Vendor Review: Miss Now Mrs

I went and did it.  I spent $30 on an online-based name-change program because I was worried changing my name would turn into a typical North-Jersey experience replete with stereotypical desk ladies with their bad dye jobs and worse moods, telling me I’d have to wait in two hour lines because I filled out the wrong form, etc., etc.  So when I saw that there was a service that would at least ease the process of getting the forms right I signed right up.  And having spent the money, I think it’s worth giving you the benefit of my experience on this one.

Bottom line: you don’t need this but it’s a nice convenience if you have $30 to spend.

How it works:

The name of the service I used is Miss Now Mrs but I know there are others out there too.  Basically, all you have to do is pay them and then you’re in.  Using their online questionnaire, you fill in some blanks.  Using that information, the service generates forms and letters for you to help you change your name.  For example, it gives you the form for the Social Security office, tells you what to bring with you when you go, and links to the US Social Security website to help you locate the correct office to go to.

Pros:

- You answer some questions and the service fills out all the forms for you- which the people at my Social Security Office really appreciated- legible forms are happy forms!

- You know the form you are using is current and that you’re using the correct form so there is no drama when you get to the place you’re going.

- The program tells you where to bring the form, and what else to bring with you.

- It gives you a checklist of parties you may need to notify and drafts letters you can send them- from your student loan lender to your professional licensing board.  (I found this very helpful.)

- The company claims they save an average of 13 hours per person on this process.  I think that’s reasonable, when you consider the amount of time one might spend online locating the proper forms, figuring out what to bring with them, and filling the forms out.

- You can give this service as a gift.  I would so much rather have gotten this as a gift than a couple of other things we got, har har

Cons:

- If you know someone who has ever changed their name, you can easily find out what you need to do without needing a software-based checklist, simply by asking them.  Let’s face it, this is not rocket science.

- You only really get the benefit of less hassle when it comes to your new Social Security card (and maybe passport).  The rest can often be handled with a phone call, email or simple fax.

- Having the forms only gets you halfway there.  Companies still want to see that marriage certificate and new social security card.

- By the time you enter all the information into the service regarding banks and such for the form letters, you might as well have just drafted the letter yourself.  Very little time is saved on that step.

- Some of the forms are not accurate- for example, I could not use their form for the New Jersey DMV.  When you buy the program, their waiver says that they don’t have to give you the most updated form- and in at least this case, they didn’t.  But they say they will “undertake commercially reasonable efforts” to give you the right one, and they claim to have a 6 month money back satisfaction guarantee, so it seems like the risk isn’t too great.

Summary:

At the end of the day I decided I could afford to spend $30 for a reduction in hassle with respect to my name change.  That doesn’t mean changing my name has been hassle-free.  Au contraire.  It is a huge hassle every step of the way.  I can’t tell you how much MORE I’d pay if I could just hire someone to handle it for me.  If you’d rather spend your $30 on a pedicure, I’d see the merits of that too.

Planning Timeline Template

One thing I hear from vendors and fellow wedding enthusiasts, again and again, is that I’m an organized bride.  I suppose its true, I do tend to get a bit neurotic with my lists and spreadsheets.  I’m a lawyer, so staying organized is part of what helps me do my job- it has always come easy for me.  Given that we planned our wedding with an eight-month timeline, and most people I know usually have 18 months to two years, I feel extra good about how J. and I planned it all.  And one of the best tools I had in the process was my timeline.

I absolutely abhorred the timelines I found on various wedding websites, like the Knot (sorry Knot, I love you for other things!)  They have good tools, especially if you don’t want to make your own lists.  But frankly, using their timeline made me feel insecure about our wedding.  Sometimes those websites suggest that you do certain things on a different schedule than might be appropriate for you.  And of course, they always suggest things like “have an engagement party” or “start getting your facials 6 months out,” neither of which applied to us.  Why should I feel guilty or embarrassed if I decide not to start my facials, um, ever?  Or if I choose my bridesmaids dresses before the date they claim I should?  Nope, that wasn’t going to work for me.

So I found a perfect compromise.  I looked at the tasks from various sites and used those lists to make my own timeline.  I even organized my tasks by month.  This helped me stay focused, and avoid feeling overwhelmed, because I knew everything would get done at the right time.  It looked like a lot at first, but once I sorted tasks by month, I felt much better.  I allowed the timeline to be dynamic, so it could evolve with the planning.  And it always made me feel extra-good when I finished a task early!

Because this timeline has served me so well and been shared already with friend-brides, I thought I would post it here for all to use.  Feel free to take what you want and leave what you don’t- after all, you should be able to do that for any element of your wedding!  Oh, and, I saved this as a google document so that I could access it from anywhere–I recommend that too.

Wedding Painting

I just had an amaaaazing weekend in Ohio, celebrating a hometown bridal shower with some of my favorite peeps!  And I promise, recaps are coming.  But in the mean time, frivolity!  Can we talk for a second about what you should have at your wedding if you possibly can?  If I had unlimited budget (or at least more money to spend than I currently do) I would definitely hire a painter to paint at my wedding.  Yep, seriously, you really can do that.

My friend P., who is always finding new and creative ideas for weddings, sent this my way and I’m sold on the concept, hook line and sinker.  Apparently, there are vendors all over the United States who will do such a thing, but we’re currently obsessed with the work of Martin Hardy.

His rate is $1200, so he’s pretty reasonable when you consider what you’re getting.  He paints in acrylic on a 24 x 36 canvas, which makes sense because no one would want fumes from oil paint at their wedding.  The way it works is that he positions himself close to the dance floor, and will paint a scene of your choice (first dance, cake cutting, toasts, you name it).  And the best part is that his painting is complete by the end of your event – though he cannot guarantee that it will be dry (which seems fair to me).  Can’t you just imagine your guests captivated, watching a painter at work at your reception?!

Absolutely loving the colors and his feature of the architecture.

This one is even more impressionistic to me, absolutely capturing the movement of the group and the joy of the event! And PS, I would like to be invited to a party with acrobats on the ceiling please.

Would you consider hiring a painter to document your special day?

All images from Mr. Hardy’s website, http://www.hardyboyart.com/id1.html

Best Online Wedding Vendors

It’s Wednesday again, and that means time for more of my faves!  This week, I’m featuring some of my absolute favorite online vendors- places I have found with unique wedding wares at competitive prices.  Read on to see what I’m talking about!!

Best Out of Town Totes: Inkhead.com

Inkhead is a downright fantastic resource for personalized items for your wedding.  My friend P. used them to custom print wedding tote bags for her out-of-town guests.  They even custom-designed a logo to coordinate with her wedding invitations.  While they are generally better for bulk items, with a little searching you can find great gift ideas for your OOT bags, or for your bridal party.  For example, P’s fiance loves the customized playing cards, and she’s planning to order custom bottle openers for his bachelor party.

Best Photo Books: Snapfish.com

If you’re racking your brain trying to come up with a cheaper way to create photo albums for your engagement photos or guest book, Snapfish Photobooks are for you.  A quick google search will locate frequent coupons for these books, and I can personally attest that the quality is excellent.  Make sure to use your highest resolution photos for your projects though, otherwise they’ll look better on the computer than in real life.  We got our album at 50% off by using a coupon, and uploaded digital images from our photographer to make ours- and it turned out great!  Of course, we’ll buy a professional album for our wedding, but since we didn’t want to buy an expensive engagement album, the Snapfish book was a perfect solution.

Most Killer Wedding Videography:  Well Spun Weddings

Ok, I admit, this isn’t technically an internet vendor, but it was found on the internet, so I’m counting it.  J. and I are not having videography (we had to prioritize, and sadly, videography didn’t make the cut) but if I had the budget, this would be IT for me.  Their philosophy is that they create films, not videos,  and they use tools like high definition and 8mm film to customize a video you’ll actually want to watch!  Hopefully my friend R. who turned me on to this place, will select them, so I can live vicariously through her!

Best Gift Bags: Dunwoody Booth

I’ve blogged about this before but it bears repeating because they are such a great deal!  Dunwoody booth sells high quality gift bags at really reasonable prices, and you can even get 5% off the price of your order if you join their “preferred program.”  In addition, they frequently offer gifts with purchases, and who doesn’t love a little something extra for free?

Most Cost Effective Save-The-Date: Vistaprint.com

Sign up for those email updates (but expect a lot of email) and you too can get 100 postcards (custom-design them yourself!) for about $6.  Which will leave you plenty of money leftover to design your own Photostamp for them!  (I swear Vistaprint is not paying me, I just really like them).

Best Place Cards: Chefsresource.com

My friend P. also turned me on to this great website, where she bulk ordered ceramic place tiles (typically used on cheese trays) as escort cards for her wedding.   Chef’s Resource was, by far, the least expensive on this item and shipping was free!  She also had good things to say about the customer service, and everything arrived as promised and unbroken.

Best Cufflinks: Groomstand

This is THE place for affordable engraved cufflinks.  Sure, you could go higher end, but depending on your crowd you may not need to, because these come in many price points.   Plus, they frequently run free shipping specials, and you get a discount if you order 6 or more! 

Best Place to Shop Offseason: Pottery Barn

When you think wedding, you probably don’t think “home decorating store” but Pottery Barn is great for offseason finds.  For example, I found wonderful miniature christmas ornaments in green mercury glass, originally intended as vase filler, for $2.99 a package of 18 in the off season.  I’m using them as part of our favor packaging.  And these lovely galvanized metal containers you see pictured left are a mere $7.99 each.  I’m thinking you could fill them with spring tulips or summer daisies for a sweet, cost effective centerpiece, or throw some ribbons on them and use them to gather cards in lieu of the traditional mailbox. 

All images sourced from their respective websites, except for the video camera image from clicr.com

iWedding! The Best Wedding Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch!

Here at The One! we’re feeling techie.  And its Wednesday!  I know, I know, I slacked last Wednesday, but the “favorites” feature is back!  So this week, I’m featuring some of the super  most coolest iphone apps I could find, to help with wedding planning!

(As an aside, is it just me, or is it crazy cool that we have this sort of technology?  Its like the procrastination gods are smiling upon me!)

image source

iWedding
From guest list planning to budgeting, this is a perfect way to stay organized on-the-go!

Wedding Wire’s iPhone App
An iphone version of WeddingWire’s site that will sync with your account on the planning platform’s site. Once you log-in to the app with your WeddingWire account, you can keep track of to-do items in your planning list, access your customized budget tool, and find local wedding vendors and reviews.

The Knot’s App
For anyone who’s hooked on all the Knot goodies, this app’s for you!

iBridal Gown
Helps you keep track of which wedding gowns you like best during your search!

Gotta Etsy
Self explanatory.  You know you need this.

Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan
What to do when you just can’t take the day-to-day wedding stress anymore?  Play a game of course!  This one looked like a lot of fun to me, because it allows you to plan a wedding for “Rachel and Nate.”  Let your inner planning goddess shine!