A bride who was SOOO excited to take on her new last name had to shell out additional money to re-book her ticket because it was purchased under her maiden name. (You can read the full story here ) CRAZY RIGHT!? This national story had me thinking, when should you change your last name? My story was a little bit different. From Molly Waits to Molly Sanchez, I almost had a little bit of anxiety thinking about a new Molly Sanchez. I know it probably sounds a little silly, but I loved my maiden name. So it took me almost a year and a half to get my last name changed; I don't think it is necessary to wait THAT long, but here are some things to consider before you start the process to change your last name.
Do your research first! I found a couple of websites that I could send almost all my information to and they would fill out everything I needed and I was in the clear. After almost paying to hand over this obligation to someone else, I came to realize that I would still have to submit everything in person at the DMV. At that point I figured I could still do everything, so I just sucked it up and did it. For all my Minnesota Brides you can look here : https://www.dmv.org/mn-minnesota/changing-your-name.php for the DMV instructions on changing your name.
Plan on changing your name when you have time to take off work. If your DMV is the one downtown st. Paul, it literally takes hours of waiting to get through. It wasn't until the day we got back from shooting a wedding in NY that we took the rest of the day and spent at the DMV. The DMV work hours make it impossible to go at a more convenient hour. Grab a good book, (I would say coffee too,but they don't allow food or drinks) take the day off and go get that name changed!
If you are honeymooning it out of country within a week after the wedding, wait to change you name until after the honeymoon. (Real Life story at the top as example for this) The fees that go into changing your name on your passport and then trying to get the new one in time for the trip is just not worth the additional stress.
There is no other rush to change you last name right away other than pure excitement, which is 100% understandable! With your wedding adventure behind you, wait for everything to settle down that is the best time to get your name changed.
