I'm seeing this more and more these days, a merging of last names or even the creation of a unique last name. I kinda like that approach because it's like starting an LLC or corporate structure. If the marriage dissolves and you have new assets (kids), they could still keep the merged name but the parents revert to their original names.

Prior to my marriage to my wife, we spoke about last names and such. In her culture, names are a big deal and there are hierarchies and traditions as to where people fit into large families. She decided to keep her maiden name, which didn't bother me one bit. We have both have short last names and hyphenating them made each combination sound really odd.

It wasn't until we had kids that their friends started calling her Mrs. 'Maiden Name' that she changed it. She didn't want to be known as her Mother. Lol.