Bride-to-be admits awkward dilemma around fiance's unfortunate last name
- Publish Date
- Thursday, 4 October 2018, 1:30PM
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It's often assumed that when a woman gets married that she will take the last name of her new husband.
But what if that last name is ... a little unfortunate?
One bride-to-be is being faced with this exact dilemma as her fiance’s last name happens to be her first name.
Taking to the wedding forum, weddingbee.com, Shannon asked for some advice on how to figure out this tricky situation.
"My first name (Shannon) is my fiance's last name," she wrote in her post.
"We have dated for 9 years and will be getting married next year, so I guess I need to finally face the decision of what I will do.
"Honestly, it never bothered me even when people made jokes," she continued, "His last name didn’t matter to me because I love him."
"I am not sure if I want to change my last name or hyphenate or something else. My last name is longer than his, but it's only two syllables, so it's not too much of a mouthful. Others have suggested changing my first name or going by my middle name, but I couldn't imagine being called by another name and I like my first name.
"I would like to have the same last name as my future children, but I am not against keeping my last name. We don’t have any family or religious restrictions, so the choice is mine.
"Has anyone else been in this situation?" she asked.
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Several people were quick to share their suggestions, including coming up with a new last name together, or using her last name so the groom would be the one making the change.
"I know this isn't traditional, but considering the circumstances, have you two considered your maiden name becoming the family name?" Weddingbee user khaleesi13 suggested, "Would he be against changing his name?"
"If it were me I’d keep my maiden name and name my children his last name. It’s a unique situation. Unless he wanted to change to mine," another added.
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One user proposed they both come up with a completely new surname together, writing: "I know a couple that both the groom and bride got rid of their last names and took on a completely different last name when they married. Neither of them liked their last names so it wasn’t a tough decision for them."
Another said that simply keeping her maiden name would be the simplest option, "I think I’d be tempted to keep my maiden name in this circumstance. I don't think it would be an issue to announce 'Shannon and David Shannon' at the ceremony."
One person revealed that she wasn’t the only person to end up in this double name situation.
"One of my old hairdresser’s name was Chanel Chanel ... the same situation happened to her," they wrote.
"I don’t personally see a problem with being 'Shannon Shannon' – I think it’s kinda cool and would jump at it," user duchessgummybunns said, while cmsgirl wrote that the bride could start introducing herself as "Shannon ²".
Shannon replied to the suggestions, thanking everyone for their input.
"Thank,s everyone for the quick responses!" she said, "I will see what he thinks about changing his last name. We haven’t really discussed that yet, but that is an option too!
"A salesperson at our cell phone carrier once said I could be the next Duran Duran. It’s definitely a good icebreaker to bring up!" the bride-to-be admitted.
What a tough one! At least it's not something like Julia Gulia from The Wedding Singer?
What would you do if you were in this bride's shoes?
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