Any law students?

Re: Any law students?

• Chipmunk415 member

  

  October 2012

  First off, Congratulations!
  
  May 2012 law graduate here. (Actually getting sworn in today). There was a couple at my law school that got engaged in February of 2L and were married in December of 3L. It is in fact doable, but I would caution you to really talk about this with your fiancee. You're juggling a full schedule with moot, trial advoc, and you're working as well? You'll still have that in fall of your 3L year, but you will also be starting to apply for full time positions, government honors attorney programs, attending interviews, networking, etc. If you have any plans to do a clinic or externship next summer, trust me, it will eat up your time. If August is what you two agree on, make sure it won't interfere with school start times, clinics, and orientation for him- the last thing you want to do is plan a wedding, go on your honeymoon, and come back to him immediately stressing over 1st week assignments.
  
  You say your fiancee is applying to start law school next August/September, and he's seen you go through the first year. Do you both really want to be juggling your 3L activities and obligations with the evil 1L first semester while planning a wedding on top of that? Depending on your school, December might also be the time when your fiancee is in a write on competition for law review or a journal.  It will be stressful (as you know), and instead of a wedding added into the mix, you may want to just have a chance to breathe.
  
  Ultimately, this is a decision for you and FI. You haven't mentioned anything about how big your wedding vision is, the anticipated guest list, etc. But, at some point or another, all couples stress about wedding planning. My vote is for late July/early August if you can manage it, so as not to interfere with school and activities for either of you. December weddings are beautiful, but it might be more fun for you two to simply cozy up and enjoy surviving exams. Good luck!

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• calliopeia2013 member

  

  October 2012

  Recent law school grad here.  Didn't start planning until I was out of school personally, but know lots of folks who did, and August would almost certainly be the consensus.  The only reason I can think of not to is if you need every week of your 2L summer to lock down a job (like if you're splitting between two firms or something), in which case I'd probably just suffer through and do it in December (3L year is what you make of it- it can either be very busy or very calm, and it probably wouldn't be too hard to back off on the extracurriculars if you really needed to.)

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• GoodLuckBear14 member

  

  October 2012

  I would go with the August date.  That way he's not going to be overwhelmed with his 1L studies and you aren't going to have any responsibilities except work (clerking at a firm?) unless you draw an early Moot Court Competition.  Even then, you can always ask to be moved to another competition. 

  Proud to be an old married hag!!

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• sarahdactyI member

  

  October 2012

  Congratulations on your engagement!! My FI and I are both May law grads and it makes me happy to see/hear about other law couples

  
  

  I honestly can't see a December 3L/1L wedding being easy to plan. If nothing else, the stress of finals always caused me to gain a little extra weight, and I think the additional burden of wanting to fit into The Dress soon after finals would be too much for me. Especially 1L Fall Finals. At least at my school, immediately after 1L finals everyone began the fury of sending out 1L summer employment letters. It doesn't bode well for a honeymoon IMO! But I think my school went a little late- it always felt like a struggle to fly home in time for Christmas, even leaving the day after finals.

  
  

  I think your best bet is to go with August, provided that gives your FI enough time to be back for orientation and everything. And honestly, depending on the school/program, orientation might not be a big deal (especially if he is going to your school, and you can show him the ropes?)... Plus, I'm not sure if your FI is working right now or not, but if he's taking a gap year he might have more time to help out with an August wedding (especially if you end up with an intense job over the summer). 

  
  

  I had a coworker at my firm last summer who was planning her wedding for the end of the summer- it worked out well for her, but we had a short "split summer" program and she opted not to take a second half position, and focus on her planning.

  
  

  But it really does depend on how your 3L year is going to play out- if you think you'll still be looking for a permanent position/clerkship, then your fall is really going to be taken up by cover letters and interviews again. My 3L fall was pretty stressful- the spring, not so much (but I assume you're not thinking spring since you'll be graduating and then studying for the bar! hooray!). 

  
  

  Good luck!!!

  
  

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• sportzpinke187 member

  

  October 2012 edited October 2012

  The FI and and I talked about dates and made a slew of pro/con lists. Late July/ Early August won out (thank goodness). The only concern he had about July/ Aug is being able to have his aunts and uncles and grandmother at the wedding. (Anyone have experience with travel visas? From what I've researched, 3 months is a typical time period for obtaining them). 

  
  

  Overall, a July/Aug wedding would be so much easier to plan. We're only 90 minutes away from our hometowns, so scoping out venues shouldn't be too bad. We're hoping to have a date and venue locked down w/in the next two weeks, then start the serious planing during our week off for Thanksgiving break.

  
  

  How soon after getting engaged did you ladies start planning?

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• sarahdactyI member

  

  October 2012

  I started "dreaming" almost as soon as I got engaged (right before spring 3L finals... perfect excuse not to study!) and really started planning after the bar, this past August.  We aren't getting married until next fall, but we now live several states away from where the wedding will be so we wanted to lock down the big things first.

  
  

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• GoodLuckBear14 member

  

  October 2012

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_any-law-students?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:684Discussion:7489fecf-bebd-4e02-b21a-13e680f82634Post:2ef1c576-895e-40cb-b320-43cb72dc9941">Re: Any law students?</a>:
  [QUOTE]The FI and and I talked about dates and made a slew of pro/con lists. Late July/ Early August won out (thank goodness). The only concern he had about July/ Aug is being able to have his aunts and uncles and grandmother at the wedding. (Anyone have experience with travel visas? From what I've researched, 3 months is a typical time period for obtaining them).  Overall, a July/Aug wedding would be so much easier to plan. We're only 90 minutes away from our hometowns, so scoping out venues shouldn't be too bad. We're hoping to have a date and venue locked down w/in the next two weeks, then start the serious planing during our week off for Thanksgiving break. <strong>How soon after getting engaged did you ladies start planning?
  </strong>Posted by sportzpinke187[/QUOTE]
  
  Immediately.  We had a nine month engagement and I sat for the bar exam six weeks before the wedding.  I got as much done ahead of time as I possibly could.

  Proud to be an old married hag!!

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