Military brides. Army or Air Force maybe planners not sure

I'm a calvery scout in the us army and idk but i'll find out

Http://www.wedalert.com/content/articles/arch_of_swords.asp

this gives infrmation on the requirements and traditions of the "arc of steel" hope it helps.

I am a Marine fiance'.... but I really dont want the arc at all. Not all the groomsmen are Marines, so I dont even want Uniforms..... does anyone know if its required to have them or no?

My fiance is in the Navy and I was wondering the same thing. Do they have to have a certain rank to have the saber ceremony?

To have the arch you have to have a military wedding AKA full dress for the groom (or bride) and the ones doing the arch need to be in full dress as well and generally are a specific role of the wedding not necessarily the groomsmen. I believe (but I'm not sure) you do have to be an E5 or above to preform the arch but can be any rank to have it at your wedding. If he is active (aka not reservist) I would suggest talking to the base chaplain as they will have all the details. My hubby didn't want a military ceremony so we didn't have the arch but we had our bag piper play the Marine Corp Hymn after the ceremony.

Sachele, just curious, what would full dress for a bride look like? I've heard of grooms wearing their dress uniform but never brides, but it does seem interesting, I wonder how many women have a military wedding from their service perspective?

My fiance & I are actually having a military wedding as well. He is Army National Guard & we are doing the whole sha-bang.... arc & all. He is an E6, but I know that some of the groomsmen & ushers who will be participating in this are E4. I think the only stipulation is that they have to be currently in... either National Guard/Reserve or Active Duty. If nothing else, call the local recruiting office or Armory in the area. They should be able to connect you with someone who would know specifics.

I also wanted to add something. You need to also be aware.... part of the arch of sabers tradition is that once the couple has passed through, one of the men takes their sword & swats the bride on the butt saying, "Welcome to the Army, ma'am." (or whatever branch of service) Just wanted to make you aware of that so that you're not unpleasantly surprised.

I am not a military bride but I agree with Sachele D. The last military wedding I went to the men who performed the arch were not the groomsmen but that doesn't mean they can't be. I really have no idea. I was just saying in this one they were not.

We had the arc at our air force wedding. my husband was in ROTC. i have also been to a few weddings he has done the arc for (the local ROTC cadets will do it for anyone in the area) and the bride was air force and groom was not and the bride wore a traditional wedding dress not mess dress. i am not sure of any limitations or rules.

Don't take this wrong, but at least you're asking! when we lived on base(in the e3 and below housing), our neighbor was bragging about how they had an arch. her ubby had just gotten out of mos school! so, while anyone can do it(and a school with an rotc group, or a local national guard/reserve unit will do it), it's "preferred" and more "honored" if it's at least an e-4 and up. but from what i understand, it's actually an officers deal, not enlisted. but times change. at the end, the last man in the arch on the left side, swats the bride and says "welcom to the ____)...although, idk what they do for an active bride, and civvy groom *wonder* lol.....i have yet to go to a military wedding that has it. my matron wanted one, but i talked her out of it. she wanted it for herself. and(privately), i knew she didn't want him to enlist again anyways(he and fh did 8 years in USN-now he's army national guard), i didn't feel she "deserved" it...he didn't want to bother with it.

Full dress for a bride would be her dress blues if a Marine but every service has a different name for their most formal uniform and honestly I can't think of them right now. I think exceptions are made for bides to wear a wedding gown in stead of her dress uniform but a groom must be in full dress if he is the service member.

Another thing I thought was interesting when I did my research for a military wedding is that the traditional sides are switched so at atypical wedding the bride is on the left facing the alter but in a military wedding she would be on the right. I don't remember the whole story it was like 4 years ago when I read it but it had something to do with the groom needing to be able to draw his sword to defend his bride or something.