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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!

Family Gift Giving 101: Newlywed Holiday Etiquette

Newlywed Holiday Etiquette

Newlywed holiday etiquette, it’s so important! The holidays are filled with happiness, love, good food, great friends, and the creation of many wonderful memories.  However, for many, this time of year also comes with great stress, as one is forced to consider the etiquette of gift giving within a new family. 

It is absolutely wonderful to give a gift  and enjoy the look of thrill that comes with opening it, but giving a gift to a person who wasn’t expecting it often means giving a handful of guilt as well. When you are the one on the receiving end, with nothing to give in return, it can be horribly embarrassing.  So now that you’re part of a new family, how do you know who you are supposed to buy for and how much to spend?

Who Should You Be Buying For? This is often the first question asked in new marriages.  While it might be obvious what gifts need to be purchased on your side of the family, because you are very familiar with the traditions, it can be far more difficult deciding which relatives of your spouse will expect a present. One of the easiest ways to figure this out is to inquire about the annual holiday events.  Is there a big get-together with the extended family?  Who attends it?  Are gifts exchanged and how? 

In many families, especially large families, it is nearly impossible to get a gift for every member, so names will be drawn from a hat so each person buys just one gift.  Others may choose to have a gift swap for which each person brings one or two wrapped gifts and names are drawn deciding the order in which participants choose from the table of presents. 

Knowing what happens at your spouse’s holiday gatherings can often save you a great deal of worry.  If you are still unsure of the situation, consider stockpiling a few small items wrapped and on hand for unexpected circumstances. Consider small ornaments, kitchen gadgets, scarfs, candles  or other items that anyone might enjoy and if someone gives you a gift who you haven’t shopped for, use one of these standbys to prevent an uncomfortable situation.

How Much Should You Spend? This question should not have a universal answer.  Each family faces a different set of financial circumstances.  Staying on budget with your holiday shopping should be the primary goal, rather than worrying about what others are going to shell out for gifts.  Create a budget for what you can afford, who you need to buy for, and divide the total among them.  That way, there will be no question as to whether or not you have spent enough – you have spent what you can afford.

As a final note, in some families, there will be a price limit set for gifts.  If that is the case, abide by the guideline, even if you feel that it is really too little.  This avoids embarrassing those who can’t afford to spend more.

Are you anxious about holiday shopping for your in-laws this year? Hopefully our newlywed holiday etiquette explanations helped.  Stay tuned for our Top 10 In-Law gifts post later this week!

4 Best Newlywed Ways To Handle Annoying People

Need some newlywed ways to handle annoying people? We’ve covered the top 4 offenders and given you some solutions to tactfully tackle dealing with them.

The Neighbor that talks until he/she’s blue in the face.  You and your spouse finally arrive at your house after your dreadful commute home from work and your neighbor is outside waiting to strike up a conversation that you know will last way longer than you have time or patience for.  What do you do?  You say, “I would love to catch up with you, but haven’t had anything to eat since noon, can we talk about this on the weekend?” or “I’ve been looking forward to spending time with my husband/wife all day, would you mind if we caught up at a different time?” 

You can’t put them off forever, but it’s not rude to let someone know that you have had a day from …you know where…and would simply like to go inside and forget about it!

The House Guest that Never Leaves.  Do you constantly have friends from high school or college over and they don’t know when to leave?  Sure, you love catching up with old buddies and always enjoy laughing about the glory days, but at some point it’s time to say so long til next time.  Try making plans for a specific time the day that you plan for your house guest to leave, such as dinner plans with local friends.  The point is to have a specific end time in mind and stick to it.  Discussing these plans with your house guest prior to them arriving is the best way not to offend anyone.

The Needy Sibling or Friend.  Do you or your spouse have a brother, sister, or friend who relies on you for everything?  I’m not talking about times that you should be there by there side (such as grieving, consoling them with a bad break-up or even a job loss).  I’m talking about the individual that expects you to remember and remind them of important dates such as: Mom/Dad’s birthday, anniversaries, when their bills are due (or never has the money to pay them without borrowing the money from you). 

If you grew up with a tight-knit family you know that it is never easy to say no to them for any reason, but there comes a time in life when you need to do what’s best for you and your new family…your spouse—and as a newlywed it is so important to put your spouse first to let them know that you value them and their role in your life.  Tip: purchase a calendar and write all the important dates to be remembered in it and give it to your needy friend, and let them write their other obligations in it (such as bill due dates, etc.).  After all, it really isn’t your responsibility to keep track of this for them anyway.

The Demanding Boss.  Does your boss constantly pile more projects and responsibilities on your plate than any one human being should ever have to deal with at a time?  Remember, you are one person and can only do what is humanly possible…one thing at a time!  The best thing you can do is always be on time for work and know how you work best (i.e. make a checklist and tackle it in a timely manner—no, Twitter and Facebook are not acceptable unless your job is social media marketing…nice try though). 

If the deadline is impossible for you to meet on your own consider asking a co-worker for assistance or sit-down with your boss and let him/her know that you are working on XYZ and would love to complete the task, but if the deadline can’t be pushed back it may be best for the project to be assigned to someone with fewer responsibilities.  Any boss would prefer that you let them know of the issue instead of completing the task under par.

The list of people could go on and on, right?!  If you have an example of an “annoying person” (no names please) and advice on how you deal with them, share it with our other readers by commenting below.