How To Honeymoon in Your Married Name
While there are no official statistics, around 70-80% of people due to get married intend to honeymoon abroad. Only 1 in 33 couples planning to get married prefer to honeymoon in the UK. Honeymoons abroad often make financial sense. Accommodation, food and entertainment are often cheaper abroad and with the budget airlines ready to whisk you off to exotic destinations in under 2 hours it’s often quicker to get there and a more affordable experience. No doubt the weather is also has something to do with it.
Image courtesy of Beachcomber Tours
The honeymoon is a welcome break to the hectic planning and constant organisation involved in pulling a wedding together. Shortly before your trip you’ll probably look at your passport and give consideration to a few things: the photo (yuck! no one looks good in their passport photo), the expiry date (will you need to get it renewed before you fly?) and, most glaringly, the NAME.
Over 80% of UK brides intend to change names after marriage, with most assuming the use of their husband’s name immediately after their wedding ceremony. The first few weeks after your wedding can feel strange as you make the transition from your maiden to married surname. It can feel a bit odd taking an overseas trip with a passport that is just about to become redundant, but did you know you can get the name on your passport changed before you jet off overseas? It’s a great way to get a head start on your name, change paperwork and start bonding with your new name from the very beginning.
Always think carefully if you should apply to change the name in your passport before you get married. If you plan to visit a country that requires you to obtain a visa before you fly, you should leave your name change until after your trip as countries will not issue visas to post-dated passports. It is also essential your flights are booked under the exact same name that is to appear in your passport at the time of your departure. If the names don’t match you won’t be cleared to pass through immigration and your flights will not be refunded.
Once you’ve made the decision to get a head start by arranging a passport in your new married name, and having determined you don’t expect any issues on arrival abroad, the application itself is a relatively simple process. You can apply for a married name passport within 3 months of your wedding, but we recommend no later than 4 weeks before your wedding date if applying by post. Your current passport is returned with your application, so you’ll be unable to travel abroad until your wedding day.
Brides-to-be can lodge a standard passport application along with a Post Date Form 2 (PD2). Form PD2 is completed by both the bride and the person conducting the ceremony. The remainder of the application process is the same as that of a normal passport. Full passport fees are payable and your new passport is valid for a 10 year period, and up to a further 9 months depending on the validity of your existing passport. Your new passport is only valid from the date of your wedding ceremony.
You can access both the passport application form and form PD2 from the UK Government Directory site. Alternatively, Confetti can provide these passport forms, along with all the remaining name change forms, letters and paperwork you’ll need as part of our new personalised name change service.
If you are planning on getting married abroad you will be unable to apply for a post-dated passport as you will need to begin and end your trip abroad with a passport in your maiden name. Of course, any bride could wait until after their wedding ceremony to change the name on their passport, and then take care of all their marriage name change paperwork on their return.
For brides who decide to put a little extra organisation into their married name change before their wedding it can be a great relief to get that one extra job done and they can kick back on their honeymoon as Mrs Newname. And on her return it’s an extra bit of motivation to tackle the whole name change task.
Name change can be a daunting experience, both in terms of feeling a loss of identity, and the extra mountain of paperwork that it creates. For those brides who go onto change names, it is very common to feel a bit anxious as you take on a new name. There’s typically a period of readjustment as you continue to sign your old name out of habit, and you may mourn the loss of being detached from your prior name. Take relief in that this will inevitably pass. As time goes on your new name will roll off the tongue and start to feel your own.
UK brides typically have to notify around 16 organisations when changing names, and each company will have their own policy and procedure in place. This alone can be a deterrent in making the change, but there are simple ways to knock your name change paperwork out in a fraction of the time. Experts recommend setting the time aside to get all your records updated into your new name at once. Name changes that drag on for months, or even years, can weight on your mind and cause a great deal of frustration.
Confetti’s name change kit service saves brides the effort of calling around, researching and letter writing. If you’re planning on changing names, enter your old and new names, contact details and select who you need to notify of your new name, and we’ll take care of all your paperwork. Confetti provides any forms from your nominated companies, plus ready to send name change letters and faxes. In many cases you can just sign and send. If an organization has a different procedure, we’ll let you know what to do so you don’t need to undertake any research in your own time.
Expect to save about 6 hours of time and effort with the Confetti name change kit. You can apply any date to your name change notifications, so if you want to take care of all your name change paperwork before you get married you can get the information now, apply for a post-dated passport, then have all your documents ready to send when you return from your honeymoon.
Bon voyage!
See more advice on Confetti’s wedding planning pages and other article pages. And you can discuss this topic and more with hundreds of brides and brides-to-be in the Confetti forums!
