Arch of Sabers/Swords

TiNiDi87

For anyone who had the arch of sabers at their wedding, or is going to, could you please let me know how you arranged it? I contacted the Old Guard because I am in Maryland, and I contacted my local Army installation and they only have the swords but no one to do it... I keep seeing people talk about ROTC units but I do not know of any that have a team or what terminology I should even be using to search for it! I do not want sloppy guys either. I fear ROTC guys may not be trained. My fiance was in ROTC in college and they didnt do it.. How do I get a team?? Who normally does it? a color guard? What?? HELP!

greeneke2

Whenever I have seen the Sword ceremony done, friends of the bride and grooom were the ones that performed it.

greeneke2

And by "friends" I meant friends that were in the military with them, sorry if that was confusing!

SarahP787

At the weddings i've seen it, the arch was done by the military groomsmen plus a few cadets from the groom's old ROTC program. They had the guys practice it the morning of, and it looked pretty classy, but they did know the ROTC guys ahead of time and picked people they liked. They didn't have a specific saber arch team or anything, just some dudes who are allowed to wear the uniform that are capable of standing in a line and holding a saber, lol. If you were to conscript random guys I guess the chances of sloppiness could be higher. Does your FI have friends who would do it?

iluvmytxrgr

Have your FI contact his unit.  If they can't do it, you can contact a local Reserve or National Guard unit to see if they are available. 

crownsuperstar

I am happy to hear that you could do that and had lots of luck...we didnt .  perhaps it was due to the wedding not being in the same state as the post...who know...haa!! best of luck!!!

crownsuperstar

Hello,

 

I typically don’t post anything however I can totally feel you pain of the saber arch.  I recently got married and we had a saber arch as well.  It was a total pain in the butt to find the sabers, we had all of the guys in place (friends of ours).  The guys do not have sabers of their own as they are expensive and really they don’t use them for much of anything.  My husband tried contacting the post where he is and they said they do not allow the sabers to be used off post unless it was for a burial event.  PS- Thanks just what I wanted to think about a burial before my wedding J.  I called all of the guard units around where I live as well as the college ROTC programs. The guard units only do it for burial as well…PS- Double Thanks as I wanted to hear burial again while planning a wedding! Well the ROTC programs at non-affiliated (service academies) universities do not allow for sabers/guns or anything of that nature on school property.  SO that was a no-go as well.  I ended up getting replicas from online which I got approved before using.  They were $26.00 and really looked pretty good.  Let me know if you need the link.

PS- The guys ended up taking them home and had a very LARGE time at the reception.  

 

Hope this helps!

greeneke2

My fiance got the swords from his units armory for the wedding with no problems.  i would check that out before I bought anything!

KendallR10

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_military-brides_arch-of-sabersswords?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:13Discussion:3a4639dc-b603-4a9c-9f50-edb7e6a972cdPost:e122992a-8eb9-4ec9-88c4-5bcc75444633">Re: Arch of Sabers/Swords</a>:
[QUOTE]My fiance got the swords from his units armory for the wedding with no problems.  i would check that out before I bought anything!
Posted by greeneke2[/QUOTE]
I second this. Call the national guard armory's in like a 50 mile radus. Not all of them have them

MilitaryBride2Be

We were able to borrow them from the local ROTC. They didn't have any cadets to preform it but all of the groomsmen took the roll. None of them had done it before but one researched it and they practiced a few times. It all went flawlessly

minekellyrich

you have a few options.  My FI is AF, and graduated in Dec, but most his friends last May, so many already were stationed on a base with an active unit and color guard.  One close friend was on the Color Guard in ROTC at their college, so he is used to running the drill etc.  He is actually on a base locally where he can drive to us and is borrowing the sabers from his base for it.  Beyond that you can ask your local colleges for the sabers, and sometimes their guards can do it if no one else can...

good luck!....oh and fyi, you "cant' draw a saber in the church/place of worship in most religions, so check with your officient... we knew, but had to confirm that detail.