Question regarding British army officer's choice of uniform for a wedding

[fringedweller]

I'm writing a fic where a British army officer (rank of captain, if that makes a difference) is attending a wedding. I know that there's a certain uniform that he is to wear, but I'm unsure as to what that is

Comments

[major_clanger]

The problem is that, as you've probably gathered, the British Army doesn't have a uniform, or rather it doesn't have a single formal uniform - each regiment or corps has its own. (There is a common combat uniform worn as working dress, but even there distinctive berets or other headgear and often a coloured belt are worn for unit distinction.)

My understanding is that an Army officer would wear No 1 Uniform, also known as 'Blues' (actually a very dark blue, near black) in the style of his unit.

However - as a former officer myself (RAF though, rather than Army) there is one point I would make. One would never wear uniform to a civilian wedding without clearing it with the bride and groom first, and in particular it would be very ungentlemanly to upstage the bridal couple!

[fringedweller]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought. And don't worry, the bride and groom are absolutely hideous people so it's fine for them to be upstaged!

[eleanorb]

Just to add, it would be incredibly bad manners to wear a uniform to a wedding unless:

a. It was a military/regimental wedding and the bride or groom were in the military

b. The person wearing it was close family or an usher and had been asked to wear it

To turn up at someone wedding as a guest in a military uniform is very much frowned upon. Remember at a wedding , whatever they do, the bride and grooms etiquette is not to be criticised. Guests, on the other hand will be looked down on if they break the rules, however dashing they are. Also, unless one of the families is a military family the forces, especially the Army, are not looked on in a positive way, unlike in many other countries. Your man would be considered a bit of a prat by most people.

[fringedweller]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind.

[eleanorb]

Oh and it would depend if it was a civil or a church wedding too. Most weddings in the UK are now civil (IIRC) and it would be an even bigger faux pas there.

[fringedweller]

No, it's a grand affair in an abbey.

[eleanorb]

Remember too that many guests would consider him to be less intelligent than the buttons on his uniform and expect him to have extreme right wing views - why would you join the Army otherwise? Given the experience of marrying into an Army family I'd say that prejudice was justified.

A grand wedding in a Abbey, and there are very few of those unless you are royalty, would be quite proscriptive about dress. I have been a 'posh' wedding where a man in uniform was told to go home and change into more appropriate (and less fascist) clothing.

[fringedweller]

I've actually attended several abbey weddings, some with and without military people present, some wearing uniforms and some not. That's why I asked - I wasn't sure what the rules were.

Luckily as this is fiction, he won't be met with such hostility.