Change your name and pay?

I recently read a post on Weddingbee that referenced this article about women taking their husband's names. According to a recent study, "women using their husbands’ last names are...judged as more dependent and less ambitious than women who keep their maiden names — but also as more kind and caring. More alarmingly, members of the Mrs. league earn nearly $1,500 less per month."


I'd really like to know what kind of people were involved in this study. Growing up in a smallish town in Indiana, I encountered few women who had kept their maiden names and was a teenager before I even realized that some women go back to their maiden names after they divorce. For me, changing my name when I get married was never something that needed to be debated. I want to have the same name as my husband and children. I realize sometimes husbands take their wives' names, and other couples create a new name, but the traditional method works for me. 

I'm really not worried about the negative impact that it could have on my career. I'm not a doctor or lawyer and have only been out of college for a year, so it's not as if I've built that much of a name for myself. Also, if I were to make $1,500 less a month than what I currently make, well, let's not even go there.

The only thing I'll miss about my maiden name is how unique it is. All but one of the Google results for my name are actually about me; my name is literally one in a billion. But I also don't necessarily like how easy it is to find information about me. When I was a freshman, a reporter for my college newspaper randomly asked me questions, and you can still find the quote I gave her. No one needs to read that.

I think I'll take my chances and change my name. If that makes me less ambitious, I'm fine with that. And if the only thing employers look at on my resume is my name, then I'm not sure I want to work for them.

Is/was whether or not to change your name a big decision for you?

When Budget Doesn't Matter

Picking out our wedding bands was actually fairly easy. Since Nathan bought my engagement ring from Jared, that was our first stop in the search and ended up being the only place we went. The sales associate found a ring that worked perfectly with my engagement ring almost instantly, and that was that. Nathan spent a lot more time making his decision, but he found one he really liked as well. Rather than buying them that same day, we decided to come back a few weeks later. On our return trip, while the sales associate was looking for the ring that Nathan had picked, I pointed to what I thought was the correct one, but once she turned it so that I could see the price tag, I said, "Oh, no, that's not the right price." She then told me, "No, that is the ring, the price has just gone up."

Oh. Excellent.

It turns out that both of our rings had gone up in price due to an increase in the price of gold. Had we bought them earlier, we could have saved over $100! We had already gone a little over budget on our rings, so this wasn't good. However, we still went with our first choices. After all, unlike the bouquets and cupcakes, we'll be looking at our rings every day for the rest of our lives. It was important to us to get ones that we liked.

My ring is similar to the setting for my engagement ring. I'll be wearing it upside down from how it is in the photo, with the band curving up against the band of my engagement ring. I wasn't all that excited about having a second ring until I saw how awesome this one would look. Now I can't wait until I get to wear it! Here's a reminder of what my e-ring looks like:

Nathan's ring matches my rings too. That definitely wasn't a requirement, but I like that it worked out that way. 

I wasn't thrilled about the cost increase, but we can still manage to pay for them. Although it's difficult for me to accept sometimes, we don't always have to choose the least expensive option.

Paper!

Last week, Nathan and I went on a date to Arvey Paper in hopes of finding some paper to use for our invitations. The great thing about this store is that they have free samples, so you can look at the paper, feel it, and even take it home to print on it before buying it. I only know about this place because we took a fieldtrip here for one of my design classes.

I liked the Classic Crest by Neenah Paper in solar white. I'm not posting a picture of it because, well, it's hard to photograph white paper, and there aren't any good images online either. The Neenah Paper website calls Classic Crest a "subtle embossed finish, like finely woven cloth." Ooooohhhhh...

But then Nathan discovered the Classic Linen in white pearl. In addition to being textured, the surface is sparkly and shiny. It seemed like it would be just about perfect...except for the fact that the word "pearl" doubles the price. This is when the fact that Nathan and I both love paper becomes dangerous. I keep saying that we shouldn't spend money on unnecessary things, especially things that no one else will really care about, but...it's sparkly textured paper!!!

To shine or not to shine, that was the question. We've made our decision, but I won't reveal our choice until I post pictures of the invitations after we've sent them out. (I'm sure the suspense is killing you.) But I was really glad that Nathan got to come with me to look at the paper and help me make the decision. He was more excited than I was, which is why I love him.

What do you enjoy doing with your significant other that most people might not find as exciting? (G-rated only, please)

Bridalizing my feetsies

Since the aisle I will be walking down looks like this...

 
I decided that wearing heels would not be the best option. (Note to our guests: You won't have to walk through here!)

When I discovered the Isotoner® Rose Quilted Ballerina Women's Slippers with Rhinestones, I thought they would be the perfect wedding shoes. I didn't do a whole lot of searching, but these seemed to be the best option. Pretty and comfortable...was it really possible? Well...sort of.

They arrived in the mail today, and I put them on immediately. They are definitely comfortable!

However, They aren't quite as pretty as I expected. The shape is kind of odd, and the pattern reminds me of toilet paper.

I didn't think it was possible for a shoe to be unflattering, but I really don't like how my feet look in them.

That being said, I still plan to wear these shoes on my wedding day. If I were really concerned about how my feet look, I wouldn't have bought slippers. Comfort and price were my biggest factors. And since my dress touches the ground, I doubt anyone will get a good look at my feet anyway. 

What shoes did/would you wear for your wedding?

How Not to Make Cupcakes

As some of you have already noticed, I added a poll on the left column of my blog asking what your favorite flavor of cake is. It's totally anonymous, and I'd appreciate your answer even if you don't plan on coming to our wedding. I'm not going to base the ratio of white to chocolate solely on the results, but I'd like to at least get an idea of what people like.

One of the choices I listed, butter pecan, may not be very well-known, but it's popular in my family. My grandma made it a lot and baked it for my brother's birthday. I want to have one batch at the wedding because we think they're amazing, regardless of what anyone else thinks. But since Nathan didn't even know it existed, I decided to bake some for him. I figured it wouldn't hurt to get in some taste tests before the wedding. Plus, I've never actually baked a cake or cupcakes before, and I didn't think learning the week of the wedding would be a good idea.

I used the Betty Crocker cake mix, which makes two dozen standard cupcakes. Since I could only bake a dozen at a time, I at least got two shots at getting it right. Here are the results...

 Lesson #1: Don't fill the cups too high, or they will look like mushrooms.

 Lesson #2: Cupcake liners are a good thing. Okay, I kind of already knew that one, but since I forgot to buy them, I decided to see what would happen. Well, that's what happened.

Lesson #3: Icing cupcakes is a lot harder than it looks. In my defense, I was using a knife, but I just could not get them to look nice.

My second attempt turned out a little better since I bought cupcake liners, but because the first ones were too tall, these were of course too short. The icing looked a little better.

Even though they didn't look pretty enough for a wedding, the good news is that they were still tasty. I left most of them with Nathan, and after a couple days he told me he was addicted. Hopefully our guests will like them as well.

Would you try a new food or flavor at a wedding if you had the option to eat something more familiar instead?