One of my favorite brides, Natalie, wrote me to ask for suggestions, and I thought her question was definitely blog-worthy! Her fiance is in the military, and several of the men from his unit will be at the wedding.
She is looking for a way to honor them on her special day.
Here was my email back to her, which included the disclaimer that I’m a bit ignorant about the organization of the Military, so not to be offended if I screwed anything up. The same goes for my readers!
A copy of my email response, with a few additions:
Some quick ideas for you:
- We’ll put together a medley of patriotic songs for your honored guests and others to dance to. (Thanks to my DJ friends in Georgia, www.allaboutyoudjs.com!)
- Have the men stand on guard, possibly place a flag behind them, and have the guests rise and sing the National Anthem. (Thanks to my military bride-friend Johanna for the idea!)
- I believe there is a sword ceremony after your vows, where they hold the swords and you and your bridal party march beneath them. I may have this wrong, and am catching it secondhand. Also, I’m not sure which division of the military they do this for.
- Gather photos from them on duty, and create a picture montage set to music.
- Have someone close to them stand up and say something special or funny about them / to them. Include each of their names in your grace, with a special thank you and best wishes.
- Include each of them in your church / ceremony programs.
- If you have already prepared your programs, you could have a very pretty loose-leaf card or other significant item that you place within them, which includes a special poem and dedication to each of them.
- Include them in your Grand Entrance! Have a Grand Entrance for them first (be sure they are in uniform), then go into your bridal party entrance, and you and your groom are last, of course. You will do a different song for your military friends, for example, something patriotic like Toby Keith Red White and Blue, the National Anthem, etc. Your DJ could announce for everyone to rise and join in as they enter. Things are even better when an entire room sings it out loud!
- My friend Amanda was nice enough to share her idea about tying yellow ribbon around the favors. While it is probably a bit late in the game for that, how about on the programs, bouquet or elsewhere? This is a subtle, yet nice gesture.
- Rather than give an actual favor to your guests, provide a donation to a military fund of your choice. You would state something in your program or somehow display it at their place setting in a classy way. If you are working with a professional invitation designer, they could probably cook something cool up for you. My friend Kate at Custom Paperworks is a genius when it comes to things like this! She ships to anywhere in world, too!
Possibly Related Songs: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Red White and Blue” or Jimi Hendrix National Anthem or Bruce Springsteen “Born IN the USA” or (I can’t believe I’m saying this!) MC Hammer “No stopping us”, The Top Gun Anthem, Neil Diamond “America”, Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, James Brown “Living in America”, Boston “Star Spangled Banner”.
This would be beautiful to include as part of your ceremony prelude music. Bond “The Star Spangled Banner”.
If my readers have anything to share, please do so! I love your ideas!
Thanks in advance for anyone’s input on this
My fiance and his unit have recently returned from a tour in Iraq and I think honoring them at the reception would be awesome!
We have already decided to donate to a few different charities as “favors” for our guests but I love all of the ideas so far!