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!

Our Outstanding October Newlywed Giveaway!

Ready for our October newlywed giveaway? What to give the girl who got everything for her wedding? How about over $460 worth of custom flower preservation?! If you are/were the bride who spent hours dreaming up the perfect wedding bouquet and now can’t bear the idea of tossing it, this giveaway is perfect for you. We’re happy to announce that our October Giveaway includes an 11″ x 14″ shadowbox floral keepsake (such as the one pictured) that our lucky winner will be able to customize with frame style, fabric lining and the design layout of her choice!

Our friend Dana, of Keepsake Floral has provided this month’s Custom Floral Keepsake giveaway! Keepsake Floral is the Nation’s leader in special event flower preservation, having been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Modern Bride, Bridal Guide , L.A. Brides and Grace Ormond’s Bridal Productions. So you can trust them to preserve your wedding bouquet and flowers, creating a custom-crafted work of art you will treasure for years to come!

Keepsake Floral prides itself on quality and individualized attention, allowing brides the flexibility they need at one of, if not the most, stressful times in their lives. Brides can simply place a deposit with Keepsake Floral to start the wedding bouquet preservation process. No design decisions are required until 2-3 weeks after the wedding, after the flowers have completed the preservation cycle. Their highly experienced Design Consultants assist brides in making size, design, frame, fabric and other choices.

As each and every floral keepsake is a custom piece of artwork, brides are encouraged to make the keepsake their own by incorporating their invitation, wedding photo … even wedding favors, tiaras and butterflies from sentimental releases. The custom cut frames for each Keepsake Floral shadowbox and pressed frame and the personal design attention each piece receives makes a completed flower keepsake everyone’s “Favorite Thing!”

Overly excited to win our outstanding October newlywed giveaway? Leave a comment on this, or any of our floral keepsake posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us all about the flowers in your bouquet, if they have special meanings or significance. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on October 31^st!! 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!

Marriage Advice: Heavy Topics Create Light Hearts

It’s time for a little marriage advice ladies. It took you (and your spouse, if you’re one of the lucky ones) your entire engagement to plan your wedding and less than a second to say “I DO.” Was there any time in there for you to have a serious conversation on what your expectations on marriage were and what makes up a successful marriage?

Couples often times spend so much time thinking about every last detail that goes into the perfect wedding that they forget that life as newlyweds (and the responsibilities that come with your new status as a married couple) begin the moment the wedding is over! Ok, maybe that was a bit over dramatic…but it certainly begins upon returning from your honeymoon.

It’s so important that prior to your marriage you discuss topics that will surely come up in your future. You may be thinking, well it’s too late now—we’re already married, but I’m hear to tell you that it’s not!

Here are important topics not to be taken lightly that the two of you as a couple should put some thought into:

What do we expect in terms of how our marriage will work?
This includes having a clear discussion on the following: When do we plan to start a family and how many children do we want? Will we have pets? Will we share household responsibilities such as: cooking, cleaning and paying the bills?

Do we understand each other’s communication style and how will we resolve conflict?
How will the two of you handle conflicts in your relationship? It’s not as easy as it was when you lived separately or when you were dating and you could hang up the phone and talk tomorrow. Discuss how the two of you will work together to resolve any issues that may arise in the future.

What do we expect from our sexual relationship?
This is some serious marriage advice. Discussions about what you need and expect sexually from your partner could definitely help alleviate future arguments!

Do we have a financial plan?
Remember that upon marrying someone, you acquire their debts (if they have any). You should definitely know each other’s credit history (i.e. credit score) as this will have a direct affect when you file for a loan to purchase a home or vehicle. If one of you has credit card debts or school loans, you will both be paying them off. You may also want to discuss whether or not you will have separate or joint bank accounts. It’s best to be upfront about finances because surprises are nice, but not when they come in the form of financial stress!

How will spirituality play a role in our marriage?
You will more-than-likely know whether or not your spouse has a spiritual background, but do you know if you believe the same things? Will you actively practice your religious beliefs as a couple? Having a belief system could help you both with any future struggles, although issues could arise if one of you is more spiritual than the other.

Discussing these tough topics may be awkward at first, but in the end these are some of the topics that can make or break a marriage. So, make it a point to sit down and communicate to benefit your married union, and it will only help you as you start a family and go through this crazy thing we called life…together!

What do you think of our marriage advice? Did you discuss any of these topics with your spouse? How did you feel afterward? Was it beneficial or a waste of time?

Last Week to Enter To Win Adorn Jewelry!

Did you enter to win Adorn jewelry? Ladies, this is the last week to enter to win a $200 jewelry rental from ADORN! Imagine yourself dripping in free jewels for your big day (be it your wedding, anniversary, birthday or an upscale event). There are only three days left before we announce the lucky winner, so be sure to leave a comment before it’s too late!

ADORN has partnered with MissNowMrs.com to present our lucky September Giveaway winner with a $200 jewelry rental for free! ADORN is the equivalent of every budget oriented bride’s fairy godmother. You can rent diamond earrings, necklaces and bracelets from their website for a fraction of the cost of buying them.

Psyched to win our September Giveaway?! Leave a comment on this, or any of our jewelry posts on Mondays this month and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Share your big day dreams with us and how ADORN jewelry will complete your look. The randomly selected contest winner will be announced on September 30^th!! 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!

Best Newlywed Advice

Looking for newlywed advice? People love giving advice about all kinds of topics, as a way to help others. You know this, you’re a newlywed who has more-than-likely received an array of solicited or unsolicited advice about how to be the perfect bride, perfect wife, perfect friend or co-worker (basically, how to be Super Woman)!

Here’s 3 bits of advice graciously given to myself and 2 of my colleagues by our closest family members that we felt would help you in your new status as a newlywed couple!

The best advice I received was to never stop talking to your husband. At the time I thought, what is that supposed to mean, of course I’m going to always talk to him. Now, after 4 years of marriage I realize that the person meant talk with (a.k.a. communication is the key). Some people may think this is so easy, but it is in fact one of the hardest things to do.

Most people can talk until their blue in the face, but communicating well is another story. So my advice to you is that a conversation should always be a two-way street when you or your spouse is feeling upset or even happy about something!

Another great piece of advice that one of my colleagues received is to NEVER go to bed angry! Stay up all night if you have to, but always come to an agreed upon resolution to the issue at hand. There will be times that you may have to agree to disagree and that’s ok as long as you remember to respect each other’s views on the issue.

Last, but certainly not least is to remember to show appreciation for one another. Think back to when the two of you were dating (and perhaps living separately). When you were out shopping you would see something (i.e. a shirt or favorite food) that made you think of the other person and smile. What did you do? Maybe you called him/her, texted or purchased the item for your significant other. Don’t stop doing that now! It’s so easy to let life (work, friends, kids, etc.) get in the way sometimes. Remember, often times it’s the little things that count the most!

What is the best advice that you have received regarding your newlywed couple status? Not a newlywed (no problem), what is the best advice that you could give to our newlywed readers? They all want to know what has worked best for you and your spouse to create a happy long-lasting marriage.

My Love, My Life… My Jean Size!

Newlywed life is affecting my jean size! After a few years of dating my now husband, I slowly began seeing similarities between the two of us. We found ourselves often saying the same thing at the same time and ordering the same meals out on dinner dates. Our habits and mannerisms grew more parallel, and even our taste in clothing became similar! Now, after 2 years of marriage I have taken notice to more extreme similarities, and some acquired habits that have got to go!

Do you remember having a best friend growing up, and you were often told that you were “two peas in a pod”? You were inseparable, and from spending so much time together your characteristics rub off, and you naturally become more alike!

It has been fun watching this same thing happen between me and my husband. I fell in love with who he is, as an individual, as his own person, and now I love what we have become together, still recognizing that we don’t need to be similar in ALL aspects of life

There is one habit that most women cannot share with a man and that is their eating habits! Men, naturally eat more than women do, and lucky for some they seem to magically not pack on extra pounds and can remain in-shape while doing so!

Unfortunately, this is not the case for all women! My question is, how unfair is that?! I recently came across an interesting video showing that just simply living with a man, women “mimic the food habits of their significant other”, and studies have shown that we tend to eat more when we’re with company.

I know that since becoming a Mrs. I have found myself selecting different food choices when out for dinner, and often eating more than my ‘normal’ portion sized meals, but am now comforted in knowing that this is a proven problem with other couples! However, this is not justifying my increased jean size! I would normally eat chicken and veggies for dinner; however, my diet has now expanded to include other meats and potatoes! Personally, I know that I am not one of those women that can eat and not gain a pound. It is so hard to make dinner while trying to accommodate for both of our taste buds and not cook for an entire army! So what do you do?!

I have decided to take action now before I keep plunging down the slippery slope of poor food choices to get back my old eating habits and my size 6! My husband and I will continue to share similarities and mutual habits in many aspects (as our relationship continues to grow, and I love that.)

BUT when it comes to eating, I will stick to my own habits and begin taking control! So the next time we’re ordering hoagies and chips, I will swap out one unnecessary empty carbohydrate (chips), and substitute with fruit or veggies!

Anyone else feeling me? Please share your stories with us, and what you did to get back on track!