I wanted to change my name; my husband wanted me to as well. There was something romantic and traditional about taking his name. Everyone who was previously married in my family and in his all changed their names after marriage so it seemed natural.

Ever the planner I knew it would take a while to process my legal name change, so I set about creating a list of things I needed to do. I didn’t know about Name Change Express then, so bear with me.

I needed my marriage certificate, social security card, passport, drivers license, to make a list of all my credit cards, frequent flyer accounts, work documents, tax forms, cable, internet, phone, etc., etc., etc.  It was exhausting just making the list!

The moment I arrived back from our honeymoon I picked up a copy of our marriage certificate and set about changing my name. On Monday I went to the Social Security Office to file for a new SSN card. That took about 45 minutes and then a week of waiting.

Then Iwent to the post office to file my paperwork for a new Passport.  That took another 30 minutes and 3 weeks.

Then I went to the DMV with my new SSN Card and Passport and changed my ID. Don’t ask how long that took – I still can’t talk about it.

All in all, after I made all of those changes, I still needed to send letter after letter and make phone call after phone call for all of the other things that had my maiden name on them. WOW. What a time suck!

Eventually my new name was legal on all of my paperwork – and by the time that was all finished I was used to my new last name.  It took me a good 25 – 30 hours to process all of this for one tiny little name change.

Name Change Express makes it easy to change your name – we do almost all of it for you. Fill out one form and tell us who you need to notify. We fill it all out for you.  Simply print and mail to finalize everything and WHALAA! Within a couple of minutes you’re done.

Why take hours when it can take minutes?

Check us out: Name Change Express.com

A couple of years ago my husband and I went to a beautiful, intimate wedding held in Vermont. We didn’t really know anyone at the wedding aside from the Bride and Groom, so we attempted to make friends at our table and succeeded. Nothing a couple cocktails didn’t help!

But the evening started to take a turn for the worst when the DJ (who shall remain nameless) started playing songs from his own agenda. Whether he took a cue from the semi-older crowd, or just thought he knew what it took to get the dance floor hopping, he had the wrong idea.  After a repeat of “And They Called It Puppy Love” – and no, I’m not joking – I decided to take matters into my own hands and approached the DJ.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Can’t you see that no one – I mean no one is dancing? Whose playlist is this?”

He responded with a shrug.  I took this as a lesson learned and when planning my own wedding did copius amounts of research to find the most popular wedding appropriate songs to get the crowd engaged and dancing! It wasn’t as hard as it seemed!

Anyway, I asked the DJ if I could recommend a few songs to play and he agreed. Back at my table with the other guests’ input, we created an awesome wedding playlist that got everyone on their feet.  Don’t be afraid to tell your DJ what you want him to play.  It’s completely fine to create a list and ask him to stick to it, particularly if you know the crowd has long time favorites that will have them up and rocking!

Here’s a picture of my wedding guests in, that’s right, a chorus line to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”.

New York - New York!!

It was on the list and one of the last songs that played. It was everyone’s favorite memory from our wedding, and one of mine too.

How can you not kick to this?

What was the first thing on your list as a newly married couple? You know, besides changing your name and opening all your gifts?

After all the fun stuff, my hubby and I got down to business. We set off to the bank with new IDs in tow and combined our checking accounts. This was just something we knew we were going to do. It came easy to us; our parents did it – we planned to do the same!

But interestingly enough, this isn’t something that every couple chooses to do! There’s not a right or wrong answer here, but it is imporant to ask the question. How will you manage your finances as a newly married couple? The common wedding vows include the words “for richer or for poorer”, but how often are those vows kept? More couples divorce because of sex and money than for any other reason. Talking about and being honest about money, money management, spending, saving, retirement, etc, etc, is so important to a new marriage.

Love? Money?

Some couples choose to maintain their own separate accounts for their own interests and needs and open a joint account for shared expenses. Some couples keep separate accounts – period.

On a personal note, as our two year anniversary approaches in October this year, my hubby and I have really had to put that ‘for richer or for poorer’ vow to the test. With the economy the way it is now it’s been difficult for my hubby to find a job. Thankfully we had talked about setting up joint savings accounts and sharing our money. I can’t imagine what we’d be doing now if we hadn’t.

Regardless of what you and your new hubby choose to do – talk about it. Understand each other’s financial habits before you make a decision – but remember; pay yourselves first. Always save a little bit of cash for those date nights together.

Interestingly, over the past 10 years fewer and fewer women have kept their maiden names.

Wow – this is an exciting new insight!! I thought it was moving in the opposite direction. But it seems that women are still opting to take their husband’s name after marriage! This is neither good or nor bad news, really, it’s just well, interesting.

Call it tradition – call it old fashioned – call it what you will, taking your husband’s name after marriage goes way back! All the way back to Biblical Times!

What were the reasons women changed their names even way back then?

1. Protection of family and wealth
2. Designation of a new life direction
3. Acknowledgement of God’s presence in and endorsement of the marriage 

Are these three things much different than the reasons we still change our names today? Not really. Particularly for reasons 1 and reasons 2. In fact, they are at times reasons why we may NOT choose to change our names at all.  Particularly as we, as a society, tend to wait longer and longer to get married; we’re already established in our careers, we have loans and cars and houses in our own names. Making a decision to change your name may cause a little bit of uproar, if you will, in our personal lives.

So – again, changing your name is a very PERSONAL decision and one that shouldn’t be entered into lightly, much like marriage.

But if you do choose to change your name, we can at least help save you valuable time. Check out our easy to follow steps to process your name change at namechangeexpress.com