Wedding Gifts

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!

Registry Entertaining: What to do with ALL of the new stuff in your kitchen!

Don’t miss our tips for registry entertaining! Newlywed bliss and tons of newlywed gifts…sounds great right? Now that you’re moved in and opened all the wedding gifts, you may be wondering “Why did I ever register for this?”. Most newlywed couples will agree that they might have gotten a tiny bit overzealous with the registry gun and may have even ended up with everything they asked for! Not to worry…we’ve come up with a few tips and ideas on how to utilize all the sparkly new kitchen equipment stuffed in your cabinets.

Blender: So you’re looking at your top-of-the-line blending technology in awe and wonder….and possibly wondering what to make first. While your first inclination might be a margarita, there are so many things you can make instead! Work your inner kitchen diva and whip up a batch of spicy summer gazpacho shooters. Williams-Sonoma has a great recipe that you can use the next time you end up hosting a neighborhood BBQ. You could also use your new blender to jump start a healthy summer diet with fresh fruit protein smoothies in the morning. Missing your girlfriends? Blend up one or more of the facial recipes at Hello Glow and invite them over for a fun face mask and a movie! If that margarita still sounds best…..you could surprise your best friend or hubby with an impromptu fiesta and let go amigo!

Panini Press: These great little machines elevate the sandwich from boring lunch option to savory party fare. Panini parties make for really simple and really fun registry entertaining! Invite a few friends over and lay out several sandwich ingredients for them to choose from. You can pick a theme to make the entire party/meal flow together, such as Italian Summer or All American. With the Italian theme you could serve any of the following: Italian sodas and wine for beverages, chicken, prosciutto, salami, any selection of Italian cheeses, roasted red peppers, fresh basil or fresh sage for sandwiches and then tiramisu for dessert! Worried you don’t know how to use your press? Sounds like a great time to do a test run dinner with your spouse. Have them read the instructions while you assemble two sandwiches. Pop them in the press and watch the clock. You’ll have a mini dinner party for two in minutes!

Wine Decanter: – Not only does this glassware improve the taste and bouquet of red wine, it also looks great as a wine bar or kitchen shelf decoration. Don’t pack your decanter away somewhere. Display it and be inspired to enjoy a nice glass of wine with your mate. Decanters improve even inexpensive bottles of wine, so take twenty minutes and unwind with your spouse tonight after work…just because you can!

Have you done any registry entertaining of your own? We’d love for you to share your tips and ideas in comment below.

Wedding Gifts: Solutions for the Good, the Bad & the Unregistered For

What are the worst wedding gifts you received? This is one of the silly questions that newlyweds discuss while lounging around pools on their honeymoons and when they get home and have to deal with these gifts being in their homes. Here are a few of the truly ridiculous gifts we’ve heard of: a giant ceramic rooster, a custom created ashtray (for a non-smoking couple), a birdbath (for the urbanites) and the best of all….a hand-knitted baby dress for the firstborn child (awkward).
Hopefully you weren’t on the receiving end of a truly tragic wedding gift, but most newlyweds we know have a few items they haven’t used or don’t know what to do with.

Here are a few of the most common non-registry gifts and some ideas on how to use them:

Gift Cards

Okay, so you didn’t register at Walmart. Go shopping in-person or online and splurge on something you wouldn’t typically buy like a grill or cute outdoor accessories. You could also stock up on a year’s worth of items you hate spending money on (like toilet paper or razor blades). Regardless of where they’re from, if you received gift cards, spend them. You’ll feel terrible if a year or two goes by and you have a pile of worthless plastic and have to keep fibbing to friends and family about what you purchased with their gift cards.

Kitchen & Bath Items

Do you have more hand towels and wooden spoons than you know what to do with? If your gifts still have tags on them, you can venture to the store where they were purchased and see if you can exchange them for store credit. Be sure to make your trade as soon after your wedding as possible. This decreases the chance that the items that you’re returning will be on sale or clearance, which would lower their exchange value.

If your gifts are tagless and/or you don’t live near the store they were purchased at it’s time to get creative. Roll up hand towels and place them in a basket in your guest bathroom to add a splash of color and a nice eco-friendly alternative to paper guest towels. You can also use excess cooking utensils and towels to create cute custom house warming baskets for friends and family members when they move. Just be sure not to re-gift the original giver!!

Décor

Did you end up with more photo frames than your house can hold? First, prioritize finding a spot for anything custom engraved and then see what you have left. You can use a multitude of smaller frames to decorate a bare hallway wall. Here’s a great site featuring easy to follow diagrams on frame collage placement.

If you received a hideous gift that you know a relative will look for in your home, you have two options. Tastefully display it in a room you rarely use, or keep it in a closet and pull it out when you know they’ll be visiting.

With all this talk about gifts you didn’t want or register for, it’s important to remember that the person who gave you something…did just that. They went out of their way to buy you something to celebrate your marriage and begin your new life with. As Pierre Corneille said “The manner of giving is worth more than the gift”.

We’d love to hear what your best and worst wedding gifts were and your creative uses for them, so please leave us a comment!