Initially, Fi and I were gonna keep our names and then hyphen any kiddos that came. Then we got talking about it, and decided if we were gonna "torture" our kids with such a long-hyphenated last name, we were gonna go through it ourselves. So now we're both hyphenating.
I don't remember how it came up, but at Christmas dinner this past Saturday I said the phrase, "I'm never going to be a [hislastname]" to his family. I explained that my initials are very important, I'm the first ADK with ADKs 2-6 following along. I think FFIL said, "I'm glad you explained that." So, I wonder if he was planning on giving us a lot of stuff with his family last name on it once we actually get married.
I'm not changing my last name and it hasn't been a big deal. No one's really asked me about it yet, but I planned to go with the best response I ever heard when a bride was asked:
Asked (to couple): Are you changing your name? Answer from Bride: "Well, Tom really likes his last name, so I don't think I'm going to make him change it."
Never saw anyone else ask her about it again.
I did ask a friend about this after her wedding, but only because I hadn't decided what I wanted to do! Hopefully I didn't offend her.
My FI and I aren't too picky over names...but it doesn't at all feel like "us" to be traditional and have me take his.
Some of our options thus far:
* Keep our own names; he would still go as Mr.L___and I would go as Ms. E_____ rather than Miss.
* Combine our last names into something new (not sure how though, they don't mesh well.)
* Hyphenate our current last names together. Most likely mine first because of how it sounds.
Whatever we do, I'm going to have a cute banner at our reception saying something like "Mr. _ & Ms. _ Welcome You" (ok idfk what to do but it will have our names there somehow) above our table. That + a verbal reminder by whomever is announcing our arrival should cover it.
I am not changing mine, but I have toyed with Hyphenation, though once we have children I will most likely change mine since I will forever be call Mrs. W by the children's friends no matter what my name truly is... still happens to my mom to this day
Re: Not changing your name