Name Change Advice

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!

Passport Name Change: Filing Secrets

Pssst we have passport name change filing secrets for you. Ready to change to your married name on your U.S. passport? After you complete your DS-82, DS-5504 or DS-11 form, have your new photos taken (hopefully they turn out lovely) and collect all of the supporting documents you need to file with, it’s time to mail the whole kit n caboodle to the State Department. Feeling a little nervous about mailing in your current passport? That’s completely natural.

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 now that you have our passport name change filing secrets.

Kitchen Chaos: Newlywed in the Kitchen

Newlywed kitchen chaos happens. Everyone needs to and typically loves to eat. Getting married and cooking together should be no big deal right?

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 chaos 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.

Surprise Your Spouse This Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is this week! Can you believe it? Whether you go all out for the holiday or do something simple as a newlywed couple, it’s important to do something to celebrate your love. Stumped on what to get your significant other this year? If you haven’t made the switch to Mrs. yet…there is nothing like surprising your spouse with a new last name!

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 spouse’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!

Give We a Rest: A Guide to Maintaining Friendships Post Wedding

Your girlfriends are all happy that you’ve met the love of your life and tied the knot. Most, if not all of them, were there for your big day AND all of the days you spent planning it. Marriage changes a person, and your friends are adjusting to the new newlywed you. No need to make it harder for them.

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.

Gorgeous Underwater Wedding Photos in Turks & Caicos

We adore underwater wedding photos! I know this is a newlywed blog…but I recently came across the most amazing wedding photo shoot in Turks and Caicos and had to share it! Typically, I really don’t get into trash the dress montages. A wedding gown represents a dream come true and feeling like a princess. Destroying it seems wasteful and a bit crass in my opinion (especially since you could donate your dress to a good cause). All that being said, this trash the dress shoot is classy and beautiful. It is almost like this couple is part of an ocean fairy tale.

Check out the entire photo gallery by Brilliant Photography (one of the top 5 photography studios in the Caribbean). 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