This summer we will give our vows to one another, for better or for worse. We will no longer be just two separate beings, but at the same time two individuals who belong together. The wedding ceremony is for us a beautiful way of demonstrating this choice, and the party thereafter nothing less than what is appropriate at such an occasion!
Now that we have made this decision of entering wedlock, it is also natural to us that we should have the same surname. So we are very happy to be able to carry further a name from Andreas' family which was almost lost. Consequently, after the 21st of July we will be known as Mr. and Mrs. Havsberg.
Why Havsberg?
The surname Havsberg belonged to Andreas' great grandfather, Ole Bornemann Bull Havsberg, born Hanssen. He was a Captain in the army, and later also the father of Andreas' father's mother, Berit Johanne Strand. The story says that in the bivouac there were two Captains Ole Hansen, and they therefore drew lots for which one of them should change his surname. Our Ole was the lucky one, and he then decided he wanted a surname that nobody else in Norway had. Thus, the surname Havsberg was an innovation.
Ole had four daughters, and so the name Havsberg disappeared again, as the daughters married and took new surnames. Then, when Andreas' cousin Thomas got married many years later, he and his wife Katrine decided to change their surnames to Havsberg, after his great grandfather. This way they and their two children became the only four people in Norway with Havsberg as their surname. At the same time two of Andreas' second cousins have Havsberg as their middle name.
Now there will be more! Though, for practical concerns we have both decided on keeping our old surnames as middle names.
Kari Janne becomes Karianne
In connection with the change of surname, I, Kari Janne, will change the spelling of my first name. I want to emphasize that I am very grateful to my parents for choosing just this name for me. It is a name with a good ring and I feel over the years that it has been filled with meaning and become my very own.
Even so, I have thought it to take an disproportionately amount of time and energy to explain how my name is spelled in various situations. This has been particularly manifested during my many trips abroad, when the pronunciation of both my first and last name has been presented in many creative, funny, and sometimes quite unintelligible ways. The change in spelling is only based on practical concerns because there are so many other things I want to be remembered by than just having a unusually spelled name.
In my opinion I don't really change my first name, just how it is spelled. As my father said when I mentioned the idea: "Oh well, it is better than if you wanted to change your name to something completely different - like Astrid, for example!". I am still the same and that I will always be, even if I spell my name a bit differently than before. And of course, everyone can continue spelling my name "the old way", but remember it might be a bit more difficult to find my in the telephone directory!
And so this is why...
Kari Janne Skinnes and Andreas Strand after their wedding and for eternity shall be known as Mr Andreas and Mrs Karianne S. Havsberg.