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!

Announcing our Newlywed Sleep Number Perfect Comforter Winner!

Congratulations to our Perfect Comforter winner, Whitney! We’re so happy for you and your hubby! Whitney read our newlywed blog, left a comment and now she’s won a custom Sleep Number Perfect Comforter! Now she and her husband will get to select the fill and warmth level of their sides of the same comforter! Talk about a great wedding gift!

Whitney, we hope you will send us a picture of you and your prize, once it’s on your bed and solving your nightly temperature struggles. Please check your email for the details on how to redeem your prize from Sleep Number!

Sad you didn’t win our December newlywed blog prize? Don’t worry, January’s contest starts tomorrow…and we can’t lie…it’s awesome!

January 2011 Begins Bridal Show Season!

Are you ready for bridal show season? If you’re engaged and in the midst of wedding planning, don’t miss the Today’s Bride Shows!

ATTENTION Ohio Brides! 2 Free Tickets to Today’s Bride Shows
Sun., Jan 9, 2011 – John S. Knight Center, Akron, Ohio
Sat & Sun., Jan 15-16, 2011 – I-X Center – Cleveland, Ohio (now 2 days!)

Today’s Bride is offering MissNowMrs.com newlywed blog readers 2 free tickets to any show! Simply register and receive your tickets instantly online. These tickets are valued at $10 each. Already married?? Take an engaged friend! Visit TodaysBride.com for show details or call 330-670-9545.
Ohio’s longest running, largest bridal shows have more fashions, more vendor choices, and more ideas all in one day!

You’ll see new and inventive ideas from over 100 different wedding professionals each weekend eagerly waiting to showcase their products and services, as well as registering to win a multitude of prizes!

Doors will be open on Sundays from 10:00-5:00pm (Saturday 4-8pm at IX Center) with runway fashion shows throughout. Bring your friends & family. Arrive early and spend the day!

IT’S ALL HERE! Fashions, Music, Tastings, Demonstrations, Samples and Expert Advice.
SAVE TIME by seeing & comparing everything for your wedding in one place.
SAVE MONEY with special discounts and offers for show attendees this bridal show season!

Married Name-Change: Not to be Misunderstood

As MissNowMrs.com was created to relieve you from unnecessary stress, research, and form completion, we also want to be sure that we provide you with all of the fine details (cause that’s what us women love!) and make sure that you’re “in the know” when and if you decide to change your name!

First things first! After you have said your I Do’s, your Officiant will often times announce to your guests, “I now pronounce to you, Mr. and Mrs. XYZ”! Although your marriage is official, unfortunately that doesn’t mean that your name has automatically changed to your spouses’. Hence the reason for MissNowMrs.com, as we figured out first hand that changing to your new married name can be quite a hassle, so we’ve created this service to lay it out in black and white for you! In the past few years, we have discovered that there are quite a few newlyweds under the impression that the bride’s name is automatically changed once you are married (oh if only all things in life could be that simple)! For some brides, however, this is good news, as not everyone chooses to change their name!

Now that you know there is some necessary paperwork that must be filed when changing your name –here’s the good news! If you have discussed your name-change options with your spouse, you can get a jump-start on the process and complete all of your forms, print them off, and prepare for filing with your MissNowMrs account… before you are married! You will need to wait to submit your forms until after your marriage, as you will need a copy of your marriage certificate, but you will already have everything prepared and ready to go! Once you have registered for an account with us, it is yours to access via email and password, so that you may work at your own pace.

Please share with us and fellow newlyweds any misconceptions that you had in regard to your married name change, or anything that you wish you would’ve known before your wedding when it comes to changing your name!

Dealing With Spousal Debt

How do you handle dealing with spousal debt? Being a newlywed is full of the bliss of being with the one you love, which includes bringing their life together with yours. That also includes their financial situation. Unfortunately for some, it means introducing debt into their brand new life. Money is a big stressor on marriages, but before you panic at the idea of debt tarnishing your new life together, take some time to consider a few things.

It’s important that you know about the debt early on so you can take steps to handle the problem as soon as possible. After all, marriage is about trust and understanding. Marriage does indeed change everything about a person’s financial standing. Depending upon your living conditions before marriage, you may still be used to handling your finances as an individual. But now you’re sharing your life, so it’s time to start sharing your plans on money. This may actually continue within your marriage; your spouse uses the money brought in through their occupation to handle the debt while you handle other financial areas of the marriage.

Remember that debt accrued by your partner essentially remains theirs until you put your name into the mix. For example, a loan under their name remains their responsibility by law unless you help to refinance it. Credit card histories also do not suddenly merge after you marry. Only things you do together, such as purchase a house, become the responsibility of both.

As for handling the debt, ultimately it is up to the decisions made by you and your spouse. It comes down to your financial planning and how you want to manage the debt. Will both of you help pay it down? Just one person? Take some time to sit down with your partner and talk about the debt, your income, and what steps should be taken in order to remove the debt from both your lives. Once you discuss the matter, it can be appropriately handled and eventually you will see the debt go down until it disappears completely.

If you still find that you have problems, you can always go to a credit counselor or other debt counselor to see if there are ways to reduce loan amounts, interest rates, and improve your budgeting skills. Remember, your partner doesn’t want to be in debt anymore than you do and will need your love and support. Don’t let money get in the way of your happiness when it doesn’t have to!

Do you have any helpful recommendations for our readers dealing with spousal debt? We’d love for you to share your advice in a comment!

Last Week to Win our Sleep Number Perfect Comforter Giveaway

Ladies, this is the last week to enter to win a customized Perfect Comforter (like the one pictured) from Sleep Number! Imagine drifting off to sleep at your ideal temperature, AND your partner having the same experience with the same blanket. Sleep Number has teamed up with MissNowMrs.com to offer one of our newlywed blog readers the chance to win a completely customized Create Your Perfect Comforter (A $280 value)! The Sleep Number Create your Perfect Comforter is the ideal solution for couples who disagree on bedroom temperature as each side of the comforter can be customized. You get to choose the fill, customize your warmth level and then relax with your perfect comforter. Say goodbye to sleepless nights and blanket wars!

Ready to win our cozy December giveaway? Leave a comment on this, or any of our Newlywed Bed Posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us all about why you and your spouse should win this custom comforter. We’d love to know what lengths you’ve gone to to solve your temperature differences. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on December 31st!! 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!

**If you tweet this giveaway by clicking the green retweet button below, you’ll receive an additional contest entry!**

Also, if you’re in the mood for newlywed bed giveaways, you can win a memory foam bed, a Flexfit adjustable base, and $500 in Sleep Number bedding through Sleep Number’s holiday sweepstakes at: www.sleepnumber.com.