Changing names, changing names

For those brides who are changing their names post-wedding, WOW, what a pain in the arse! I've had friends who get married take months to get all of the necessary paperwork filled out. And for completely understandable reasons - it's a pain in the arse! Not only do you have to travel to each different office, wait in obscene lines, but you also have to fill out paperwork over and over again, and usually it's the same information on each different form.



There are many places where your name needs to be changed, including:

~ IRS
~ Passport
~ USPS (if you're changing your name AND moving, they take care of that, too!)
~ Drivers License
~ Voter Registration
~ Utilities
~ Credit Cards

...and the list goes on, which will be different for each person.

Confused yet? Frustrated?


(source)
I know I am!


I don't know about you, but I have ZERO interest in risking carpal tunnel! And going to each of these places in the city? No thank you!

Enter my FABULOUS bridesmaid, the lovely Miss Nicole. As one who also wouldn't have patience for this, her engagement gift to me (I mean US) was a gift card for the complete services at Miss Now Mrs.com.



I started perusing the website this morning to see what it was all about & I am floored! They do everything for you. And you only have to enter your information ONCE. Sweet! Your answsers to their questions will auto-complete the various forms that you need. As they are completed, you then review and approve & print them! They then provide you with the respective addresses, associated fees, etc. The only way they could make it easier on you is to come you house and lick your stamps ;)

They estimate that their service saves you an average of 13 hours of time. Which is completely worth the under $30 price tag. Your information is 100% secure, but if you feel uncomfortable entering say, your social security number, you can fill that in by hand after you print the forms.

Whew. It may seem like a lot of information, but it is so very simple. What a great gift idea!

Are you changing your name? If you've already changed it the traditional way, would this service have saved you time (and sanity)?

Let’s Try This Again (&, let’s Trash That Dress!)

I still haven’t been able to get the idea of a reception dress out of my mind. After Max Azria seriously let me down, my search (and resulting frustration) has soldiered on.

Like my issue with shoes, I haven’t really found anything that jumped out at me, shouting “Me! Pick me! Wear me! Love me!”. Especially something that would justify the added expense in our wedding budget. A few friends have told me to just drop the search & wear my dress all night long – I mean, that’s what most brides do, right? – since it is light and airy (I had been using the “What if I get too hot?” line).

Mr. Quiche and I were stalking photography blogs of fellow Coyaba weddings & came across this picture…


Photo credit: Climie + Co

…and Mr. Q let it be known that he wanted to do that. Yeah! I LOVE Trash the Dress shots (and our superfabulous photographer, Ashley, will be with us all weekend!) & far be it from me to deny the man this simple request. But wait. In my wedding dress? Eeeeee….not so sure about that! Why not find something comfy and casual that I can change into late night (if desired) and then wear again the next morning for a TTD shoot?

Which led me to change the parameters of my reception dress. Maxi Dresses, to be exact. Loosey-goosey, flowy, fun, fabulous, cheaper-than-a-wedding-dress & “trashable”.


How romantic!


I *heart* James Perse


Victoria’s Secret has a lot of cheap options!


This adorable blue and white ticking stripe could also work!


Buying one of these dresses comes with the added bonus of being re-wearable (trust me, I would have never worn that BCBG dress again, no matter how many times I told you that I would).




I don’t think Mr. Quiche will don his Calvin Klein suit for the big plunge, perhaps wearing what the groomsmen are wearing for the ceremony (because we loved it so much & got such a great deal, we bought one for him, too!).

Are you trashing your dress, or did you find a re-wearable alternative?

Photo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

I Don't Like White Sandals*...

...so I bought silver shoes for the wedding. Last July. & apparently, I don't like silver sandals, either.


Touch-Ups "Marcella"

I liked them at first, but after trying them on with my dress again over the weekend, I just wasn't crazy about them. Maybe it's the toe thing? I'm not sure. Luckily, I ordered them from Zappos and have 365 days to return them.

There is just something about white and silver sandals that don't agree with me. Especially those fitting a very particular demographic:

Wedge (or wide heel, but not too wide)
1" - 2" heel
Dainty-ish
Not gladiators

Those that do fit this description tend to have either a black or cork heel *shudder* or are too bulky. Plus, my dress is ivory & ivory shoes are out of the question (unless they're Manolo Sedaraby's, which are also, unfortunately, out of the question :( )


Why the black heel?

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Still not right!

I'd love to jump on the fun, colored shoe bandwagon that so many bees have ridden before me, but my dress just toches the ground & you can definitely see my shoes due to the fact that there isn't any "fluff" to it.

So, I'm really not sure what the point of this post is. Perhaps just to say that I am TIRED of zappos, endless and piperlime. And our wedding is 3 weeks away. I'm thinking of ordering a basic wedge flip-flop and dressing them up with a vintage rhinestone clip (or something?). If I had it my way (& perhaps not a Jamaican wedding), I'd wear thesse:


I can't quit you, Uggs!

All images from Zappos.

Is anyone else having the same ridiculous (& petty) problem that I'm having? Help!

*I don't like white/silver sandals for me, not you. Yours are lovely. :)

Bridal Shower & "Bachelorette Party", Round 2

After having an incredible shower/party weekend in Ohio a month ago, I count myself as being doubly blessed to celebrate with my Chicago gang as well last weekend. Chi-bridesmaids Nic & Andrea made the journey to Ohio with me, and along with my other best, best friend Chi-bridesmaid Carrie, another incredible weekend ensued.

I feel like I say it all the time - and I'm going to say it again - I feel so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends and family! Ohio-bridesmaid Beth and Sister Quiche Nen travelled to Chicago on Friday, which just made the weekend even sweeter.

Saturday started off with with...wait for it...picking up my dress from the tailor!! YEAH! But, you'll have to wait only a few short weeks to see it :) Rest assured, it is PERFECT. We even had time for Beth to hit up the salon, Nen to hit up Sweet Mandy B's for cupcakes, and me to hit up the gym before getting ready for the shower. With all of the activity, it really was such a relaxing weekend!

BM's Carrie, Nicole & Andrea set up the perfect shower for me - High Tea at the Ritz Carlton. I love tea (and let's be honest, who doesn't love a tiny sandwich?).


Before we left - Mini Quiche J, Carrie, Me, Bethany & Nen


I loved the living room-style set up. With a larger group, it made it feel much more intimate.


Customized menus :)


Tiny sandwiches!


Champagne toast (thanks Anu!)


Mini Quiche J :)





After the shower, a group of us headed back to our house to get ready for dinner at Quartino, one of my favorite Italian tapas-esque spots downtown. It was a perfect "bachelorette party"!






Our friend (and groomsman!) B-Fresh was having a party that night. Mr. Quiche would be there, along with a lot of our other friends. So rather than head out for a wild night on the town, we instead opted for a wild night in, Chez Patel ;)


Thanks, DJ B-Fresh!


We brought the dance party with us.


Mr. Quiche loved that we were there with him...


What a fun weekend! I loved having my sister and Bethany here to celebrate. While they've met almost all of the Chicago crew before, it was nice for them to spend more time with people before we all meet up again - in JAMAICA!

Were you able to have friends from all parts of your life get together before your big day?

Chicago E-Pics

Following in the footsteps of Miss Glitter and her amazing engagement pic teasers, here are a couple of ours from a Nashville photographer - Hannah, of Hannah Elaine Photography. She happened to be in town for a few days a couple of weekends ago & lined up a few shoots after posting on the Weddingbee Boards!

We had a blast with her & love the outcome. I am so glad we did this, as we were a little nervous at first. It was great practice for the wedding!









We wanted pictures taken in the city we love and live in, since our wedding is in Jamaica. Did you have engagement pictures taken so that you could capture a different city/feel than your wedding?

One month!

That's right, our wedding is one month away. I don't even know where the time has gone! Luckily, things in the Quiche wedding planning household have been smooth sailing!


source

I have one of those daily desktop calendars at work, mine containing a French phrase for the day. Looking ahead & hoping to find one about love on or around our wedding day, I came across this phrase for May 1st: "J'ai perdu mon passeport" AKA "I lost my passport". And for the day we're flying out "Je n'ai qu'un sac de cabine" AKA "I only have carry-on luggage".

2 things that BETTER not happen to us (or our guests!). Mr. Quiche and I were actually talking about passports this morning. Something to the effect of hoping that certain guests actually have them. Yes, it's a foreign country (& it's on our wedding website...which no one looks at, BTW), but we are still worried that some people either don't have them or won't think to bring them. We are planning on sending out an information email the week or so before the wedding, kind of like a newsletter of times, activities, etc. But, it will be too late to remind people to make sure they have a passport.

Should I send a reminder email to everyone, or do you think that seems too...I don't know...belittling?

As for the other phrase of the day: luggage. Originally, we were flying Air Jamaica who isn't on the pay-to-check-a-bag bandwagon. In fact, they are a throwback to the days of checking 2 bags for free! Mr. Quiche and I were excited to load up our largest suitcases with all of our goods. Then, our coordinator told us not to be "obvious" that we're having a wedding, because customs in Jamaica have been known to try to weasle money out of people by claiming they are trying to sell items (especially bulk ones - like OOT bags, favors, etc.) for a profit. So they "tax" the crap out of you. Then, Air Jamaica decided to cancel all Wednesday flights. We found this out while I was in Paris last week. Mr. Quiche to the rescue, however, and we are now booked on (cheaper!) flights on American. Who has the luggage rule.

What to do, what to do! We are planning on spreading out the wedding goods amongst a group of people in order to not get harassed in customs. The white garment bag that contains my dress will "surely set them off", according to our coordinator. Do I stuff it in a potato sack?

So everyone, I guess this turned into a trials and tribulations of a Destination Wedding post. We are not discouraged, though! And I consider myself to be very lucky to have such a smooth wedding planning process. Even with one month to go & things to do. Lucky.

If you had a destination wedding, how did you handle going through customs?

March Food Challenge

Salad:
Mixed Greens
Mandarin Oranges
Crumbled Low Fat Feta Cheese
& for the green:
Steamed, then chilled, green beans
Pistachios

Blood Orange Vinaigrette:
Juice from 1/2 of a Blood Orange
1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp. Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 twirls of fresh, ground black pepper
1 pinch of Oregano
1 dash of Garlic Salt

Whisk all together and drizzle over salad (makes enough for 2)

It is DELISH.