Wedding Planning While In Medical School
The idea of planning a wedding while in your first or second year of medical school might cause some anxiety for some of you. For me, it sure as heck did! But I wanted to encourage you all that it IS possible to plan your wedding while in your first or second year of medical school.
I got engaged the summer before I started my first year in medical school. It was a romantic and wonderful time of sheer bliss, which changed rather suddenly. My fiance had to go away on business for four months, just a couple of weeks before school started. It sucked, but at least it gave me more time to focus on my school work (especially since they dump a huge course load on you once you’re in school).
So, how did you/how are you doing it?
Since he proposed to me in June, I had about two months to decide who was going to be part of my bridal party (the bridesmaids anyway) and figure out the theme for our wedding. I’m not one of those women who already had their whole wedding planned (as in the colors and theme picked out) before even having a fiance. In fact, I felt very uncomfortable looking at anything wedding related prior to getting engaged (it’s a long story, which I won’t get into). I had to do “research” on Pinterest to figure out what I liked and get some inspiration on how I wanted my wedding to look. Now we’re just a couple of months away from saying “I do”, Lord willing!
Here’s how I managed planning a wedding during my first year of medical school:
1. Secure your wedding ceremony/reception venue
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND securing your venue first! You and your fiancé’s wedding venue will likely be one of the most high priced expenses that you’ll have for your wedding day. Your venue will truly mold and enhance the theme of the wedding that you’re going for. Talk it over with your fiancé, see how much you two are willing to pay/can afford for your wedding venue, do your research, and tour at least two venues. Some venues already include catering and baking, which is a time safer, but don’t forget to sample their food!
2. Hire a wedding planner!
There are A LOT of things to consider when planning a wedding. Since you are a medical school student, you won’t have much free time to do hardly anything outside of school work and studying. You could try to squeeze in some wedding research time during your study breaks, but let’s face it, is that even really a mental break?
After speaking with my fiancé about it, we decided to hire a wedding planner once he got back from his business trip. We looked on TheKnot.com and Yelp for wedding planners in our area. Luckily we found an amazing one that has truly been a blessing to us throughout this whole experience.
Wedding planners usually offer either full, partial, and day-of wedding planning services. It’s obviously cheaper to have a day-of wedding planner, but you have to do nearly all of the planning on your own. Be sure to ask what is included in all the services and choose which one fits you and your fiancé’s budget the best.
3. Manage your time!
Remember, you worked hard to get into medical school! You’ll have to work even harder to finish the course. As I mentioned earlier, your time is limited and precious as a medical student. You can still do fun things, like bridesmaids proposals and bridal conventions, but you’ll have to really manage your time well.
If you haven’t started using a planner already, then I highly recommend starting now (even before you start medical school). Planners are good because you can see where your time is going throughout the day/week. This can help you budget your time better, especially if you made up your mind (hopefully well in advance) that you want to go to a bridal event. If you’re not into hard copy planners, they have a ton of apps that you can use on your smartphone, computer, or tablet. I personally use Google Calendar and Google Tasks to help plan our my day, week, and month.
4. Stand your ground
I feel like I keep repeating myself, but it’s the truth. You’re very limited in free time as a medical student. This means you may not have time to hang out with your friends all the time, go to various bridal shops to try on a thousand dresses, or go to a hundred bridal conventions. It may suck, but hey, that’s the way it is since you’re on this journey to become a physician. Some of your friends might pressure you or convince you to go to conventions and/or other bridal events, but you likely won’t have the time for it. Just remember, although this is an exciting time to be planning a wedding, you are a medical student and worked really hard to get here. Your journey to become a physician is more important. The bridal boutiques will still be there when timing is better for you.
You may also run into friends and family members that may want to strongly suggest their opinions on how you should plan your wedding or operate your bridal party. Here is a gentle yet direct reminder, this is you and your fiancé’s wedding and no one else’s! If your fiancé and you already decided on something, don’t let anyone talk you out of it UNLESS they are a professional or speaking from experience. Even then, use your best judgement and (even better) pray about it!
5. Take a break!
I use to use all of my study breaks to look at wedding stuff, but it got extremely draining. I wasn’t truly giving myself a mental break, which eventually caught up to me. It’s OK to take breaks from planning your wedding! The information will still be there on the internet. You won’t need to check your email a million times to see if the vendor has messaged you back. Seriously, take a break! My fiancé knows that I have workaholic tendencies, so he makes sure that I take a break from wedding planning just so I can truly get some rest. Sometimes we go days without dealing with wedding planning, which is amazing! Don’t let wedding planning consume your life and stress you out!
6. Resist the temptation to spend hours a day wedding planning
This should be self explanatory. It’s an exciting time, but school is still your top priority.
7. Get your fiancé involved in the wedding planning
Remember, this is you and your fiancé’s wedding, not just yours! Get your fiancé’s input, see what he or she likes/wants for the wedding, and get him or her involved! This will also alleviate some of the wedding planning burden on you and can be an activity that you both do together (sometimes).
Hopefully this gives you some insight on how to plan a wedding while in medical school. Remember, these are just suggestions. What worked for me may not work for you and vice versa. Do what works best for you and your fiancé.
