Uniform at a Wedding

[nittany03]

Before you strap on the sword though, ask the officiating clergy, sometimes they do not allow weapons of any kind inside the church. At my wedding, in a base chapel, the priest requested no swords inside the church.

Better yet, just don't wear a sword in the sanctuary, period. Whatever one's faith or lack thereof, that's basic military etiquette. Sword arches take place on the steps of a house of worship or otherwise outside whatever the consecrated space is, because you don't carry a weapon into a house of God. You're supposed to take the sword off your belt, leave it outside the sanctuary, and clip your sword belt clips together.

Just for the love of G-d don't wear Dinner Dress (SDBs with a bowtie, aka "Service Dress Bozo"). If it's black tie, either pony up for proper mess dress, or go rent a tux.

Good God, this! Whoever authorized that as a uniform should be shot. It makes you look like a 10-year-old playing dress-up. And whoever makes fun of mess dress as "Hinge Dress" is just outing themselves as a cheap bastard.

 

[Flash]

Better yet, just don't wear a sword in the sanctuary, period. Whatever one's faith or lack thereof, that's basic military etiquette. Sword arches take place on the steps of a house of worship or otherwise outside whatever the consecrated space is, because you don't carry a weapon into a house of God. You're supposed to take the sword off your belt, leave it outside the sanctuary, and clip your sword belt clips together.

Drawing a sword in the house of worship is not kosher but not wearing one isn't 'basic military etiquette', I have seen many folks wear their swords into a church for ceremonies and weddings without a problem. Someone might also want to tell the paragons of etiquette, the British royal family, about that since several of them wore their swords (sheathed) into Westminster Abbey for the wedding in 2011 along with the Beefeaters who carried their partizans during the ceremony as well.

Ultimately it is up to the head of the house of worship you are getting married in if is okay with them, in my case Elvis was pretty cool about it.

 

[wink]

Drawing a sword in the house of worship is not kosher but not wearing one isn't 'basic military etiquette', I have seen many folks wear their swords into a church for ceremonies and weddings without a problem. Someone might also want to tell the paragons of etiquette, the British royal family, about that since several of them wore their swords (sheathed) into Westminster Abbey for the wedding in 2011 along with the Beefeaters who carried their partizans during the ceremony as well.

Ultimately it is up to the head of the house of worship you are getting married in if is okay with them, in my case Elvis was pretty cool about it.

^^This. And This...
Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus for all you pagans.

 

[wink]

... Beefeaters who carried their partizans during the ceremony as well.

Whilst serving on the staff of NAVEUR had the privilege of a private invitation to observe the Key Ceremony at the Tower of London followed by a drink in the very private Yeoman Warders Club within the Tower. We were told they prefer to be called by their formal historical (700 years) military title, Yeoman Warder.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Swords in church....not cool.

Guns are ok though.

 

[CAVU]

Having recently married off my daughter, I offer a few thoughts for you to consider. There are only few populations to consider but I'll only address one: #1 is the bride. It is her day. If the bride (and I mean only the bride) would like for you to wear you SDB, then make sure she knows what it looks like. The gold striping and ribbons are unusual in a predominately civilian audience. Trust me on this. It is distracting. If she is still okay with it, then wear it... just plain old vanilla SDBs (no tux shirt and bow tie, no sword, no medals, no gloves). You job is to blend into the "everybody else" crowd. After the ceremony, standby for a lot of positive attention, but it is still all about ...."the bride". HAVE FUN!!!

 

[SynixMan]

Concur 100% with all the folks who double down on asking the bride (include photos of Chokers/SDBs/Mess Dress) so she knows what she's asking for. Seasons don't matter, so you could be in SDBs in July if that's what she wants so she's the only one in white. If it's a non-military wedding, ditch the fucking sword, it'll just get in the way of you grinding on bridesmaids.

Do consider if the wedding location is near a military concentration area. Wearing whites to a wedding in Norfolk is unimpressive and kinda douchey. In NYC? Standby for free drinks and more.

 

[e6bflyer]

Uniform...yes. Whatever the bride wants you to wear. Leave the sword at home. Over the top, tacky, and inappropriate. The only time I have ever seen the swords come out (not metaphorically) is during wedding sword arches done for photos, the resulting photos afterword, friends drinking too much and dueling, and change of commands. Any other time is a little "Admiral General" of you. If I saw such a person in a crowd at a wedding, I would seek them out and engage in a friendly conversation to see why they were dressed like that assuming that they either had no idea what they were doing or faking it.

The uniform (service dress or mess dress) is where you want to go with this. If there is a retired military guy like myself in the crowd, you will get a free drink. If you ditch your girlfriend, you may get more than that for free.

 

[nf_utvol]

Some great discussion and gouge here, thanks guys.

I'm still wavering, but I've decided it's either between civvie suit or plain SDBs.

One thing I do wish was that more people in the various services wore their uniforms in public more often. Not for the free drinks and perks or anything like that, but to show pride in the military and get some good exposure for your service. It's not like it was 40 years ago when almost everyone either had a close friend or family member in the military due to the draft. Civilians having positive interaction with uniformed service members, and just seeing them out doing day to day activities is good for the military's image, I think.

 

[A7Dave]

Some great discussion and gouge here, thanks guys.

I'm still wavering, but I've decided it's either between civvie suit or plain SDBs.

One thing I do wish was that more people in the various services wore their uniforms in public more often. Not for the free drinks and perks or anything like that, but to show pride in the military and get some good exposure for your service. It's not like it was 40 years ago when almost everyone either had a close friend or family member in the military due to the draft. Civilians having positive interaction with uniformed service members, and just seeing them out doing day to day activities is good for the military's image, I think.

Concur. Wear you uniform at public occasions when appropriate. I was asked to wear mine at Temple (Irish Catholic married a nice Jewish girl) shortly after 9/11 - solidarity as it were. If the bride requests you to wear the uniform - wear it. Outside of the Marine's uniforms, nothing looks better than a good set of SDBs. If you're single, you'd be crazy not to wear it.

 

[nf_utvol]

So due to a last minute discovery of a black stain on my SDB shirt collar that wouldn't come out, I went with the civvie suit. And I honestly regret not going in uniform, just wearing a different white shirt and not taking off the jacket. At least four people asked where the sword or uniform was. And the theme to Top Gun was played at one point. I had a "Nooooooo!" moment when that happened.

Anyway, for future reference, whenever anyone asks you to wear a uniform to an event, do it.

 

[webmaster]

Alas... a lost opportunity.

 

[Spekkio]

Anyway, for future reference, whenever anyone asks you to wear a uniform to an event, do it.

Eh, even though people may have asked about it, it's probably better that you weren't the only person at the wedding in military dress uniform. The bride and groom may have asked you to attend in uniform, but I don't think that they actually realized how much attention it would bring on you (and subsequently take away from them).

Besides, if you need the uniform to get laid at a wedding, your attire is not the problem.