Your Wedding Affair

If you are planning on changing your last name. Heres is a checklist to get you started, you will need a certified copy of your marriage license for many of these - be sure to have it handy!

[ ] Department of Motor Vehicles
[ ] Social Security
[ ] Internal Revenue Service (change of address form)
[ ] Loans (bank, car, student, etc)
[ ] Insurance Companies (dental, car, medical, etc)
[ ] Credit Cards
[ ] Phone Company
[ ] Landlord
[ ] Cable Company
[ ] Your Work
[ ] Car Title
[ ] Business Cards
[ ] Passport
[ ] Medical Records
[ ] Club/Organization memberships
[ ] 401K accounts
[ ] Stocks, Bonds, IRAs, etc
[ ] Subscriptions (magazines, newspaper, etc)
[ ] Voter registration
[ ] Discount Cards
[ ] Automobile Club
[ ] Any other Utilities or Monthly Fees
[ ] School or Alumni Associations
[ ] Order New Checks
[ ] Post Office (change of address) 

Suggesting: Start with your driver's license.

Need a rundown on rehearsal dinners?
Here's the real deal.

Don't let the name fool you. You don't have to spend the entire night perfecting your walk down the aisle -- just part of it. You'll spend the rest eating and drinking merrily, compliments of the groom and his family (at least most of the time).

What Is It?

The rehearsal dinner is a practice party traditionally hosted by the groom's parents on the eve of the wedding. A formal rehearsal of the ceremony is not mandatory, but most officiants will want to run through the service with the bride, groom, their parents, the wedding party, and any readers, giving everyone their cues for the next day. If you have a slew of attendants this is a good time to get them familiar with the layout of the ceremony location and make sure they know the order they're walking in -- as well as an opportunity to go over what time to be there on the wedding day, and any other last-minute details.

"The dinner is a great opportunity for both of your families to get better acquainted before the wedding day"

After the rehearsal -- usually held at the church/ceremony site -- everyone gathers for a celebratory dinner, where the bride and groom are roasted and toasted (go easy on the toasting; you do have to get married the next day!). The dinner is a great opportunity for your two families to get better acquainted before the wedding day. You may also present the wedding party with thank-you gifts during the course of the evening.

Who Hosts?

Traditionally, the groom's family throws this fete, but these days it's up for grabs. You two might take matters into your own hands, or both sets of parents may choose to do the honors together.

Where Is It?

The event can be as casual or as fancy as you like. Many are held in hotel banquet rooms, or restaurants, with full-course dinners and desserts (some have a distinct resemblance to a wedding reception!). Others are held at home, with Italian or Chinese food ordered in. Where you decide to have yours depends on the budget of whoever is throwing it, how many guests there will be -- and often simply what kind of party the host or hostess envisions. While the couple does have some say about this, if the groom's family hosts, you should really try to let his mom be the hostess for this evening. Concentrate your own planning efforts on the wedding.

Who's Invited?

At the very least, the guest list includes immediate family (parents and siblings), wedding-party members and any spouses and significant others, and the parents of any child attendants (inviting the children themselves is optional). You should also invite the officiant and his/her spouse to the dinner.

If many out-of-town guests are invited to the wedding, they may also be invited to the rehearsal dinner, especially if there are many who will have already arrived in town for the wedding. If you'd rather have the rehearsal be an intimate affair but don't want to leave other guests hanging, think about having the rehearsal two nights before the wedding day -- on Thursday night for a Saturday wedding -- and then having a welcome party for out-of-towners on Friday night instead.

What Happens?

A few elements are generally incorporated into the festivities:

Toasting: This is a great opportunity to thank your loved ones -- there probably won't be time to publicly toast everyone at the wedding reception itself. As host of the party, the groom's father often goes to bat first, toasting his soon-to-be daughter-in-law and her family; the groom also says a few words.

Giving gifts: You may choose to give your attendants their thank-you gifts at this shindig. Make sure to also present your parents and anyone else who was an integral part of the wedding-planning process with a token of your appreciation -- flowers, a nice bottle of wine, or even a huge hug will do.

~ www.YourWeddingAffair.com

You might have a dream bridal hairstyle in your mind, but let's face it -- if it doesn't work with your wedding day weather, you may be in for a bad hair day. A better bet is to come up with a plan for your hair that'll work with Mother Nature and fit with your wedding style. After all, you don't want to be fussing with your hair at the altar -- it should be the furthest thing from your mind.

The Weather: Hot and Dry
What you're worried about: Dry, dull, damaged hair
How to deal: Unless you're prone to greasy locks, in the weeks before the wedding, use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner (look for ingredient words like "humectant," "glycerin," and "panthenol"). No matter what type of hair you have, do a deep conditioning treatment once a week to restore moisture. If your hair is oily, be careful to avoid your roots and condition only the length of your hair. You should also avoid heat styling as much as possible -- even if you can only bear to let your hair air-dry a couple times a week, any opportunity away from the blow-dryer will do your tresses good. And of course, trim, trim, trim -- dry heat will only worsen the dull appearance of damaged or split ends.
On your wedding day: Prep your hair for heat styling with a protective serum, which will prevent blow-dryers and irons from sapping moisture out of your locks. Finish your style with a misting of shine serum (for hair that's naturally oily) or a smudge of moisturizing pomade (for normal to dry hair). If you are wearing your hair down, you may want to add a little more to the ends.

The Weather: Damp and Humid
What you're worried about: Serious frizz
How to deal: No matter what your natural hair texture is, you're going to need to work with what you've got. This is not the time or the place to try to make a curly mane stay straight -- chances are you'll wind up with a total mess. Frizz is caused by hair trying to grab moisture from the air -- the rougher your hair cuticles or outer layer is (whether your hair naturally has a coarse texture or is damaged from coloring or styling), the worse the frizz. Prep your locks by regularly using a frizz-fighting serum. Comb a few drops through soaking wet hair to be sure it gets distributed evenly.
On your wedding day: The last time you wash your hair before the wedding, gently blot-dry your hair with a towel to get rid of excess moisture. Don't rub -- you'll rough up any broken or damaged hairs, increasing the chance of frizz. Apply your de-frizzing serum (or for more intense results, a strong-hold gel) to damp hair and comb it through evenly. When you finish blow-drying, don't forget to use the "cool shot" setting on your dryer -- hot air opens the hair cuticle, while cold air closes it. Finish your dry style with a second application of frizz-fighter (pomade or gel works best). You might want to keep a little on hand throughout the wedding day for smoothing down any hair that may curl up.

The Weather: Cold and Dry
What you're worried about: Dry, staticky hair
How to deal: Cold saps hair of its moisture, so unless your hair is naturally oily, make a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner part of your prewedding routine. Though you're probably blow-drying your hair (who's going to sit around with wet hair when it's snowing outside?), try to limit your use of other heat-styling devices (hot rollers, curling irons, or flat irons). Crispy, over-processed ends are much more likely to respond to static. Also, be sure to use a deep conditioning treatment (once a week is ideal -- and if you color or relax your hair, it's a necessity).
On your wedding day: Apply a heat-protecting cream before you blow-dry (prep with a leave-in conditioner if your hair is particularly rough). Use a light touch when applying -- you don't want to weigh down your hair, you just don't want your hair to bear the brunt of the heat from the dryer (especially if you're dealing with dry, indoor heat). Avoid hair sprays or gels that contain alcohol, which will dry out your mane. Finish your style with a pomade or styling cream. Then you'll be ready to put on your veil and go!