Dear Engaged Couple, a question I always ask brides-to-be with whom I work is , “Do you plan on changing your name?” I ask that because in good marriage tradition form, I usually end the wedding service with, “May I present to you Mr. and Mrs. ….(Groom’s last name). If the bride-to-be will be keeping her last name, I change that to, “May I present to you the happy couple!” I personally don’t care one way or another whether the bride changes her last name. I can think of good reasons to that, and good reasons not to do that. The main reasons to change your name, in my mind would be 1) to make your your new husband happy, 2) so that you don’t confuse your child/children’s teachers and 3) because your last name is something like Rocchiccioli and his is Smith.
Missnowmrs.com
Reasons to keep your own name would include, 1) you are a celebrity or at least someone well-known in the business world 2) psychologically, your identity is tied up with your name and you don’t ever want to let go of that, and 3) HIS last name is Rocchiccioli and yours is Smith. Yesterday, I met with a bride-to-be who is an actress and has her single name on various photos in her portfolio, and on other PR material. So for her, the question, “Do you plan on changing your name?” was easily answered with a definitive “NO.”
If you do plan on changing your name, though, I warn you: you have your work cut out for you. Not only do you have to get a new Social Security Card, which means a trip to the Social Security office; you have to spend time at the Division of Motor Vehicles, which we all know is not a happy place. You will want to visit your bank(s), and you will need to notify your utility companies, credit card companies, health insurance company, gym, hairdresser, subscription services, doctor, and dentist. You will also have to deal with your e-mail accounts, and other social media accounts. You will have to get a new passport. I read recently that a bride who changes her name can plan to spend 13 hours doing that. That’s one-and-a-half work days!
Thank goodness someone has had the sense to streamline this, and even make a little profit! Nothing wrong with free enterprise, right? An online site, appropriately named MissnowMrs.com offers to lessen your pain and make swift the change, for a mere $29.95. No, I promise I am not getting a kick-back from the company for writing a blog about it. I just want to make your life a little easier. From what I can glean from my own study of the site, you fill out one information form and then presto changeo, your information is used to generate application forms for different government agencies, and you are given a comprehensive checklist, so that you can easily accomplish the rest within, if not minutes, at least within a manageable time frame.
If, when you are legally Mrs. Whatever, let us hope your new husband appreciates what you had to go through. I suggest he treat the two of you to a celebratory dinner. On the other hand, maybe you’ll want to use your NEW credit card to pay for the meal!
Information about the site appears below:
MissNowMrs.com
800-301-9296 9am – 5pm EST
support@missnowmrs.com
Happy wedding planning.
Your Wedding Preacher for Hire
Leave a Reply