One thing people always ask me about — or seem to be somewhat unaware about — is how to change your name after the big day. There is a lot of information out there, and even services that will take care of the name change for you, but frankly, it’s not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. Once you have your signed marriage licence in hand, here’s what you need to do to claim your new name…

1. Head to the Social Security Office

The first place you should change your name is at the Social Security office. If you don’t have one nearby, you can also mail the form in.

2. Visit Your Local DMV

Next, head to the DMV for your shiny new licence. See if you can update your voter registration while you’re there too; in TN, you can.

3. Make Sure Your Employer Knows & Updates Everything Accordingly

Once you have your new social and driver’s license, you’ll need to be sure your employer updates your information for both your pay checks and your benefits. Once your benefits are updated with your new name, you can update all your doctors as you visit them as well.

4. Apply for a New Passport

If you’re planning to leave the country, now’s a good time to apply for a new passport too. If you already have a passport, you just need to renew yours with your new name.

5. Update Your Debit & Credit Cards

Lots of times, you’ll be asked for ID when you use a credit or debit card, so be sure to update both your bank and your creditors to get new cards.

6. Update Everything Else

Ok, this last one’s a little loose because it really depends on what accounts you have. If I’m being honest, I’ll tell you that, aside from the 5 places I listed above, I actually haven’t even updated absolutely everything out of my maiden name yet (my mortgage company actually told me I couldn’t without refinancing!), but a few other places you might you want to consider getting in contact with:

• Mortgage Company
• Insurance Company
• Utility Company
• Attorney
• Voter Registration (if you couldn’t take care of it in #2)
• Doctor’s Offices (after you get your benefits updated per #3)

Now that’s not too hard, is it?

Regular readers may have noticed a lack of posts over the past few days (sorry, ladies!), so I wanted to write a brief post to let you all know that I’m on a bit of a hiatus this week. After traveling all week last week and again this week, I’ve decided to give myself a very short break from posting, but I’ll be back next week. Happy wedding planning! I’ll miss you all!

I think you all already know how much I love DIY projects – for my wedding and now for my home. I especially love DIY projects that translate from the wedding to the home, which is why I’m loving the Kinkajou bottle cutter!

The Kinkajou helps you recycle your used soda, beer and wine bottles.

Named after the small South American mammal with big teeth, the Kinkajou is a bottle cutter with a new twist. The cutters currently available on the market are big and bulky and not very interesting to look at. Bottle Cutting, Inc.’s design was meant to be simple to operate, easy to store and more aesthetically pleasing; something you wouldn’t mind keeping in your kitchen.

So, what can you do with cut bottles? You can use them as glasses, vases, candle holders, lamps and special gifts, just to name a few. If you’re cutting them as part of your wedding DIY, you can create:

• Drinking glasses for bridal party gifts
• Vases for centerpieces
• Candle luminaries for aisle decor

The coolest part is that anything you create for your wedding can also be used in your home after the big day!

In addition, now that Bottle Cutting, Inc. also created the Jabiru bottle top stem, you can even turn cut bottle tops into unique stemmed glassware! That means nothing’s wasted when you cut a bottle, because you can use the top and the bottom!

You can buy the Kinkajou online now for just $49.99, and if you’re interested in Jabiru bottle top stems, be sure to show your support via their current Kickstarter.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

Lately, I’ve noticed more and more 20+ year marriages ending in divorce – my parents and many of my friends’ parents included. The statistics are staggering; over the past 20 years, the divorce rate among baby boomers has increased by more than 50%, even as divorce rates overall have stabilized nationally. As a newlywed, it’s easy to get frightened or discouraged that our own marriages could one day see the same fate.

{Photo by Candida.Performa. Used under Creative Commons.}

With this in mind, I recently chatted with some couples who have been happily married for 25+ years to see what their secret is, and here’s what they told me…

1. Set the right expectations of your marriage.

First thing’s first, know that every single day of your marriage won’t be a happy one. It’s important to set that expectation now but understand that it’s completely normal. If you expect to have to work through tough stuff, it won’t be so discouraging when it happens.

“No couple is ‘happily’ married every day for decades. There will always be moments when we’re not so happy in the marriage, and I’m sure that’s true for most, if not all, long-married couples. We all have certain expectations of marriage at the beginning, and when they’re not met, we wonder why we took the vows.” – Susan Hawkins, celebrating 45 years of marriage.

2. Commit to your marriage 100%.

Adding to point #1, you need to fully commit to being together and working through problems.

“We have been challenged in ways that would have broken most couples up. We were committed to stay together because we both came from divorced parents and we didn’t want to repeat the cycle.” – Sheri Goldberg, celebrating 40 years of marriage

3. Allow your spouse to be himself/herself.

“Don’t try to change them. Don’t try to fix them. Don’t try to make them like the things that you like. Celebrate what you have in common, and respect your differences, and you’ll be amazed how long a marriage can last.” – Janet Oberholtzer, celebrating 27 years of marriage

4. Support each other’s unique interests.

“Support each other in your hobbies and passions, even if it means [you] spend less time together because of them.” – Deb Keirce, celebrating 29 years of marriage

5. Pick your battles.

“Let the little stuff go, and only argue about the big stuff.” – Carol Bloom Stevens, celebrating 38 years of marriage

6. Don’t let your ego ruin your marriage.

“Never go to sleep angry; stay up and fight. And when you’re certain that you’re right and they’re wrong, ask yourself, ‘Do you want to be right or do you want to be married?’” – Elisabeth Morrissey, celebrating 27 years of marriage

7. Respect each other, and fight fair.

“One of the secrets to our successful marriage is quite simply, respect. We decided that there would be no name calling, no telling each other to ‘shut up’ and any other language we deemed disrespectful in our communication with each other. We respect each other’s opinions, thoughts and perspectives…even if we don’t always agree!” – Danielle Miller, celebrating 29 years of marriage

8. Forgive.

“We forgive often, realizing that the other one didn’t wake up planning to offend the other.” — Diane Morrow, celebrating 30 years of marriage

9. Don’t cheat or betray your spouse.

“Avoid temptation. Do not put yourself/selves into situations which could have a negative impact on your relationship.” – Beverly Solomon, celebrating 38 years of marriage

10. Appreciate each other…and make sure he/she knows it.

“Everyday, when I wake up, my first words to my wife are, ‘Good morning, beautiful.’ I tell her often how beautiful she is, how wonderful she is, how good she is with our daughters (we have 5), and how much I appreciate all that she does. I tell my wife ‘I love you’ multiple times each day. There should never be a time, even a moment, when she has to doubt that, and I try to show it through my actions as well.” – Michael Morgan, celebrating 29 years of marriage

11. Keep things interesting.

“Over the years, I have worked hard at shaking things up, not letting things get stale. This might include enjoying home made hamburgers and french fries in our dining room using good china by candle light. It’s my planning trips to Aruba or local areas when I felt we both needed to get away. It’s doing things for each other simply because. For me, it’s cooking something he likes. For us, that old wive’s tale that the way to a man’s heart is thru his tummy is true. For him, it’s his hiding the lottery scratch-offs that I love around the house. The most original place thus far? Wrapped in the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom.” – Carol Gee, celebrating 40 years of marriage

12. Remember that little things (and dating) matter. 

“We’ve always said, why celebrate just an anniversary? So we have celebrated 396 ‘monthiversaries’ on the 19th of every month, ever since our wedding day. (We wake up and say, Happy 19th!). It’s never anything big; in fact, it’s usually ice cream or dessert at some café we like, but it gives us a definite mini-date night when we can take a breath, relax and talk and maybe go for a walk. Sometimes when the children were small, we did the date in our living room at 11:30pm. There were also definitely difficult times when my husband had to move months ahead of us to take a job, so the monthiversaries were celebrated with phone calls, but I truly believe this simple gesture has helped.” – Pam Waterman, celebrating 33 years of marriage

13. Have his/her best interests at heart.

“Have the other person’s best interests at heart. If they’re not happy, you won’t be happy. Even when I could not tell my husband I really didn’t want to move to a farm because I knew he really did, he ultimately knew me well enough to know my heart wasn’t in that move and abandoned the idea.” – Carol Covin, celebrating 45 years of marriage

14. Seek out the good.

“I always look for her good qualities. They are many and easy to find, and since I don’t look for the bad qualities, they become much harder to find.” – Michael Morgan, celebrating 29 years of marriage

Huge thanks to all of these wonderful couples for sharing their thoughts and tips with me! What others do you have?

There are lots of great wedding trends this year, but one has really been catching my eye lately: bohemian chic! Laid-back brides looking to channel a boho chic vibe for their big day will love some of this gorgeous eye candy…

{Photo credits from top left: Entertainment.ie, Katie Neal Photo on 100 Layer Cake, Sarah Gawler on Love My Dress, The Lovely Find, Beacon Lane on Etsy}

Move over strippers — turns out spending time with friends is the best part about a bachelorette party! That’s just one of the interesting tidbits of information revealed in this infographic from TheHouseofBachelorette.com. They’re also sharing the hottest trends in bachelorette party themes and destinations for 2013, as well as spending data for brides and party-goers.

Like many of you, I planned my wedding under a pretty tight budget. However, there’s one vendor that I highly encourage all brides hire: a day-of coordinator! While it may seem like an easy place to save in the budget, the sanity a day-of coordinator will save you is seriously invaluable. Here are a few reasons why you should hire a day-of coordinator…

1. They know more about weddings than you.

It’s highly likely that your wedding is the first one you’ve planned. On the other hand, wedding planners/coordinators have planned tons, making them wedding experts! Although you may be only hiring your wedding coordinator for the day-of, he/she is still likely to be available to answer a few questions here and there.

2. They’ll be the go-to contact for all wedding vendors.

The last thing you want to deal with the week and day-of your wedding is vendors. Between finishing DIY projects, greeting out of town guests and simply taking a few moments to relax with your hubby-to-be, you’re not going to want to deal with scheduling all vendor arrivals and ensuring someone will be on-site all day to deal with them. This is something your day-of coordinator can handle!

3. They’ll fix any problems that may pop up on the day-of.

Let’s face it: things are going to go wrong on your big day, but problems are the last thing you need to worry about. That’s where a day-of coordinator comes in! A good wedding coordinator will handle all problems as they come up and only bother you with them if it’s absolutely necessary. In most cases, he/she will fix them without you ever knowing there was an issue.

4. They’ll setup your ceremony and reception venue(s).

From setting up your dessert table to putting out the guest book, you’re wedding coordinator will be the point person for turning your wedding dream into a reality. The alternative is either setting things up yourself or having friends and family do it, but wouldn’t you just rather not worry about that on your big day? It’s a pretty amazing feeling to arrive at your venue and see everything already set up.

5. They’ll enable you to relax.

Quite possibly the best part about hiring a day-of coordinator is the peace of mind that comes with it. Weddings are stressful, so take a little bit of that stress off the table and hire a day-of coordinator. I promise you won’t regret it!

{That’s my day-of coordinator, Lisa Spegman of Knox Planning}

{Photo by Jennie Andrews}

Hi guys! Today, I’m thrilled to bring you a great guest post from Alyssa Ennis!

Alyssa is a bridal-savvy blogger and avid DIY-er living in the Seattle area. Through her work as a professional wedding photographer, Alyssa has developed a keen eye for both classic wedding styles and modern-day trends (though she tends to gravitate towards all things vintage!). You can keep up with Alyssa on Twitter. But first, enjoy this great post…

Spring is the season that brings a smile to everyone’s face, and what better time of year to start a new life with your intended? Spring weddings are extremely popular, and it’s easy to see why. So if you’re nuptials are taking place in this bright, beautiful season, here are a few spring inspired accessories that your entire bridal party will love.

When it comes to bridal party accessories, the lines become a bit blurred as to who, exactly, pays for what. Try taking a look through a bridal party guide to give you a better sense of who should be responsible for shelling out the cash for which items.

Pastels

Pastels are always a favorite for spring weddings, but this year we’re seeing them with a twist. Lots of brave brides are opting for a hint of color in their own dresses, adding touches like beautiful vintage inspired sashes or elegant millinery corsages to their gowns to tie them in with the rest of the bridal party.

{Wedding Sash in Blush Pink}

{Lilac Satin Wedding Shoes}

Mint and Peach

Peach may have been the go-to color of the 80s wedding, but this year it’s back with a vengeance! Given a modern twist with touches of rose gold and copper, peachy tones are increasing in popularity for spring 2013. Try incorporating rose gold nail polish, or beautiful handmade hairpins to add a subtle hint of peach to your big day.

{Rose Gold Nail Inspiration}

{Pastel Bobby Pins}

For those brave enough, we’re even seeing it paired with mint, another color that is hot for spring 2013. Mint bow ties and pocket squares are perfect to tie in your groomsmen with the more feminine peaches in your color scheme.

{Mint Tie}

{Mint Pocket Square}

Together, these colors look fresh, fun and flirty but remain sophisticated enough for even the more traditional wedding. They look great with whites and lighter, natural tones so think linen suits and crisp shirts.

Grays and Lemons

{Yellow Tie and Boutonniere}

{Lemon Head Piece}

Gray may not immediately say ‘wedding’ to the uninitiated, but when paired with the right color, gray is the perfect neutral tone to bring a touch of class to your spring wedding.

As a lighter alternative to black (and who wants black at a spring wedding?) gray manages to complement a variety of accent colors as well as looking fabulous center stage. Worn particularly well with the gorgeous soft lemons of fresh spring flowers, it’s one color your groom will never fight you on.

Ombré

Shaded or graduated tones are a great way to avoid the ‘matchy matchy’ style of weddings gone by. By having your bridal party wear different shades of the same color, you can accommodate all of their varying skin tones and keep everybody happy, all while incorporating one of this season’s key trends into your spring wedding.

{Toning Your Bridesmaids Dresses}

{Ombré Cake}

Remember, it’s the little details that will create your perfect wedding day, and the right spring inspired accessories can bring together the most difficult to dress members of your wedding party. From flower girls to groomsmen, a little ornamentation can go a long way towards making your wedding memorable for all the right reasons.

Love strawberries? Looking for a fresh new idea for a show-stopping cake? Then you’ll adore this stunning strawberry cake from Driscoll’s!

This stunning cake designed by Tara Wilson of Tara Wilson Events is delicious, adds a fresh pop of color and can be used to add a burst of fresh berry goodness to your dessert table. Dressed up or down, depending on individual touches like ribbons and cake stands used, this natural, fresh cake can be elegant or whimsical.

To create this cake, you’ll need:

• 6 round Styrofoam wreaths in 3 graduated sizes (12”, 8”, 4”)
• 1 bag of floral pins or cleats
• 2 bolts of red ribbon
• 3 flats of Driscoll’s strawberries
• 1 cake stand
• Cutting knife

Directions:

1. Wrap each of the wreaths with the red ribbon, making certain that none of the Styrofoam is visible. {NOTE:  if the ribbon is too thick, it will be challenging to push the pins through.  Selecting a ribbon that is not tightly woven will make this process easier.}
2. Attach the 2 largest wreaths together using the floral cleats to form the base of the cake.
3. Remove the stems of each Driscoll’s strawberry, making sure to create a clean even cut.  Then cut the each berry in half length wise.
4. Begin to cover the outer edges of the 2 largest wreaths with berries in a circular pattern until outer ring is covered.
5. Attach the 2 medium sized wreaths together using the floral cleats to form the second layer of the cake.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4.
7. Attach the 2 smallest wreaths together using the floral cleats.  This will form the top layer of the cake.
8. Repeat steps 3 and 4.

In my opinion, your wedding photographer is one of the most important wedding vendors you’ll hire. After all, aside from the marriage itself, the rings and maybe a dried bouquet, your wedding photos are some of the only tangible things you’ll have after the big day. They’re what you’ll use to remember the most important day of your life for years to come, so it’s essential that you’re happy with them! That said, finding the right wedding photographer isn’t always the easiest task. That’s why it’s important to ask some very key questions before making your decision…

1. Can I see your portfolio?

Many brides will see this online before they even meet with a photographer, but seeing a photographer’s portfolio is key to determining if you like their photos, if their style is what you have in mind, how well they do with posed photos vs. capturing moments, etc. If you don’t like the photos in their portfolio, it’s not likely you’ll like the photos they take of your wedding.

2. Do you have a blog?

When I was on the photog hunt, I loved looking at photographers’ blogs, as I felt like it gave me a chance to see the recent weddings they shot, not just their very best/favorite photos in their portfolio.

3. Do you utilize a second shooter?

Picture this: you appear at the end of the aisle and lock eyes for the first time on your wedding day with your hubby-to-be. His face is priceless, but unfortunately  you only had one wedding photographer, who was taking a photo of you at the moment you first saw each other. A second shooter is great for moments like this, so if you want to make sure both of your expressions are captured, make sure a second shooter is included.

4. Does your wedding package include full-day coverage?

Some photographers charge by the hour while others include full-day coverage in their wedding day packages. If you want to make sure you’re not limited by time, make sure your wedding package includes the full day. Otherwise, be aware of your time limitations.

5. What happens if you’re sick?

Photographers are human, and as such, they get sick sometimes. As horrible as it would be for yours to be sick on your big day, it’s always a possibility, so be sure to ask what happens if he or she gets sick. Who do they call as a backup? How many times has this happened in the past?

6. Do you edit the images?

If you’re hoping for a full album of perfectly retouched photos of your big day, be sure to find out up front if the photos will be edited before they’re delivered to you.

7. Will I receive the high-res files?

Most photographers I talked to wanted you to buy any photos you wanted directly from them, which can get incredibly expensive. My photographer, on the other hand, provided a CD of all high-res files to enable me to order them from wherever I wanted. After all, Walgreens is much cheaper than ordering directly from the photographer! Either way, be sure you’re aware of this up front so you can save the adequate budget for photo printing.

What other important questions are you asking?

{Image by Stefan Leijon. Used under Creative Commons.}