Marriage is hot in the media today, as I learned from Kirk this morning. He sent me a heads-up about Slate’s wedding issue, which sent me on a wild chase for more, more, more matrimonial news. Could it be that I’m pining for the days of my own wedding planning adventure? No way, Jose. If anything, reading about the bridezillas of the world reminds me how pleased I am to be happily married. But speaking of that mythical beast known as the bridezilla, the image above shows the newest Bridezilla contestants crossing Broadway in New York’s Times Square on their way to film the first episode of the fourth season of the WE hit.

So where did my adventures in matrimonial media lead me? Here‘s an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune that celebrates sister-wives a la HBO’s Big Love…sort of.

We found ourselves confessing that plural marriage didn’t look so terrible, even in a drama filled with suffering and intrigue. It was kind of like the Waltons, what with the big family and the red-state setting. One always had company. There was help with the children. And though the three or more women married to one man didn’t seem so great, it seemed a small point.

Ever heard of Tom Thumb Weddings? Me neither. I should thank the Herald & Review for cluing me into this weird ritual. And here The Beard was thinking I’m weird for joking that I made the cats get married!

Another child, Christopher Butler, who played the minister, asked the bride and groom to place candy rings on each other’s fingers. The groom had to restrain himself after having eaten several of the rings during rehearsal on Saturday.

If you’ve served on the nuptial front lines as a bridesmaid under a domineering bride, you’ll smirk at Prudie’s tips on taming brides from hell.

The bride insisted this bridesmaid leave her glasses at home because “glasses are an inappropriate accessory for women’s formalwear, and the bridal magazines have convinced her that there can be no exceptions to the no-glasses rule.” It makes me hope that as the groom tries to explain this to his friend, he’ll find himself looking deep into her Coke-bottle lenses, suddenly declare, “Why, Miss Keeler, you’re beautiful!” and run away with her.

Read anything both intriguing and wedding-related in the news lately? Share it in the comments!

Changing your name in the U.S…what a pain, right? I should know. I just got back from the city of Boston’s Social Security office, where I waited two hours for a woman to glance at my passport before clicking her mouse twice and informing me that my my name card with my new name will arrive in about two weeks.

I mentioned a bit back that I’d be reviewing a few of those name change kits for brides that you see advertised on Google sidebars. But as I’ve perused a handful of such kits, I’ve come to realize that it’s not even worth it. So, instead of reviewing any of these flawed name change helpers in depth, I’m going to tell you what it wrong with them and then point you toward some online checklists that will guide you on your quest to become Mrs. Husbandslastname.

My first problem with bridal name change kits is that the product is not equal to the price. For example, I paid something like $25 for Law Guru’s Bride Name Change packet and it’s a good thing I can write it off as a business expense. It was nothing more than a nine-page Word document with some links to actual forms you will use during the name change process and some sample letters to let your utility company know you’ve changed your name. What I’m trying to say is that a quick Google search will net you all of the same information and links you’ll pay for in a kit.

Bankrate.com links to the same governmental forms and FAQs, and has a short checklist of organizations you may want to inform. EHow has a step by step guide with reader comments that may further help you navigate the wide world of post-matrimonial name changes. DMV.org will even outline the specific requirements for name and address changes in your state.

The main problem I have with those kits is that they do not do anything to alleviate your needing to do the legwork. The Name Change Kit for Brides does contain the Social Security and Passport forms, in addition to oddly-formatted, text-heavy forms that I would never send to the electric company for fear of confusing someone. But you’re still going to have to hit up a crowded Social Security office during business hours. You’re still going to have to take a number at the DMV. And you’re still going to have to lick envelops addressed to various governmental and private agencies. There really is no way to get around it.

Somehow, I trust that each of you who plan to change your name will be able to handle letting the phone company and your bank know you’ve changed your name. When in doubt, call and find out what they need to see to make the change happen. If you pre-order 10 or so certified copies of your marriage certificate, you’ll be set in that area. Change your Social Security info first, as other agencies will rely on this to know you are who you say you are. Then get a new driver’s license and send away for your updated passport.

Here are some of those links to get you started:

Change your Social Security info

Get a passport with your new name

Let the IRS know you’ve changed your name

Register to vote

Good luck, and leave the buying of forms in folders to the suckers of the world. The name change process will be just as slow, just as grueling, and, most importantly, just as effective without them.

Just in time for this weekend’s bout of online shopping (which will take place sometime between going to the zoo and making homemade pizza dough), I get an e-mail from the always on-the-ball Sterlingspider about some beautiful baubles that would look stunning on, say, a bride. While I can’t say I ever want to be a bride again, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t treat myself to one or two of the wonderful pieces for sale at Vintage Bridal Jewelry.

Jewelry designer Marcia Morris creates beautiful vintage-inspires pieces using vintage estate jewelry, vintage costume jewelry, and pretty vintage beads and crystals.

If you don’t see anything that catches your on the site but you like the overall feel of the jewelry on offer, the good news is that Morris is happy to work with brides and their bridesmaids to create customized wedding day jewelry that will dazzle. And don’t forget that customization (for customization’s sake) is a great way to personalize your wedding style, as you can be sure that no bride you encounter in the future will be wearing precisely what you wore on your special day.

Just because I loved my wedding doesn’t mean it wasn’t plagued with problems. It was hecka windy the entire day. Certain people just had to bring their personal rainclouds along so they could rain on everyone else’s parade. Too much time was eaten up by the photography session. Et cetera, et cetera. So you can imagine how pleased I was to discover True Bridal Confessions while browsing Flaming Tulle.

It’s anonymous. It’s open to new contributions. And it’s a great way to release some of the frustrations you just can’t vent while planning a wedding or making the rounds at your reception. Heck, if you don’t have any confessions or horror stories of your own to share, it’s still nice to know that no wedding is ever perfect, no family is ever perfect, and no relationship is ever perfect. In a way, it’s rather reassuring!

When I was planning my wedding, the thought of hiring a DJ never entered my mind. And bands? I take ‘em or leave ‘em, depending. I love big band, swingy stuff, but renting a full-on ensemble for the day can get kind of pricey.

At a wedding I attended in September, the bride and groom set up a laptop, hooked it up to some pumpin’ speakers, and had the best man work the playlist for all he was worth. I liked it…it was unobtrusive. There was no worrying about whether the DJ would have the songs the couple wanted. There were no sombreros or novelty sunglasses. In short, it was a great way to get people on the dance floor without running the risk of having someone hijack your sound. Don’t smirk — it actually happened to some friends of mine whose ‘no play’ list went completely unregarded by a bad, bad DJ!

One reason I think a lot of couples don’t explore the laptop/mp3 player option is that they don’t want to have to designate someone to stop and start the music, find the various dance songs, and make sure the aforementioned tunes don’t play before it’s time. The Beard and I overcame these issues by making mini playlists on iTunes. Our playlists (here YMMV) looked a little something like this:

1. Pre first dance
2. First dance
3. Father-daughter
4. Mother-son
5. Lunchtime
6. Pre cake cut slow songs
7. Upbeat post cake songs

Sections one, five, six, and seven were quite long because we wanted to make sure the music only stopped when someone stopped it. All told, we had more wedding-appropriate music at our disposal than we would ever actually use. When necessary, the best man would fade out whatever was playing using some sort of audio thingamajig The Beard brought along so that a toast could be made or a dance could be announced over the mic. When cued, this same individual announced the scheduled dances, queued up the appropriate one-song playlist, and hit play.

No music-free interludes. No Cotton Eyed Joe. No Free Bird. It all went off smashingly with the exception of the fact that some songs were repeated on multiple playlists, so people got to listen to certain Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros numbers more than once. But that was the fault of yours truly, not the music and sound setup itself.

I love me some letterpress printing. According to the New York Times, this type (hahahha!) of printing was basically rendered obsolete in the 80s when desktop publishing came into its heyday, but is enjoying a revival among a growing group of devotees.

It is still a specialty craft. But at the San Francisco Center for the Book, nearly 30 percent of the 300 workshops offered this year are letterpress classes, many of them added in the last few years.

“Letterpress is like the new engraving,” said Kitty Maryatt, director of the Scripps College Press and an assistant professor of art. “It looks different. It feels old. It’s tactile. People love that. It is the romance of the impression of the letter pressed into paper that people feel good about.”

This is a good thing for those brides- and grooms-to-be looking for invitations with a classic feel. Goosefish Press, which designed and printed the beautiful paper creations you see above, creates distinctive custom invitations, response cards, and more using old school techniques.

As an aside, that gorgeous green ink is totally stimulating the envy center in my brain…would that I had stumbled upon Goosefish, say, four months ago.

As I love to see how folks outside of my demographic handle the matter of matrimony, I’m so glad I stumbled upon this short from Sexy Beijing:

And here I was thinking that an hour’s worth of mugging for the camera was exhausting!