Now that I have officially been a “Mrs.” for a full month, I think I can pretty much call myself an expert on this marriage thing. Just kidding! I have learned a few things in this newlywed stage though and I am here to share with you.

THERE IS NO DRAMATIC CHANGE

In case this is the first time you find yourself reading one of my posts, my husband and I already lived together for 4+ years and had two beautiful babies together, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old, before we got married. Once we said “I do”, there was no dramatic transformation in our relationship but for us, that’s a good thing.

The biggest obvious change has been introducing him as my husband and hearing him introduce me as his wife. One day this will become our norm but for now it gives me butterflies every time.

CHANGING YOUR NAME IS HARD!

When we got home from our honeymoon, I opened up our marriage certificate and there it was. In what felt like the snap of my fingers, I went from Ms. Frias to Mrs. Arce! What I didn’t know was that the marriage certificate was just a preview to all the paperwork to come.

I already knew the obvious changes. Social security card, passport and ID card but I didn’t even realize until reading up on it that I also need to make the change on all of my credit cards, bank accounts, medical insurance card… A bit overwhelming but one step at a time.

To be honest, it feels like I’m selling out a bit. Going from my name to taking his name now that I am his wife is a little surreal. My excitement to have us all sharing the same last name beats everything though! Might sound silly but it gives us an even stronger sense of family unity. I am also stoked about not continuously getting “X’d” out at the airport every single time we take a family vacation, for being the only one with a different last name!

If you want to save time, you can always just do it through HitchSwitch and they will take care of everything for you!

BABY FEVER

If you have no children, people will get Baby Fever for you! Since we are already parents, people tend to ask us if and when we plan on adding another little one to our tribe. Doesn’t help that now that we are married my husband finds no reason to hold off on trying right this instant!

FREE TIME

Choosing boutonnieres, creating a seating arrangement, picking a Signature Drink. Wedding planning becomes a full time job that leaves you with little time for anything else. The first week after we got back from our Honeymoon in Costa Rica, it was almost surreal to not have anything wedding related to plan or get ready for.

The free time has been so nice. Getting back to everything else, especially blogging again on a more consistent schedule has been great!

POST-WEDDING BLUES

For us at least, post-wedding blues hasn’t hit us. Except if you count the time I told my husband I felt we weren’t behaving like newlyweds. Mind you, we had just gotten back from our honeymoon two days earlier so of course he just kinda laughed it off as me being silly and I had to agree and laugh at myself as well.

I know I titled this post 5 Things I Learned In The First Month of Marriage but I couldn’t leave out this following tip. Do NOT feel bad for splurging on your honeymoon. It’s your getaway to really take in all the amazingness that just happened while exploring a whole new country, having great sex and creating memories that will last a lifetime!

You may also enjoy: How Many Children Do You Hope To Have? and How To Not Forget About Your Relationship After Kids.