Couple flip coin during marriage ceremony to decide which surname to take

A couple couldn't decide whose last name they were going to take, so when they got married, they settled the disagreement by flipping a coin during their wedding.

Pearl, 28, and Collin Hansen, 25, from Leesburg, Virginia got engaged in November 2021 and scheduled their wedding for March 26, 2022.

As their wedding date approached, the couple had a difficult time settling on the major decision of whose last name they were going to use after they got married.

Instead of spending their debating, the pair left it up to chance and decided that they would be flipping a coin to pick the winner.

Pearl told the media that she was hesitant to give her last name up, although it is typically for her as a woman to take her husband's name. She is a teacher and she knew it would be difficult for her students to start calling her by a new name.

Both the bride and groom are the only people in their families that would carry their last name to the next generation so ultimately they couldn't reach an agreement.

Pearl came up with the idea when she heard someone joke about it on an episode of the Freakonomics podcast.

"The idea stuck,' Pearl recalled to Insider. 'I thought it was really funny." "We flip coins a lot," Collin added.

At the end of the wedding ceremony, the officiant was in charge of flipping a coin. Collin ended up winning, and they took his last name - making them Mr. and Mrs. Hansen.

The video was uploaded to TikTok and it quickly went viral.

"POV: Your friends decide whose last name they are taking by a flip of a coin at the alter," read the text overlay.