their families and friends.

Their backgrounds and experience allowed them to design their very own wedding website where they did just that…shared the details of their story and wedding day. Once a friend (who happened to be an event planner) convinced them to mass produce their site, they came up with the complete management software called WedPro (version 3.1).

This unique software offers a management tool for the Bride and Groom, the Wedding Professional as well as the vendors in one location!

Webs 4 Weddings provides Wedding Professionals with a complete solution for all web, event and management needs. Some of the most popular features for Brides and Grooms include: a web site, Room Designer, Phone RSVP, Timelines, Checklist, Email Sync, BridalSites and a BridalStore!

Webs 4 Weddings and MissNowMrs.com are excited to announce that our Online Married Name-Change Service is now offered within their BridalStore. What more could you possibly need?!

Help Me Change My Name