Congratulations on your soon to be or your recently completed “I Do’s”! Marriage is such a fun and complex thing that a lot of women dream about from their days as little girls. However, us Covid brides never dreamed we’d be facing this ‘changing your last name’ nightmare.

The love of my life and I recently got married this past August, and like most others, COVID-19 threw a wrench in our initial plans. Our guest list went from 235 down to about 46 people. As much as I wanted everyone to share the moment with us, my real dream was to have a small, intimate wedding with our family and close friends at my parents’ house, which happened. So thank you COVID-19 for that. However, if I had learned before what I know now about changing my name during a pandemic, I would have gotten the process started long before saying “I Do”. COVID-19 made this process a little bit easier and also a little more complicated at the same time if that makes sense.

The following steps outline my personal recommendations for navigating this process with ease. Allow me to explain.

BEFORE THE WEDDING:

Honeymoon Flights: If you are going to travel after your wedding for your honeymoon, make sure that your flights are in your maiden name. You won’t have time to change your information.
Driver’s License Appointment: Due to COVID-19, a lot of Driver License offices are open for appointments only. I made the mistake of going to my local office and getting turned away. You can and should check your local office website for appointment schedules. I recommend doing this before the wedding, because when I made my appointment after our wedding in August, there weren’t any openings until November 2020, then following, January / February 2021. I got lucky because someone canceled, giving me a September 2020 appointment.
Order a Duplicate of Your Driver’s License: When turning in your social security application, you need to send in your driver’s license with your maiden name. I made a duplicate of my license a couple months after I got it because I tend to lose things all the time. Having a backup is handy especially during the name change process.

AFTER THE WEDDING:

Make sure you order multiple certified copies of your marriage licenses / certificate from your city’s office. You will need multiple copies because you’ll need proof of name change in different documents at the same time.

Social Security Card: This is one of the most important things that needs to be done. Since March 2020, the Social Security offices have been closed due to COVID-19 and are not taking any in person appointments, meaning you’ll need to mail in your items to your local office. Don’t worry, they’ll mail everything back to you once the process is complete.
- What you’ll need:
  - Social Security application: CLICK HERE
  - Driver’s License (use the duplicate because you don’t want to be riding dirty while it’s with your application)
  - Certified copy of your marriage license
- Find your local office mailing address here: CLICK HERE
  - My timeline:
    - After one week of submitting my application in the mail, I got a confirmation letter with my driver’s license back along with the marriage license copy.
    - After a total of two weeks, I received my new Social Security Card with my new name.
Tell Your Employer:
- Most employers may or may not want to provide proof of your new name. Don’t be surprised if they ask you to fill out a new form to go along with the name change as well, for tax purposes. Don’t forget to change your work email address (if possible), email signature, etc. to reflect your new name.
- Go To Your Driver’s License Appointment:
  - Check your local website to see what you need to bring. The usual documents include:
    - Certified copy of marriage license.
    - Your driver’s license with your maiden name
    - Payment
Apply For A New Passport:
- What you need:
  - Application:
    - If you applied for your passport less than a year from your application: CLICK HERE
    - If you applied for your passport more than a year from your application: CLICK HERE
  - Your old passport
  - Your certified copy of your marriage license
  - New passport photo (I got my photo taken at Walgreens for $14.99)
  - Payment:
    - Use the payment calculator to determine your price: CLICK HERE
    - I ordered a money order from the United States Postal Office.
- If you still need help, please visit the passport website: CLICK HERE
- How to mail:
  - It is recommended that you send your passport with a tracking number to make sure it gets to the delivery address (I did priority shipping).
  - Check application forms for where to mail your passport application and items.
Switch Your Name In “Other” Areas:
- The legal stuff is now done! Now it’s time to get to the fun stuff that people tend to forget about:
  - Bank accounts and credit cards:
    - I went to my bank right after I got my temporary driver’s license. They accepted it and let me change my name on my accounts. I also brought in our certified marriage license.
  - Car Title and Registration:
    - In my area, I was required to bring my old title, my certified marriage license, and my temporary driver’s license. They provided the application.
  - Lease Agreement:
    - I provided our certified marriage license.
  - Loans
  - Immigration Documents
  - Renters / Home Insurance
  - Health Insurance
  - Mortgage
  - Deeds
  - Utility companies
  - Doctors’ offices
  - Voter Registration
  - Social media accounts (like me, you probably changed that first thing LOL)
    - Facebook
    - Twitter
    - Instagram
    - Yelp
      - If you are currently a Yelp Elite, you’ll have to re-request Elite status. Send a message to your community manager. The process took about 2 business days for me.
  - Airline Accounts / Rewards
    - United
    - Southwest
    - Delta
    - American
  - TSA Precheck / Clear
  - Subscriptions
The process of changing your name can be a hassle. However, it will all be worth it in the end as you’re LEGALLY the new Mrs! I am still currently waiting for my passport stuff, but everything else on my list is done. It’s been about two weeks, so stay tuned to see exactly how long this process takes! I will make sure to update that timeline as soon as it is completed.