Invitations

rakipm1

hi everyone! My name is Madeline and I am lucky enough to be marrying an officer in the Marine Corps this Veterans Day weekend (11/13/11). Here is my question - he will be wearing blues, as will his attendants. We will not be having a sword arch, however, he would like guests to be "invited" to wear their uniforms. How do I address this on the invitation, if I do at all? Is it a separate card?

Thanks, all!

Also if anyone has any advice for an officer's-wife-to-be, let me know. I am moving to LeJeune in August and I am a little scared!!

Beachy730

H chose not to wear his uniform, but he wanted his co-workers/friends to wear theirs if they wanted.  The proper way to write that (at least for the Navy) was that we wrote on our reception cards : "Service dress whites are invited."  

It depends on what uniform would be appropriate for the season, and the branch.  We  put that on the bottom of the reception cards for our Navy invites, and we just told our friends in the Army via word of mouth that they were welcome to wear their uniform if they wanted.  

kyrgyzstan

Being an O wife is no different in general than being any other military wife with the caveat that it's important to remember that your husband's Marines always come first. FI is an NCO, and he's had to get out of bed on a Saturday night to find a Marine who was missing. Hopefully your H has some good NCOs under him who can take care of that. But for officers, the buck stops with them. They have the ultimate responsibility for their men (said in an asexual way) in combat of course, but also in garrison. That's probably the most important advice I can give you. Your H has the honor of serving as an Officer of Marines. That will mean sacrifices for you beyond just deployments.

Shan (another poster) PM'd me earlier and we were chatting and she said that all military spouses are always a reflection on their service member, and that branch, for good and for bad. I think that's GREAT advice!

ETA: As for the uniform thing, I'm hoping people figure it out by the military wording on our invites (referenced below, aka the part that says United States Marine Corps under his name). I would put what Beach did, but there's no more room on my invites.
And this is just a Stan (that's me) thing to point out without being asked, but remember that white trousers are the summer SNCO/O uniform. I know they look great in weddings, but it's important that the uniform worn be the proper one, and a November wedding calls for the regular trousers. I know you didn't say anything about that, just unsolicited advice.

ARMY, AIR FORCE AND MARINES

CAPTAIN or HIGHER RANK:
to
Captain Paul David Brooks
United States Army

LIEUTENANT:
to
Paul David Brooks
Lieutenant, United States Army

NON-COMS and PRIVATES:
to
Paul David Brooks
United States Army

SamiJoeB

If you have friends from all branches I would put a note on the bottom like what Beach said, but maybe something to the effect of
"All Military Dress Uniforms are invited"... maybe, idk.. that didn't sound as good when I read it.

We just told our guests that we invited that were retired or AD that we would love for them to wear thier uniforms if they wanted to.

Also, Stan gives really excellent advice especially about the Marine Corps, so read it carefully She's almost always (I can't think of a time that she's ever been wrong, but I'm sure there was maybe something somewhere at some point) right in her facts, and is always dead on in her advice. Welcome to the Board!!

shan87

Hey There!
Welcome! My FI is an Officer in the Air Force. I'm the one that Stan mentioned.  Although I think this advice applies to all Military Wives I think Officer's wives are held to a little bit of a higher standard (at least from the last 5 years of my experience with the AF). But here it is... You represent your FI/FH/H as much as yourself.You also will be representing the Marines/Navy now.  Being responsible for someone else's reputation and career ladder/promotions is very humbling. I love hosting parties and I am a very outgoing person IRL. My FI jokes that I'm the perfect Military Wife because I'll fit right in with hosting his commanders, coworkers, heck I am even familiy friends with his current Base Commander (talk about pressure and small world) for the entire time he'll be in the service.

 I also have very low expectations for things (regardles of the branch), I expect we will not be able to go on a HM right away, and that we will in fact be apart almost as much as we are now (LD) Heck I even expect that he will miss a lot of things with our future children. To people outside the Military these things seem outragious, trust me if your family is not involved with the Military you will get the "Oh man that sucks, I dunno how you do it, thats not normal"... etc. It's Military Life and it's what we agreed to when we said Yes and then again when we say "I Do." For me its what I agreed to when I fell in love with a Man who dreamed of being a Pilot in the United States Air Force since 1st grade.

Expect the worst and hope for the best. Memorize and repeat. It will keep you sane.  This quote works great for me because either I'm pleasantly surprised or my thoughts are confirmed. (I also I HATE getting my hopes up for things)