Ask Me Help Desk - Military Wedding

Hi all,
I am planning to have a military wedding sometime next year in the fall. My husband and I got married last year June and due to his deployment we decided to hold off on the actual wedding itself. Now he is deployed and when he returns we would like to have a wedding I am new to military and even though he was married previous he did not have a wedding. I do not know how to start. My question is... How do you plan a military wedding when only the groom is in the Armed force. No one in his family or my family is. The wedding will take place in the East coast and we live in TX I would like to have the whole military theme with the saber and all. Can it still happen without having grooms men in the military? I would like to make sure we follow the rules and regulation of the Armed Forces... Can anyone give me an Idea how to maintain a military theme... Thanks for any suggestions..

Seeing as your groom is in the military, contacting his chaplin is all you have to do to find out what you need and protocol to follow.

Wow, I feel like I'm reading my own life story. My husband and I got married (eloped?) last October, but haven't had the ceremony yet. He has also been married once before, and I have not. We are planning a military wedding, and the best advice I've found so far is from this webpage: United States Military Wedding Traditions - WeddingDetails.com

Also, I don't know what branch your husband is in, but you should just have to contact the local chapter of whatever branch he is from. My husband is Marine, and there is a local recruiting station that we will be working with.

Oh, also, none of his groomsman are in the service, but I've read that your husband can wear his uniform, and you can also invite your guests to wear their uniforms (active duty and retired).

I hope this helps!

PS- Military weddings are beautiful and powerful--- best of luck to you!

Have him ask the company commander (or whatever it is called in the AF). They have special details that you can request to be there for the saber ceremony. It will be easier to coordinate once you are in the area you plan to have the ceremony in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsRomero

Hi all,
I am planning to have a military wedding sometime next year in the fall. My husband and I got married last year June and due to his deployment we decided to hold off on the actual wedding itself. Now he is deployed and when he returns we would like to have a wedding I am new to military and even though he was married previous he did not have a wedding. I do not know how to start. My question is...How do you plan a military wedding when only the groom is in the Armed force. No one in his family or my family is. The wedding will take place in the East coast and we live in TX I would like to have the whole military theme with the saber and all. Can it still happen without having grooms men in the military? I would like to make sure we follow the rules and regulation of the Armed Forces... Can anyone give me an Idea how to maintain a military theme....Thanks for any suggestions..

Talk to the company chaplain or a chaplain on the base where the wedding is taking place or where you will be living. They are great help.

First off all that really matters to have a military wedding is that either the bride or groom is in the military. What I suggest with the grooms men are just traditional tux or something close to matching the groom.
To have the sabers- the sabers must be presented by officers or the local ROTC can do it if requested. I suggest talking to the chaplian on this to see who you contact for color or honor guard. The arch can have a min of 4 and a max of 8 sabers/swords.
What branch is he because that would help me with giving you rules and regulations. At the ceremony you are required to have the american flag posted. At the reception you should have the colors posted. Many military balls and formal event have a table it is referred to as the POW/MIA table Google it and there will be stuff to tell you how to do this. This is to pay respect to fellow soldiers who have lost their lives.
Any more questions ask me I know a lot of stuff on this.

You have gotten good advice so far and the site Pretty linked you too looks good. But I think you need to defereniate something here. You have already had a wedding since you say you got married in June. A wedding is the ceremony at which you were legally wed. Whether it was in a cathedral with hundreds of guests or a JP's office with a couple of witnesses, its still a wedding.

What you are talking about is a wedding CEREMONY. There is nothing wrong with having a formal ceremony after the legal wedding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsRomero

Hi all,
I am planning to have a military wedding sometime next year in the fall. My husband and I got married last year June and due to his deployment we decided to hold off on the actual wedding itself. Now he is deployed and when he returns we would like to have a wedding I am new to military and even though he was married previous he did not have a wedding. I do not know how to start. My question is...How do you plan a military wedding when only the groom is in the Armed force. No one in his family or my family is. The wedding will take place in the East coast and we live in TX I would like to have the whole military theme with the saber and all. Can it still happen without having grooms men in the military? I would like to make sure we follow the rules and regulation of the Armed Forces... Can anyone give me an Idea how to maintain a military theme....Thanks for any suggestions..

First of all congratulations! I think I can give you SOME advice here but I am not sure what the regulations are. I was married to a Marine, who also was the only one in the military, yet he wanted a traditional wedding with a touch of military to it. He picked out all the groomsmen, none of which were in the military. But he wore his dress blues, I wore a white wedding gown and we put it in the invitations that any active, reservist or retired member wanted to wear there uniform it was welcomed. And we used his uniform to get colors and themes for the rest of the wedding, it actually turned out BEAUTIFULLY!
Just in the end in whatever you decide to do have fun with it and remember that its your day!