Before getting engaged, I believed that I had my entire wedding planned out thanks to Pinterest. However, reality set in when in when my fiancé actually proposed and it came time to start planning. I realized it was all much harder than it looks. The truth is, as a full-time college student, planning a wedding is nearly impossible.
I was encouraged to write this article to offer some advice to give to other students in a similar situation. The truth is, I don't have much. There is never a convenient time for any engaged couples to plan a wedding because life is more chaotic than ever at a young age. The most important thing for me is to keep things fun, light-hearted and plan way ahead of time. Weddings are not meant to be stressful, they are meant to celebrate a new life between a bride and a groom.
The biggest struggle and judgment working against me is my age. On the date that I get married, I will be 22 years old. I will most likely still be a little lost in life. I will try my best to act like a mature adult, but chances are I will slip up at times. One thing I am sure of it that I will still be in love with my fiancé, who has been there for me since I was only 14 years old. I do understand that I may be young, but the most important thing to remember is to focus on building memories for the rest of my life with my best friend, instead of on my own.
Another obvious struggle that comes with wedding planning in college is the money (or lack thereof). As one could imagine, I have racked up some student loans and I will most likely remain in debt when I am married, but my fiancé has chosen to keep me anyway. To save some cash, I've learned to cut unnecessary items out of the wedding, such as programs, chair covers, fancy napkins, unlimited wine and invites to every person I've ever known. Online wedding resale shops such as the Facebook marketplace and Wedding Recycle have also been a great help! Ultimately, my marriage is more important to me than the wedding itself, regardless of my age.
The hardest part of all when planning a wedding in college is the time restraint. There is simply not enough time to visit venues, although websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire have done a lot of the work for me! When it comes to finding the perfect dress, many bridal shops have sites to views their selections before visiting to see the perfect dress in person As for getting all of the bridesmaids together and build a guest list, it took me almost an entire year to formally ask my wedding party to be involved and to be honest, I almost forgot. However, they completely understood. When a friend of mine mentioned that I should write an article about planning a wedding in college, I responded by saying, "Not much to say about that because I haven't done sh*t for my wedding." Nonetheless, for a student in college, this is normal and 100 percent okay.
As a 20-year-old full-time college student, it could be said that I am too young, too broke and too busy to plan a successful wedding. At this point, none of that matters to me as long as I will be surrounded by the people I love to celebrate a marriage between my fiancé, the most important priority to me.
