A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

It seems that every bride-to-be grapples with the question of name change, and I am no exception.

For most of my life, I assumed I would change my name when I got married.

However, it's easy peasy to make a decision before you're actually faced with it. When I got engaged, I realized that I was actually about to really change my name. All of the sudden, my last name was my whole identity - my connection to my family, my familial history, my own past (what to do with the hundreds of high school shirts that have my last name on the back!). His last name is much more popular than mine, my name would be far less original. Would changing my name mean that I was breaking a connection to my family, and joining Mr. Hermit Crab's? And why did I have to change my name - couldn't he?

I thought about this a lot over the first few months that we were engaged. I spoke to everyone I could about why they had or had not changed their name. I had a long conversation with Mr. Hermit Crab about it, and I thought some more. Finally, I concluded that I should, and would, change my name. My connections to my own family will not be broken, and I will not be "more" in Mr. Hermit Crab's family than my own. However, Mr. Hermit Crab and I were going to create a new family together, and this name would represent us. I am not going to lose any part of my identity. Before the wedding, we will look like this:

And after we will look like this:

(Just kidding!)
(All photos are personal photos)

I am going to be the same "me", we are going to be the same "us", just newly joined together in marriage. I am happy to have come to a decision that feels right for me, I know it is different for everyone. It's a wonderful things and I'm very much looking forward to it!

Have you decided if you will change your name or not? Was it a difficult decision?