Planning a wedding in nursing school?

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Hi everyone!

I hope this doesn't seem like too silly of a question for here, but I would just like to get some opinions of the ladies on AN! My boyfriend and I have been together almost 3 years and I know a proposal is coming some time around the corner. I start a 4 semester ADN program in the fall, so I will graduate Dec. 2017 and hopefully pass my Nclex in January. I know planning a wedding in nursing school will be extremely difficult but in your experience, do things lighten up the by the last semester (other than NCLEX reviewal etc) or should I pretty much just plan on waiting until after I graduate to plan this thing. I really am trying to get an idea mentally of when we will actually be able to get married. I know people hire wedding planners etc but that is a cost I really don't want to spend and I am a bit of a control freak and I think this type of thing is extremely fun! We don't get any breaks other than a week for spring break and Christmas etc so eloping and calling it a day won't be an option either, lol.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

Well how big of a wedding are you planning? How much help (family/friends) will you have? If you are going for a small wedding and/or have a lot of help it is probably fine to plan while in school. Bigger you might want to wait until after school is done so you have more time to devote to it. A friend is currently in nursing school and planning a moderately large wedding, but has over a year to devote to planning before the wedding as they aren't getting married until after she graduates.

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Specializes in ICU.

First, I would wait until he proposed to start planning. Second, I tackled nursing school all while being a single mom, being a homeowner, maintaining a relationship with a man who lived over an hour away, taking on a part time job my last semester, then buying a new home my last semester.

I managed to graduate with honors and move in the same weekend which was just a couple of weeks ago. I start my nurse residency program Monday and still have to get my old house on the market. I scheduled NCLEX for a couple of weeks.

People are under this assumption that nursing school takes every single second of your free time. If you manage your time well, it doesn't, I promise. It's not easy, but it's not all time consuming. I think you can handle it.

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I would wait until after nursing school to plan. I just graduated from a 2 yr ADN program while working FT and I have a family ( 2 very small children) and there is no way I could have planned a wedding during. It did not get easier because my last semester was the most difficult and I graduated with honors. I was organized and had good time management and still would not have had time for wedding planning.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Oncology.

My boyfriend proposed to me during my first semester of nursing school. We have firmly decided to wait unti I graduate (May 2017) to start wedding planning. Nursing school and holding a job is hard enough without the stress of putting together a wedding. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

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It just depends. Some weddings are simple and don't require that much. For others, pulling it off can be equivalent to a full time job. Where does your wedding fall on that spectrum?

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Someone from a graduating class 1-2 years ago got married after graduation and she was planning her wedding while in nursing school. Whew! by any means don't try to do it all by yourself.

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HI Everyone!

Thanks so much for all your responses and advice! The consensus seems to be while planning a wedding, medium sized about 80 guests, is possible in nursing school, it is very difficult. I know myself and I have a tendency to become obsessed with details which makes me an excellent student but annoying to anyone who has to deal with me haha. I am just trying to get as much done now as possible, so when the exact time comes, we can just book the venues and kind of take a break while i'm in school since we don't want to get married until mid 2018 anyways. I can just see myself trying to make appointments to get invitations made and designed and stressing out the entire time because i have an exam, case studies and probably clinicals the next day.

Thanks again for all your comments and thoughts on this!

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