Should I change my wedding date because of law school

dove2000

I recently got engaged and accepted to law school. My wedding date will be in September of my 2 year. Reading a previous post about whether to moot court or law review is starting to make me a little nervous about the date. What do you quys think?

loves2shop4shoes

I'm a 0L, but I think getting married while law classes are going on is generally a bad idea.  I'd wait until a summer or winter break.

MrsMLRB

My FI is starting his 3L year and he did a moot court, he says that September should be fine because it will be early in the semester and things will not be really busy yet. For his moot court, he did very little in September (he doesn't remember exactly what it was but he said very little).

angiem33

Congratulations on getting accepted! 

I'm doing a September ceremony in my 3rd year.   Juggling law school and wedding planning was a litle challenging especially at the end of last year.  It's possible to do 2nd year, but keep in mind that this is the year you will get wrecked with work, it won't be crazy b/c it's still early in the year, but Law Review starts up before school does and if you are writing your article in the fall semester a wedding will not be easy to plan. 

If you decide to do it, make sure at the end of your first year you are not wedding planning, focus on finals, get through the year and plan during the summer. 

Personally I would push it back to Summer between 2nd/3rd year or fall of your 3rd year.  Law school isn't like anything you will have done before and be much more difficult than anticipated, even if you have been a straight A no studying kind of student before!  You will really need to focus in your 1st year to ensure you get top grades, into law review/moot court/trial team if you choose and a good summer internship. 

nickles26

I know several couples who were married during the school year in law school (ranging from Fall to Spring, and not just during breaks).  I never heard a complaint about them and everyone seemed to deal with it fine.  I never did moot court, so I am not sure about that.  However, if you make it onto law review/journal, just let the e-board know about your plans and needing a weekend off from subediting.  I was a managing article editor and one of my subeditors had his wedding during orientation/the first subediting assignment.  We made accomidations for him and everything worked out.  Just be upfront and law review shouldn't be a problem. 

Also, in regards to planning, while you need to do well on your finals, 1L year may be the best time to plan.  First, you are not allowed to work for at least a semester.  There is good reason for that as you need to focus on understanding how to do the whole law-school thing.  However, I promise you that you will never get that amount of time in 2L or 3L years. So, use your free time after 1st semester to do a lot of planning/getting things done.  It will be so much harder when you add internships, clinics, clerkships, etc. to your law review and moot court duties. 

Congrats and good luck! 

Totle

I just graduated in may.  I would say that you do not really want your wedding in September of your 2L year, especially if you are planning on or might decide to do the law firm interview process.  This happens during the fall of your 2L year and it is a very very hectic time that is not very easy or pleasant even without adding a wedding to the mix.  I would push it back to when you have a break (fall break, winter break, summer--though that's difficult with work) if you want to get married during school.  I had several friends get married during breaks and it worked out fine.  As far as journal and moot court, I don't think that would really cause issues because usually the boards are flexible, though you may miss a competition you want to do.  

tldh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_should-change-wedding-date-because-of-law-school?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:684Discussion:4d3df753-d710-411a-8d64-536786faedd1Post:8dd60c0a-abcd-42d3-8529-83ff2afd4dfc">Re: Should I change my wedding date because of law school</a>:
[QUOTE]Congratulations on getting accepted!  I'm doing a September ceremony in my 3rd year.   Juggling law school and wedding planning was a litle challenging especially at the end of last year.  It's possible to do 2nd year, but keep in mind that this is the year you will get wrecked with work, it won't be crazy b/c it's still early in the year, but Law Review starts up before school does and if you are writing your article in the fall semester a wedding will not be easy to plan.  If you decide to do it, make sure at the end of your first year you are not wedding planning, focus on finals, get through the year and plan during the summer.  Personally I would push it back to Summer between 2nd/3rd year or fall of your 3rd year.  Law school isn't like anything you will have done before and be much more difficult than anticipated, even if you have been a straight A no studying kind of student before!  You will really need to focus in your 1st year to ensure you get top grades, into law review/moot court/trial team if you choose and a good summer internship. 
Posted by angiem33[/QUOTE]

I couldn't have said it better myself.  You have a different set of pressures in every year and all of them are harder and more time consuming than the first.

Also, depending on your state, you may have a class attendance requirement.  In Ohio, you cannot miss more than 4 classes a semester in one subject.  If you do so without providing good cause, the school has to give you an incomplete and you have to retake the class.  At least this was the rule a few years ago.

kdhager

As you have heard from many others, it may be a good idea to change the wedding date to a break (summer or winter probably are the best choices). Just graduated in May myself and we are having the wedding in September since the Bar is coming up in less than two weeks (yes, I am procrastinating on here). My FI is in pharmacy school and we purposely scheduled our wedding around his break between rotations and the bar exam. As 2L year goes, that is pretty hectic around September. Once first year is over, you are getting the hang of things, but any fall semester always seems to be more hectic than spring especially since law school still isn't 100% familiar territory quite yet. You could always push the wedding date up early and get married the summer between 1L and 2L year - that would be a lovely treat after 1L Hell. And who doesn't want to get married to the love of their life sooner Especially if you are considering moot court or law review because you won't have a ton of obligations at that point. Whereas, once 2L and 3L year get into full swing, if you have these obligations, you will have a ton of competitions, practices, etc. to worry about. Don't want to spend your first few months as a newlywed worrying about those pesky things! If you still choose to do it in September, it is definitely do-able (just a little harder than others may have it) and it's your wedding! Congratulations on law school and good luck with it!!

sleepybeck

I'm in my 2nd year of law school right now and working on planning my wedding for June.  I couldn't imagine having a wedding in the middle of a semester... I wouldn't want to have to worry about homework, studying, & classes while trying to get ready for the wedding.  And personally I want to go on our honeymoon immediately after our wedding, so that definitely would be difficult during the semester... missing an entire week of classes would be crazy.  I don't know if you're planning on just doing the wedding then honeymoon later or what but personally I would feel like there's so much going on during the semester that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the getting ready for the wedding and everything as much as if it's during a break.  Just my personal feeling.  You might be totally fine with it during the semester.