Applying for marriage license...nervous.

It's so much fun! Enjoy and take photos, maybe even dress up a bit.

@Lauren + Ryan I didn't even think about making a day out of it. That would be fun to dress up a little and take a picture in front of the clerks office then maybe go to lunch to celebrate. Thanks for the idea!

Your name isn't changed when you get your marriage license. You still have to go to SS office to do that officially once you have your marriage certificate...

Also, I didn't drop my middle name but moved my last name as a 2nd middle name... (I thought about hyphenating, but DH's last name is just too long). This way I still have my maiden name "officially", but can drop it for most things... just another option to consider if you don't want to part with your middle name.

I dropped my last name myself. I'm the end of my family line since I have no siblings and it was a struggle to accept that. I'm more of a traditionalist though. It's scary though. Something brand new! Get some practice in with your signature now though!

@Norcal322 I'm in Northern California too Im going to wait to do all the name change stuff. We go on our HM in June so I'll be traveling under my maiden name. That's all the post wedding boring checklist stuff that you don't want to do, ugh! Name change docs, change insurance, order new replacement cards for everything! No fun lol

We picked ours up on Wednesday! SO EXCITING! We couldn't take any photos there though, as no cellphones are allowed in the building (county/city building). In order to enter, we had to go through a metal detector and send my purse through an x-ray machine.

@norcal that's what I did too. No hyphen in my middle name either. Just two names. DH was like your name is going to be super long. And I told him it's my name not his and I love it. All of it. And he understood.

Excited and happy for you! Definitely do something special to celebrate.

In the Maryland county I got married in, only one person needs to be there to apply for the marriage license. I also got weirdly nervous and forgot my DH's birth year! I knew how old he was, but was totally blanking on the year -- which is extra stupid because he turned 30 that year, so it was a milestone birthday and easy math! The guy probably thought I was ridiculous, that I didn't know my future husband's birth year, I was so embarassed haha. We have been together 5 years when we got married, I know his birth year I promise!! haha. If it makes you feel better, I was also really dreading changing my name

So exciting! I would definitely do something fun to celebrate!

We can't go until next week because marriage licenses here are only valid for 30 days!

I did what NorCal did too - added my last name to my middle name. It's already a "first name" anyway, so it kinda works. I just couldn't totally give up my name though, so I know how you feel!