If you’re planning to change your name after getting married and you’re planning a destination wedding, it’s important to think about the logistics of changing your name. To avoid problems on your return, your flights, visa, credit cards and passport must all be in the same name.
Desperate to have your married name straight away? It is possible to change the name on your passport three months before your wedding ceremony; however, your passport will only be valid after the date of the ceremony. So if you’re planning on legally marrying in the UK before heading abroad, you could change your name on your passport and fly with your new, married name. However, it’s important to remember that certain countries won’t issue visas for post-dated passports, so ensure that you’ve researched this beforehand. If you do change your name before the destination wedding, it’s essential that you have all of your flights and accommodation booked with the new name. Our advice? Save yourself a headache and wait until your back before you begin the name-changing process. Once you’re back in the UK, you simply need your marriage certificate to change the name on your passport. You’ll then be able to change your name on everything at the same time (driving license, credit cards etc.) There is no deadline for changing from your maiden name to your married name, and many brides choose not to change their name at all.