Military Brides
Knottie45337893
member
Military Traditions in the Wedding

My new Fiance has been in the Air Force for 2 years now and we are proud to be a military couple! One of my big issues are that he deploys next year and he wants me to plan the wedding while he is gone....but i haven't the first clue on how to plan a wedding or even an Air Force ceremony. What do i do? Also, does anyone know the traditions for an Air Force ceremony?
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Re: Military Traditions in the Wedding
I suggest you consider an air force related groom's cake.
We actually didn't have any military traditions in our wedding, we were both of the opinion that the military took up far too much of our lives and our wedding was definitely one place we didn't want to be reminded of it. But he did end up wearing his dress blues because we blew our budget on air fare, plus timing issues.
Ditto what PPs said. I would make sure he even wants to wear his uniform first. My fiance said no way. He wants no military related stuff for our wedding, which is fine by me.
I've been to a military wedding for my fiance's friend. The groom wore his blues as did some of his friends. They did the saber arch thing. But that was basically it. Other than the arch and it being at the Officer's Club on base, there really were no other "military" things.
As it is, we decided to forgo any military traditions, mostly because we both find a lot of them cheesy (the sword arch is pretty, but I'd be PISSED if anyone did the whole 'tap-on-butt-to-welcome-to-family thing, seeing as I'm a Marine and the wedding would change that not in the least-- I had a friend marry another Marine and that happened at the wedding despite her telling them no.)
We want our wedding to be a reflection of us as couple, and to only be restricted by etiquette, legalities, etc. When you add in traditions, it's pretty important to get them right. For instance if either of us wanted to be in uniform for the wedding we'd have to change our hair (he'll be out by then, and my hair is green and blue). For me, I'd have to take out all but two of my piercings. If I wanted to wear earrings, I'd have to get studs that follow the regulations. I would only be able to paint my nails a shade of red or go French style. If he had any piercings or facial hair, he'd have to get rid of those. Since there would be pictures, if we were in uniform (either of us) we'd have to make sure everything was lined up and properly done.
And if we had a sword detail, we'd have to ask people to be in it, and take the time out of their days to do all the work required behind putting on the uniform. Not to mention they would have to get swords if they didn't have them already, study and practice drill...
There is a lot that goes into even the simplest military traditions. If having something specific is important to you, go for it with that knowledge.