Wedding Planning with Cystic Fibrosis

You’ve somehow found someone to walk through the life that is a cystic fibrosis life without scaring them off. Great! Now, how the heck do you go about planning a wedding that is fun, special, and undamaging to your health? This is a dilemma that I dealt with all summer. Now that I have survived the wedding and come out the other side healthy and happy, I want to share wedding planning tips.

Make it your dream

There are few moments in life as magical as your wedding day. It is the day that celebrates the love and beauty of a relationship that took time and energy to cultivate. You deserve to have the wedding be everything you dreamed it would be. I was set on having my favorite local musicians play the music for the wedding and during cocktail hour. My husband and I were also set on having tacos and an open bar for our guests. The last detail was having my mom make my wedding dress. We made sure to set these details early so we wouldn’t stress out later.

(Photo by Samantha Webber Photography)

Keep it simple

Speaking of stress, there’s nothing worse than the stress of details to distract you from the magic of your wedding day. The only really important detail is that you and your spouse are there (with the appropriate people and paperwork, of course). My husband and I decided to keep decorations to a minimum, so we chose a beautiful venue that didn’t need extra help. It saved us not only money but also time and energy in the setup. Instead of spending the night before the wedding decorating, the venue set up the chairs, and all we had to do was show up and get married. This was great because I was running around all day collecting odds and ends to prepare for the weekend. I was so exhausted that I could not have imagined having to deal with any more than what it was.

(Photo by Samantha Webber Photography)

Keep it casual

Unless you are set on having a super traditional wedding, I suggest keeping it casual. It keeps stress levels low and lets you have fun. Your wedding is something for you to enjoy! For our wedding, we kept it casual by splitting up the ceremony and reception on different days. There were a few different reasons. The main reason was to avoid the exhaustion of going from 8 a.m. until 2 a.m. The other big reason was that separating the ceremony and reception allowed us to keep the ceremony small and intimate with our immediate family. It was perfect.

(Photo by Samantha Webber Photography)

Have a Plan B in case you get sick

The stress of planning and preparing a wedding can have negative effects on your health, so it’s good to have a Plan B if using IVs on your wedding day would complicate plans or your wedding attire. IVs are not ideal, but they’re better than feeling like crap and not enjoying your wedding day. 

Luckily, I didn’t have to deal with IVs in reality, but my mom did bring up the need for a Plan B while we were designing my dress. My design had lace covering my port, though, so if it was accessed, it wouldn’t have been seen in photographs. My doctor was also concerned about my port possibly ruining photos (perks of having a lady CF doctor, I guess). At my clinic appointment leading up to my wedding, we chatted about the design of my dress. I wasn’t concerned, but we had a good laugh about it. If that’s something you care about, though, make a contingency plan!

(Photo by Samantha Webber Photography)

Bonus tip: Make a clinic appointment two weeks before your wedding so that if you need a two-week antibiotic course, you are done and in tip-top shape for your wedding.

I hope that these tips help people feel a little more comfortable about tackling their monster of a wedding with love and joy. If you have planned or are planning a wedding, tell me your tips or about the best part of your wedding!

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Note: Cystic Fibrosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cystic Fibrosis News Today, or its parent company, Bionews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to cystic fibrosis.