When to get married during law school

[Deleted User]

Hi all! 

I was wondering if any you were law students. I just got engaged this past Christmas and am planning to attend law school in fall 2014

For those that got married in law school... when's the best time to do it? I'm currently out of the country at the moment and probably won't be able to do much wedding planning until I get back in midsummer.

Thanks for your input

JCbride2015

Hi!  I am about to graduate law school in a couple weeks, so I hope I still count.  

We waited until after I finished school, but this was mostly because we needed two incomes to save up for a wedding.  So we're not getting married until next year.

I would think you can get a decent amount of planning and vendor meetings done over the summers and school breaks.  After the first semester, once you're used to the workload, you can probably even get some stuff done during the school year at the beginning of the semester, before exams get too crazy.

Personally, I was not super stressed by the workload in law school.  I came from a demanding job, and I was able to manage the workload quite well.  It doesn't work that way for everyone.  Some people could never fathom getting married in law school, while I know others who got married the summer between 2L and 3L and it was fine.

I do suggest, though, that you wait until at least after the first semester before setting a date.  Then you will have a better idea of the demands on your time.

Part of this also depends on budget, too, of course.  If you and Fi already have money saved, or your parents are paying for it, and you can afford to have a planner and just get a venue with a package deal, you'll have a lot less hands-on work and you can probably get married whenever.  If you will have to do a lot of planning, I would probably wait until after 2L.  I wouldn't try to plan a lot of DIY stuff during 1L.

JasperandOpal

I am also about to finish law school and waited until I was done to get married but we are getting married in October (after all the bar studying/taking is done but before the results come out... just in case).  It seems like the perfect time for me.  I know three people who got married during law school.  One got married the summer after 1L, on the summer after 2L and one during the second/spring semester of her 2L year.  

I don't think there is a universal "right time" during law school, it all depends on your finances and what you think you can handle and your personality.  I would not have been able to handle planning my wedding during my first year of law school but any other time probably would have been fine.  I am also a pretty relaxed and unstressed person though and planning has been much easier than I imagined because I am having a small, local wedding and have a very strict budget which makes a lot of the harder decisions for me (choosing between two X, pick the cheaper one... except for catering... went all out on that).  

Also, if you are planning on planning (hehe) your wedding during your first year, it can still be done, just give yourself the time you need to plan it.  I would suggest that if you are having a summer wedding to do it either at the beginning or end of summer so that you can get enough time at your externship to satisfy their or your schools requirements, and remember that hiring fairs happen at the end of the summer/beginning of the fall semester and you will want to be around for those. 

ja&ba12

I just finished my second year of law school, and am getting married in august this year just before my third year starts. There is another woman in my class who is getting married the same date for the convenience of it. It allows you to work over the summer, but have that week off of your wedding before you start school again. It's stressful planning during law school, especially if you're planning a big wedding, but it's doable I've been lucky my fiancee and my mom have been helping me out when I got bogged down with externing, classes, and applications.

(Just be aware depending on how far ahead you plan, the school could change it's estimated starting date. Maybe ask a career counselor what they think or look ahead at future academic calendars). 

I second the others who commented not to plan your wedding your first year, though. There's way too much going on without wedding planning. It was all still a blur to me lol.

Good luck with your first year of law school!

MinnieLovesMiki

I'm finishing up my first year of law school (part-time program), and it took a year to plan my wedding. We decided to get married at the end of May, and my bachelorette party is the weekend after finals. We get one week off for the honeymoon, and then I start the summer program in June.

It's been crazy at times, but my FI has been a wonderful help throughout the process. 

On another note, I also work two part-time jobs (6 days per week) so it is doable to plan a wedding while working and going to law school. Part of me is a little (a lot) jealous of those who decided to wait until after graduation to get married, but we did decide to wait until I got my Bachelor's. During our engagement, I made the decision to go to law school and here I am! :-)

Good luck with law school!