Tips for Planning the Perfect Military Wedding
Tips for Planning the Perfect Military Wedding
The day has finally arrived. After all these years waiting for the right one, you finally find that special someone. Soon a marriage proposal comes your way, one that will surely change life forever. You finally get the opportunity to plan the wedding you’ve dreamed about since childhood. All the plans begin falling in place, when suddenly things change dramatically. Your soon-to-be spouse learns that they are being deployed oversees. All the hopes and dreams for happiness appear lost, at least for the moment. You still long to get married, but there is so much to do, and so many unique circumstances that other couples don’t face. From finding a chaplain to the financial costs of planning a rush wedding, the task can seem daunting.
There are others too who have lived the military life from day one and are now proud to be a part of it themselves having enlisted. Having grown up with parents in the military, changing from base to base, and city to city, the couple longs for a military wedding that brings with it the traditions and pride lived their entire life. Yet, as everyone in the military knows, there are many tried and trued rules and regulations on doing things right. Planning a wedding and making sure to stay within all the guidelines can be overwhelming. The bride needs answers on how to do it and these answers aren’t found in the pages of the numerous bridal magazines or bridal books out there. But hope is not lost.
As everyone knows, there are vast differences from a civilian wedding and a military wedding. The ceremony may be held at the base/post chapel. The officiant would be a military chaplain. The Arch of Sabers or Swords (dependent on the branch of service) is used. And special attention needs to be placed on the formalities of the invitations and seating arrangements.
To help plan a military wedding, here are some tips:
#1 – Buy Wedding Insurance. Even if the couple does not choose to have the traditional Military Wedding, insurance (unless they are having a quick small civil ceremony at the courthouse) will save headaches and cover the loss of deposits or money due to changes or cancellations. When marrying into the military, the never-ending changes of deployment dates – quick deployments, delayed deployments, and extended deployments are common. It’s best to plan ahead and be safe. Take this example: The date has been set for a year out. The deposits have been paid and invitations prepared. Then a set of orders arrives for the bride or groom that reads, “Report to your duty station 19 May 2007. Unfortunately, the wedding date has been set for 25 May 2007.” You now have to change everything and re-order invitations. Unless working with very military friendly vendors, there is a real risk of losing deposits. Insurance is a way to safeguard against this.
# 2 – Learn the language. For a new bride that is marrying into the service, there is a whole new set of lingo to learn. Among the most common would be the formalities of the Arch-is it Swords or Sabers? The answer – Sabers are used for Air Force and Army. Swords are used for Coast Guard, Marine Corps and the Navy. National Guard and Reserve go by the same etiquette and regulations of their service branch (i.e. Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Naval Reserve, etc). Also, the majority of military personnel do not own a Sword or Saber. However, they can contact the Chaplain, normally he/she will have these for this use or his/her Commander will. There are also so many other terms you want to become familiar with to be knowledgeable.
#3 – Question often asked — Can the bride’s “swat” with the sword be omitted from the ceremony? Answer – For traditions sake, it is better left in the ceremony. When the Arch has been formed, the bride and groom will then pass through the Arch of Saber or Swords (this symbolizes the welcome and safe transition into a new life together as a couple). The couple pauses as the last two men lower their sabers or swords in front of the bride and groom and then at that time the man to the right will then lightly “swat” the bride of on the rear and say “Welcome to the Army,” or the appropriate branch of service. This step should only be omitted if the bride is the service member.
#4 – It’s important to know the proper seating arrangements for guests and also where the bride and groom should stand, including who stands on which side. The standing arrangement is determined by whether the service member being an officer or being enlisted. A guest list will have Commanders, other Officers within the unit, and peers. It’s important to know the proper seating for guests and also for the receiving line. All persons that are associated with a service member (i.e. their Commanders, Officers and peers within the unit or office) should be invited to the wedding. When seating the groom or bride’s Commander and his/her spouse, they are to be seated with the family of the bride or groom, whichever group they represent. Commanders are usually seated in the front row when the bride or groom’s parents cannot be in attendance. All other higher-ranking Officers are to be seated directly behind the family of either the bride or groom.
Sounds overwhelming doesn’t it? Well now with the help of an innovative website, Military Weddings at http://www.Military-Weddings.com, you can get all the answers you need. MilitaryWeddings.com is a complete wedding planning site solely for the Military community. It provides everything to plan a Military wedding from engagement to honeymoon including who to contact in the Military installation; protocol and etiquette in seating arrangements; writing announcements; sending out invitations (the correct way of addressing an envelope to commanding officer); the ceremony itself; Military chaplain services and whether to use the base or post chapel. Plus, a complete shopping center for your entire wedding needs including stationery, gifts, bride and groom basics, and everything needed for that special day.
Planning your wedding can be fun and exciting with the right tools. Stop by today and enjoy a wedding that you can remember for years to come.
by: GiGi Rena Rogers
A Military Wedding Complete With Military Wedding Cake Toppers
A Military Wedding Complete With Military Wedding Cake Toppers
For many couples one of the great things about getting married today is the fact that they are no longer bound by the customs and traditions that ruled the arrangements for their parents’ wedding, but are able to plan a wedding that very much suits their own personalities and lifestyles. But what about those couples who are planning a military wedding?
The basis of a military wedding is of course no different to any traditional white wedding in terms of the format of the wedding and the following reception, with a addition of some traditions that are peculiar to military weddings in general and to weddings from within individual corps or units in particular. This can make it somewhat more difficult to stamp your own personality on your wedding, but there are areas of the wedding, such as your wedding cake, where you can still be more than a little creative.
Whether it’s a military wedding or not, there’s nothing to say that you have to have a traditional circular white wedding cake. Nowadays cakes come in all flavors, shapes, sizes and colors and there’s no reason at all why you shouldn’t have your own military cake.
If the kids can have birthday cakes shaped like dinosaurs, then why shouldn’t you have a wedding cake in the shape of an aircraft carrier or a Hercules? The problem of course is that your wedding cake needs to be very much a focal point of your reception and this means that it needs to have height – hence the tradition of building cakes into tiers. Your aircraft carrier may well be big enough to feed your assembled guests (and of course to put the bridge away in the freezer for the christening of your first child) but it will not have the dramatic effect that can only really be found by giving a cake height.
In most cases the answer is to choose a cake that you like in terms of flavor and color, but to stick with a fairly conventional shape (round, square, octagonal etc.) and to tier the cake in several layers to give you the required height. Then you can add the final personalization by finishing the cake off with one of the many military wedding cake toppers available today.
Here you could of course have your aircraft carrier or Hercules, but perhaps a safer, but no less personal, choice would be to have representations of yourselves complete with your chosen wedding dress and dress uniform.
The days of the cheap plastic replicas of the bride and groom are long gone and you can now have extremely realistic figures crafted which will match the bride’s dress and bouquet, and even her hair, as well as dressing you in the correct uniform complete with badges of rank and medal ribbons. Military wedding cake toppers today have become quite an art.
For more information about wedding cake toppers please visit Talking Weddings today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Saunders
How to Plan a Military Wedding
Military weddings are distinguished from most other types of weddings by the formal uniforms worn by the bride and/or groom and by the special traditions that are woven into the ceremony and reception to make the day special.
Meet with the chaplain as soon as possible, if you do decide to get married in a chapel, to discuss the ceremony and arrange premarital counseling sessions.
Ask for permission to have wedding flowers, music and photography inside the chapel. Rules vary from place to place. Many couples decide to display the American flag during the ceremony, in addition to flowers.
Select a site for the reception. You might consider officers clubs on base or traditional restaurants or hotels in the area.
Order traditional (non-military-style) invitations, but don’t forget to include any military titles or ranks held by you, your fiancée or either set of parents. Often, the bride will choose to leave her military information out. This is optional.
Include “Full dress uniform invited” on your invitations to indicate that guests are welcome to come in uniform.
Determine the types of uniforms the groom and members of the wedding party who are in the service will wear. Typically, full ceremonial dress uniform is chosen (blue for winter, white for summer), including white gloves and swords (for the Navy and Coast Guard) or sabers (for the Army and Marine Corps).
Decide on the bridal wear. Many brides who are in the service prefer to wear a traditional bridal gown instead of their uniform. If this is the case, select a formal-style gown with a flowing train and veil to complement the formal men’s attire.
Select long, formal gowns for the bridesmaids.
Have men in uniform wear their military decorations instead of boutonnieres. A bride in uniform can still carry a bouquet.
Ask honor guards to form an archway with swords or sabers outside the ceremony location for the wedding couple to walk through on their way out. This symbolizes safe passage into married life.
Seat military guests at the reception according to rank and title.
Consider using small American flags or other military symbols as decoration at the reception.
By eHow Weddings Editor
source : www.ehow.com
Plan the Perfect Military Wedding
Plan the Perfect Military Wedding
By GiGi Rena Rogers
The day’s finally arrived. After all these years waiting for the right one, you’ve finally find that special someone. Soon a marriage proposal comes your way, one that’s sure to change life forever.
Finally, you’ve got the chance to plan the wedding you’ve dreamed about since childhood. And all your plans start falling in place, almost like magic — when suddenly something comes up to change the tune. Your soon-to-be spouse learns they’re about to be deployed overseas.
All your hopes and dreams for happiness seem lost … at least for now. You still long to marry — but there’s so much to do, and so many unique circumstances that other couples don’t face! From finding a chaplain to paying those amped-up fees involved in a rush wedding, your task list can seem even more daunting than the average bride’s.
True, it’s not like you’re the only one to face this. Others, too, have lived the military life from day one, and were so proud to play a role that they enlisted as adults. If you’re one of those who grew up in the military, shifting from base to base and city to city, you probably long for a military wedding that embodies all the traditions and pride you’ve cherished all your life.
Yet, as you know, there are plenty of rules and regulations when it comes to doing things military style — even for weddings. And staying within the guidelines can be overwhelming. As a bride, you need answers on how to do it — and those answers won’t be found in the pages of all those bridal magazines or bridal books. But take heart!
It goes without saying: there are vast differences between a civilian and a military wedding. In the the latter case, the ceremony may take place at the base/post chapel. Your officiant will be a military chaplain. The Arch of Sabers or Swords (depending on the branch of service) is used. And you’ll need to pay special attention to the special formalities involved with invitations and seating arrangements.
To help make your military wedding planning a little smoother, try these tips: …
next article : favorideas.com
Military Wedding – Arch of Swords (Sabers) Ceremony
Arch of Swords (Sabers) Ceremony:
The Rules & Regulations of a Military Wedding
Military weddings are a privilege of those in the armed forces or cadets. All are formal, with military personnel in dress uniform and commanding officers seated according to rank. What most guests at a military wedding are most likely to remember is the “crossed sabers,” also known as the “arch of sabers,” or the “arch of steel. The word steel, is synonymous for and used to represent either sabers for Navy or swords for Army, Air Force and Marines. Traditionally the bride and groom walk through the arch of swords. That passage is meant to ensure the couple’s safe transition into their new life together. The arch of swords is formed by an honor guard made up of members of the military who would normally wear a sword or saber when in dress uniform. Should one of the honor guard also be serving as a wedding attendant, in order to conform to tradition, he or she must be in full uniform.
That includes wearing a sword or saber while in the wedding party. No one out of full dress uniform may, when conforming to military procedure, carry a sword or saber. The commanding officer should serve as a resource for the prospective bride and groom for information about who can and who cannot wear a uniform with a sword. The arch of swords procedure is a simple and elegant one. The honor guard form two lines opposite each other. On the command of “draw sword” or “draw sabers,” the steel is raised with the right hand, with the cutting edges facing up. The couple enters the arch, kiss, and then passes through. The newly married couple then salute the honor guard. Members of the honor guard then sheath the swords or sabers and return them to a carry position.
Depending on church rules and on the particular branch of service, the arch can be formed either outside or in the foyer of the chapel, synagogue or church. Yet another tradition relating to the arch of steel is a gentle “swat to the backside” that the bride receives from the last swordsman. Grooms take heed. Should you decide to adhere to this custom, it would be prudent to inform your bride about the possibility so that she isn’t unpleasantly surprised. In addition, it is also traditional for the wedding cake to be cut with a saber or other type of military sword. Although the ushers usually act as sword bearers, other officers may be designated as sword bearers–which would accelerate the arch of swords ceremony following the wedding ceremony. It is customary that six or eight ushers (or designated sword bearers) take part in the ceremony. Although the chaplain’s office will furnish swords (sabers for the ceremony, it is customary, such as at West Point, for the cadets to furnish their own white belts, gloves, and breastplates.
If the ushers have removed their swords, they now hook them on. In an outdoor ceremony, they proceed down the steps of the chapel where they form, facing each other in equal numbers. In the NAVAL SERVICES, the head usher gives the command, “Officers, draw swords,” which is done in one continuous motion, tips touching. The bride and groom pass under the arch–and only they may do so– then they pause for a moment. The head usher gives the command, “Officers, Return (swords brought to the position of “resent arms” swords.” Swords are returned to the scabbard for all but about three or four inches of their length. The final inches of travel are completed in unison, the swords returning home with a single click. When the arch of swords ceremony is held indoors, it takes place just as the couple rises after receiving the blessing. All members of the bridal party wait until the ushers swords are returned to their scabbards before the recessional proceeds.
In the Army and Air Force, the Arch of Sabers is carried out in this way: when the bride and groom rise from their kneeling position after the benediction, the senior saber bearer gives the command, “Center Face”. This command moves the saber bearers into position facing each other. The next command is “Arch Sabers,” wherein each saber bearer raises his right arm with the saber, rotating it in a clockwise direction, so that the cutting edge of the saber will be on top, thus forming a true arch with this opposite across the aisle. After the bride and groom pass under the arched sabers, the command is, “Carry Sabers” followed almost immediately by “rear face,” with the saber bearers facing away from the altar, thus enabling them to march down the side aisle. They form again with arched sabers on the steps of the chapel. The information in this article was taken in large measure from the book with the answers to all of your questions on military weddings: “Service Etiquette” by Oretha D. Swartz.
By Judy Lewis
HudsonValleyWeddings.com
Military Wedding Favors
Military Wedding Favors
Little does the average bride suspect the high style going on at her sister’s wedding down the road, at the military chapel.
After all, few events can out-glamour an officer’s wedding with attendants and ushers in full “mess” dress, smart white gloves and those gleaming decorations.
And you and your honey’s passage through that arch of sabers or rifles? Civilians are so jealous, they’ve devised all kinds of creative ways of getting in on the experience: arches of golf clubs, fire hatchets, fishing poles …
Not to mention, “tears of joy” packs never work quite as hard as they do at a wedding full of American flags and flowers. (And bridesmaids are never quite as thrilled to serve as when they’re standing opposite young men in uniform.)
source => favorideas.com
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