My Military Wedding Tips

Being part of a Military family is hard. My dad was in the US Navy and I can't imagine how difficult it must have been in the beginning for my mum when he left for sea. So imagine all the wonderful couples trying to plan a wedding! Which is why planning a military wedding is so full of love and compassion, these are couples who see each other so little and yet their love stretches across the globe. So today is dedicated to the couples out there with loved ones away, and a few helpful tips on how to plan your special day.

Getting Started

One of the easiest things to do would be hire a wedding planner. This means if your lovely partner is at home, they have some help and support for planning the big day whilst you are gone. And if you both are military personnel, it makes even more sense as they can do it all for you while you are overseas. Do make sure that you find someone who is prepared to converse through Skype and email often as some places won't work this way. Also decide when the wedding will be happening as soon as possible to work around deployment times.

Full Steam Ahead

Now you are into planning the day. Decide where you want to have it, whether on or off base (base weddings may apply more to our readers across the pond with so few left in the UK) as you could use the military chapel on base and it may be cheaper for you. Be sure that any supplier contracts have a clause for rearranging the day in case of an unscheduled deployment as some will try and catch you out with this. Checking this means you don't lose out on all your money and the wedding will be able to go ahead if any problems were to arise. And be prepared to do some major wedding cramming into the time that you are both at home. Ensure to leave yourselves at least a few days where you can really get down to business, seeing suppliers and sorting guests and invitations etc. Of course most importantly, make sure you both regularly talk to each other. Communication keeps everything running smoothly, and also gives you both peace of mind that you are okay. A great idea is a personal wedding website where you can both add things to keep track of the wedding from opposite ends.

Some other planning tips:

• Remember, you don't need to have a military theme to have a military wedding (although it would definitely be unique!).
• Will you or your partner be wearing uniform? If so, instead of buttonholes, why not wear any military decorations you have to show your hard work.
• If you are inviting a large number of military personnel (including high ranking members), why not seat them according to their ranks?
• How about a sword to cut the cake instead of a knife (Guys like swords)
• Don't forget to add official ranks or titles to invitations of your guests!
• Consider using your country's flag as decoration. 
• Make sure you both spend as much time together on your wedding day, guests will be there I know, but they can wait. Make time for the two of you to really enjoy your commitment.

And most importantly, check out Military Wedding Discounts online! They are there to help military couples from the UK and USA plan their wedding, with lots of real wedding inspiration, newsletters and ideas. There are also plenty of discounts to be had for both countries covering all aspects of your perfect wedding day. Don't forget to follow them on Facebook and Twitter too!