A military wedding is a traditional white wedding with formal attire in which the style is completely formal like any civilian wedding. The military wedding happens at a base chapel, followed by a reception. In a military wedding, the wedding attire choices must be in line with the requirements and are confirmed by the local base chapels and the officers for the same. Despite the normal wedding attire, in a military wedding, the bride and groom wear uniform for the occasion. Following factors decide the type of the uniform they will wear:
- Time of the day the wedding is to be held.
- Style of the wedding.
- Government issued uniform.
- The season during which the wedding is to be held.
Let’s look at the military wedding attire for the bride, groom and guests:
Groom
In the military weddings, the attire can vary accordingly as the uniforms for different sections like navy and army are different. The dress codes are discussed below:
1. Class A or Service Dress: In spite of wearing a suit in a normal wedding, a semi-formal uniform which is almost comparable to the suit is worn.
2. Mess dress: The uniform of this type can be worn on formal and ultra-formal weddings with a black or white-tie affair. The dark-blue uniform are worn by the military men but during the summers, the government issues a dress manual according to which white pants can be worn for a wedding.
3. Groom and best man: The groom and the best man do not wear gloves as they need to carry the wedding ring, but the other members are required to wear gloves while attending a wedding ceremony. Officers wear their military decorations instead of Boutonnieres.
4. Grooms members: If the groom’s members in the wedding are from different service, their dressing attire is comparable to the other groom members which are of same service.
Bride
The bride and the bridesmaids wear their applicable uniforms but they can opt for traditional gowns for the military wedding as well. The dress code for the brides in the military wedding is generally the wedding gowns of different kinds which they prefer to wear. The father and the mother of the bride may wear the military attire (if they are serving officers or retired) but mothers generally prefer to wear traditional-mother-of-the bride kind of attire. The plastic replicas of older times are gone. Nowadays a perfect figure is crafted with the bride’s gown being in a complete match with their hairs and the bouquets they carry with themselves. The gowns they wear in the military wedding are generally white in color to match the grooms wedding attire.
Military guests
The guests in the military wedding (retired or active service) can wear their uniforms or traditional formal attire. The groom is required to wear his sword at his right side. In the Mess dress the invitees are invited with a mention to wear the uniform of the service for the same service men and the comparable uniform for the different service during the wedding ceremony. In the semi-formal wedding, the attire is same as in formal military weddings but the Class A service dress is required to be worn by the guests. The guests in the military wedding are very much well dressed and specially the military men who considered prestige in their military outfit than the informal ones.
A military wedding is a very formal affair with minimum decorations and more formal attire seen than in any other kind of a wedding. Here the bride and groom have a realistic figure of attire which is comparable to the accessories they wear. The uniform with complete bandage of rank and medal ribbons is necessary to be in their uniform of a defined service section.