Planning a military wedding is a very meaningful process, but it also means that there are several traditions that you’ll need to be familiar with and follow. Nearly every part of a military wedding is steeped in duty and tradition, and there are certain unique things for every branch of the armed forces.
Fortunately, the facts on these traditions are quite easy to come by and usually, you can figure out all the information you need by talking to someone on the military base. However, to give you an idea of what else it takes to put together a glorious military wedding, we’ve put together some ideas from real-life weddings to help you get all the details just right.
Attire
When planning a military wedding, it is important to remember that whichever (or both) partner is in the military will be dressed in their formal uniform. This used to mean that the man was dressed in his uniform and the woman was dressed in a white wedding gown, but now there are many more women in the military so seeing a man in a tuxedo with her in her uniform is not uncommon. Typically, the non-military partner will where all white to contrast the formal military uniform, but this tradition has varied in recent years and is much more open to personal preference.
Favours and Decorations
When choosing your wedding decorations, you want to find that thin line between elegance and patriotism. You don’t want to go overboard and have your reception hall look like it’s the 4th of July, but you also want to make sure that patriotism is well represented. Also, you’ll probably want to find the best wedding sparklers for sale in the area where you live because they are staple wedding favours at military weddings. Just try to find the perfect balance between a traditional wedding look and the patriotism that flows through the heart of any individual in the armed forces and you should pull everything off quite nicely.
Seating Arrangements
Seating at a military wedding is a very important detail to plan correctly. If there will be higher ranking officers at the wedding, they are typically seated according to rank near the head table. For instance, a captain would sit closer to the head table than a lieutenant, and you would treat retired officers as the same rank as active duty officers. Also, if there is more than one branch of the military presence, you will want to seat each branch together. For instance, you would put Navy officers together organized by rank, Army officers together organized by rank, and so on.
