Newlywed

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!

3 Unique Party Ideas to Get Rid of the January Blahs

Save your January with our 3 unique party ideas! The glamour, glitz and excitement of New Years have worn off, and now it’s just dreary mid-January. Much like the post-wedding blues, many newlyweds also experience a post-holiday slump. The solution? Planning a fun but low key party with friends! My favorite parties have a theme that gets guests excited and keeps me from worrying about party entertainment. Below are a few ideas (admittedly 2 were “borrowed” from my friend and amazing hostess Jill):

Favorite Things: Just like Oprah…only with a $5 to $10 limit. Figure out how many friends are attending and then have each guest bring one less than that number of their favorite things. You’ll have tons of fun unwrapping, explaining and using everyone’s favorite things. The party I attended resulting in cool nail polish, a miracle hangover cure, holiday socks, satin pillow cases and much more!

Spa/Slumber Party: Send out an evite to have all your girlfriends come over for a little pampering and a chic flick. Mud masks, nail painting, pizza and the latest girly movie will make this an event everyone can look forward too. Party favor idea: attach mini rhinestones to disposable toe separators…cute!

Swap Party: Plan a get together where you and your friends bring accessories to swap. It’s easiest to trade one size fit all items like scarves, jewelry and clutches. If you’re all similar sized, you can open it up to belts, jeans, etc. Everyone will leave with something “new to them” and a little more room in their closets!

Whatever kind of party you choose to plan, just having something to plan and knowing that you’ll be seeing a group of your friends will give you a much needed boost this January.
Please let me know your favorite of our 3 unique party ideas in a comment!

Newlywed New Years Resolutions II

Have you made any newlywed new years resolutions? While there’s great debate about whether anyone keeps the resolutions that they make, just the creation of a resolution can be helpful to a new marriage. If you haven’t made any resolutions with your spouse, here are a few resolutions that may be worth talking about:

1. Use Your Words – This is a cornerstone of my marriage. We promise to use our words to tell each other how we’re feeling and what we need. It keeps little things and annoyances from brewing into big things and arguments. If you and your spouse could use a little more communication, consider resolving to “use your words” in the new year.

2. Make Time – Every newlywed couple I know is juggling careers, families, friends, hobbies and figuring out how married life works. Making time once a week or twice a month to spend an entire day together without family, friends and cell phones will do wonders for your relationship. By scheduling “couple time” your making sure that your marriage remains a priority amongst the million other things clamoring for your attention!

3. Do Something Positive – Whether you join an indoor soccer league or soup kitchen, doing something positive and new in the new year is only going to benefit your marriage. You’ll have new experiences to talk about during dinner (instead of re-hashing work drama) and a new network of friends to explore. There’s also the great feeling of helping others or being part of a team to boost your mood.

If you’re unsure what new thing might work for you, check out www.charitynavigator.org, which helps people find the best charities in their cities.

Resolutions or not, this is going to be a great year for you as a newlywed! Do you have any newlywed new year resolutions that you made with your spouse? I’d love for you to share them in a comment!

If name change was one of your newlywed resolutions, MissNowMrs can help! Use our name change app or online service to save 13 hours of hassle.

Help Me Change My Name

Top 3 Newlywed Gift Ideas For Hard To Buy For Spouses

Hard to buy for spouses are the worst during the holidays. While there is so much anticipation to spend the holidays as a newlywed, there is also the feeling that you need to create the perfect moment/buy the perfect gift to treasure always (thanks Hallmark). Looking back at my first Christmas, there was definitely a good bit of (self inflicted) pressure to find just the right gift for my husband. I trolled the mall, braved Best Buy and even flipped through the seemingly thousands of catalogs that kept coming in the mail.

Are you feeling freaked out about what to get your spouse this holiday season? As the woman married to the man who has everything, I feel capable of giving you some ideas.

1. Hobby Subtlety: Does your spouse have a hobby? If so, don’t buy him the obvious (fishing flies for the fly fisherman)…go for something special like a monogrammed case to hold his fly collection or a special gear bag designed for his specific sport.

2. Photos: If you’re newlyweds, this is the one time you can give him an amazing photo of you two without being lame. This acrylic photo block is really cool and would look nice on any desk in any office.

3. Adventure: If you’re totally stumped on what to give him, consider some sort of adventure activity. Often Groupon or LivingSocial have local deals for skydiving, kayaking and race car driving. Can’t you hear him telling the guys at the office..”Oh yeah, I didn’t get a golf club this year. My wife got me passes to race Ferraris!”

So what did I get my husband for our first newlywed Christmas? This is terrible…I can’t remember! What I do remember was deciding to open our gifts for one another on Christmas Eve instead of during the big family hubub of Christmas Day. It has become a tradition to light a fire, pop a bottle of champagne and open our gifts privately.

Moral Of The Story: No matter what you end up buying your spouse, the time you spend together will end up being what you remember. Try not to over emphasize the gift…emphasize the love!

What are you all getting your hard to buy for spouses this year? We’d love to hear from you in a comment.

Holiday Married Name Change & a Cyber Monday Deal

Are you contemplating holiday married name change? Thanksgiving is over and whammo…it’s Cyber Monday. Married name change can easily get back burnered over the holidays, but as you begin to receive and send holiday cards it may feel like the right time to make the switch. I remember my first Christmas signing cards as “The Tates”…it was a silly little thing that made me feel very happily married and grown up!

If you are considering changing your name, you can painlessly make the transition from Miss to Mrs. with MissNowMrs. Here’s our Cyber Monday Deal: use MRSNOW to save $5 off our easy online name change service or app! You could even surprise your spouse with your name change by keeping it a secret and putting your new driver’s license in an envelope in his/her stocking this Christmas.

Whatever your holiday and name change plans, be sure to savor this time as newlyweds. It’s your first Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa together, so be sure to take time for yourselves during the mad rush.

Kahnoodle: A Relationship App for Newlyweds

How do you feel about a relationship app? When you think of all of the time and effort you put into planning your wedding, it is kind of amazing that there isn’t much done to prep you for being a newlywed. Sure, you may have done some pre-marital counseling through your church or synagogue, but whats 3-5 hours versus the 12+ months of wedding planning?

Technology to the rescue! Kahnoodle is a free newlywed app that allows you to communicate what you need from your partner and give him/her kudos for the kind things they do. There’s a calendar feature/reminder that will keep you both from falling into a rut and even a challenge to keep their “love tank” full. I love that this app is fun and functional!

No one wants to sit down and write a list of what the want and with that their spouse would do for them…it’s tedious and can offend the other person. However, communication is key to a happy marriage. Using an app reminder to challenge both sides to step up their relationship game equals a fun way to keep your newlywed love on track.

Have you used Kahnoodle? We’d love to hear how it’s helped your relationship and what your favorite feature is! Also, if you’re into marriage apps, don’t miss the MissNowMrs app. It helps users streamline the 13 hour name change hassle into 13 minutes on their phones!

Help Me Change My Name