Fall

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!

Top Fall Engagement, Wedding & Anniversary Photo Ideas

Fall is here bringing a new season as well as amazing opportunities for anniversary photo ideas, engagement photo ideas, and wedding photo ideas! It is important to capture your love at any stage of your relationship and these top photo ideas will have you enjoying the season and each other even more this season!

Leaf Kisses: Whether you’re capturing an engagement, wedding or anniversary kiss, leaves fluttering around you is a great way to celebrate the Fall season and add motion and visual interest to your photos. Word to the wise…this is nearly impossible if you’re taking “selfies”. Ideally you need a photographer and someone to toss the leaves at the perfect moment.

Pumpkins + Rings: We adore wedding bangs placed on pumpkin stems. White pumpkins are more elegant but orange pumpkins add great color contrast. If you’re feeling crafty you can paint or carve your wedding date on the pumpkin before snapping your photo. A flower girl or ring bearer holding the pumpkin would be another fantastic photo to capture.

Apples: Incorporating apples into photos always adds a Fall element. You could do an engagement shoot in an orchard or an anniversary photo sipping apple cider at sunset.
Looking for more Fall anniversary photo ideas? Check out our Fall Wedding Ideas Pin Board!

4 Fast Ways To Fallify Your Home

Looking for ways to fallify your home? One of the best things about a new season is refreshing the seasonal decorations around your house or apartment. As a newlywed, I feel like I can spend a bit more on décor as I’ll be using it year after year as we celebrate the seasons! Here are a few quick ways to embrace Fall…

Mums – Inexpensive and incredibly festive, mums come a huge variety of colors and sizes. Pick colors that blend with your household or choose ones that contrast for a pop of color on your porch, tables or walkway. Need a quick hostess gift? Wrap some ribbon around the middle of a potted mum…instant seasonal goodie!

Acorns – I’m serious. Talk a walk with your honey and collect a bag of acorns as you stroll. Then use them to fill glass containers to decorate tables and counters. You can also scatter them around a Fall table centerpiece for added flair.

Wreaths – What better way to welcome guest to your home than with a fabulous fall wreath. You can go with a traditional leaf style wreath or mix things up with one with berries or mini pumpkins! Feeling crafty? Try this 4-step DIY wreath!

Pumpkins – They’re not just orange anymore. Take a trip to your local farmers market to find amazing pumpkins in cream, burgundy and even light blue. Purchase enough to have a few couples over and engage in a jack-o-lantern carving party! Everyone will have a great time and leave with a decoration for their own home.

What seasonal decorations are your favorites? Do you have heirlooms to use or are you making your own this year as a couple? We’d love to hear from you in a comment.

Fabulous Fall Entertaining

With the crisp cool air it’s time get ready for Fall entertaining. Celebrating with seasonal foods/cocktails and friends is a great way to make sure you take a moment to enjoy the world and weather around you. Whether you’re new to marriage and new to cooking for a group or if you’re an old pro at both…we’ve got some great ideas for you!

Set the Tone – Pick up some festive plates or get creative with one of these fall displays for your home (we especially love the acorns in the glass column). Lighting a fall scented candle can also immediately put guests in a festive mood.

Create a Seasonal Cocktail (or 2) – Signature cocktails easily elevate an event from a gathering to a party! Consider a this simple yet amazing vanilla pumpkin pie martini for the ladies and some autumn flavored ale for the gentlemen attending. Here’s a top 10 list of pumpkin beers to point you in the right direction!

Surprise Appetizers – Who doesn’t love an out of the ordinary appetizer?! Soup shooters are one of the easiest unconventional appetizers. We suggest this seasonal roasted carrot soup served in fun colored coffee or demitasse cups. The soup is warming, has a festive fall flavor and is even orange.

Pot Luck – It might sound old fashioned, but having each guest or couple bringing a component of the meal has tremendous upside (especially if they’re good cooks). You as the hostess get to focus on details like decorating or a fabulous cocktail instead of being overwhelmed…and your guests get to bring something that shows off their talents. It’s a good idea to create a theme so the recipes gel into a meal.

Pears – Pears are in season and make an outstanding end to any meal. Consider serving simple poached pears with vanilla ice cream or a pear tart with caramelized pistachios.
Whatever you decide to make, taking time to enjoy Fall with friend and family will end well.

Do you have a favorite Fall entertaining idea you’d like to share with our readers? We’d love for you to leave a comment.

Newlywed Recipes You Will Fall In Love With!

Looking for newlywed recipes? I am definitely not Betty Crocker in the kitchen, so it’s a good thing for me that my husband enjoys cooking, and even more fortunate for me… he is an amazing cook! I have been getting much more comfortable trying out my newlywed skills in the kitchen, and I especially don’t mind when I’m exploring a new recipe cause then my hubby would never know if I screwed it up or not!

I have a few cook books at home, but of course they’re collecting dust since I generally turn to online suggestions such as cooks.com and of course the woman who makes it look so easy, Rachael Ray! I actually prefer getting recipes from my family and friends, so now that we’re enjoying the season’s fall foods, and (dare I say it!?) rapidly approaching the holidays, I wanted to share some of my fall fav’s with you, and I hope that you will do the same!

Let’s begin with Numero Uno: The Cocktail!
Pumpkin Pie Martini: Here’s my new BFF, and I hope she will be yours too!
Ingredients:

Ice cubes
2 ounces (1/4 cup) vanilla vodka
2 ounces (1/4 cup) crème de cacao
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Whipped cream, for garnish

Directions:
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Add the vanilla vodka, crème de cacao, heavy cream and pumpkin pie spice and shake well.
2. Dip the rims of 2 martini glasses into a bowl of whipped cream. Strain the cocktail into the glasses and indulge!
Servings: 2 / Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Ginger Pumpkin Bread: Excellent for breakfast or dessert!
Ingredients:
1 ½ sticks melted butter (12 tablespoons)
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can canned pumpkin (15 oz.)
3 eggs
Sugar glaze (optional, see below)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans (or spray with Baker’s Joy). In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together both sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, and eggs. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
2. Divide batter evenly between the loaf pans. Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. Let cool ten minutes and invert loaves onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
3. Once cool, glaze if desired. Combine 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar with 2 – 3 tablespoons of water in a liquid measuring cup. Stir until glaze is smooth and thick, with no lumps. Drizzle over loaves and let set 15 minutes prior to serving.
Makes 2 Loaves
Butternut Squash Casserole: Don’t knock this one till you try it!
Ingredients

[Read more…]

Ways To Woo Your Wife This Fall

Are you looking for ways to woo your wife this fall? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they hate the Fall, probably because it’s such a beautiful season no matter where you go! The cooler air is welcomed after an extremely hot summer and who wouldn’t appreciate the leaves changing to every shade of red, orange and yellow making any commute to work more enjoyable.

There are so many things to do in the Fall to enjoy the last few weeks before the temperature really drops and you and your sweetie are stuck inside for the Winter months. If you’re not the type who plans weekend getaways or date nights, your wife will truly be impressed and grateful that you took the time and effort to make plans for the two of you.

Here are a few things you can do to make the most out of the season:
Visit your local Pumpkin Patch: Now is the perfect time to pick out pumpkins and carve them for Halloween. If you and your partner are the competitive types you can have a contest to see whose pumpkin looks the best (have a neighbor or friend be the judge).

Enjoy a Wine Festival: Your local winery/vineyard may have a festival to celebrate the fall. Often times you pay a set price and enjoy the entire day sipping wine and listening to live bands or DJs. They even have vendors come in with food, unique art, jewelry and clothing. You could also bring a blanket and a cooler with your favorite wine pairing snacks; such as cheese, nuts, grapes and chocolate!

Attend a Fall Foliage Festival: I keep talking about the leaves and trees, but seriously…they’re beautiful! You and your spouse could walk hand-in-hand and spoil yourselves with all things Fall—hot apple cider, caramel apples, pumpkin pie or apple dumplings!

Spend a weekend at a Bed and Breakfast: There’s something about spending the night or weekend away from home that somehow brings out the romance in all of us. If you’re lucky enough to live near mountains this could be one of the best ideas for you as the view is always spectacular!
If you’re really feeling adventurous and want to plan a weekend away (far away), you may be interested in the Top 10 places to visit this Fall.

No matter what you do this Fall get out and enjoy it together! Tell us about your plans to woo your wife this fall, and inspire other couples with your ideas!