Whether you’re in the military and double-checking or just curious, it is an interesting question. Military branches have strict codes of both conduct and dress, so will that wedding ring pass through them? Maybe you’re about to marry someone in the military, and you’re worried about how it will look if only one of you is wearing a ring on the wedding day. Sure, you get to go through that cool saber arch and all, but is it really worth it if only half the couple is wearing their wedding rings?
Do you need to go ring-less in your dress uniform? Are there certain types of dress uniforms you can wear your ring with and others you can’t? Well, these questions don’t need to keep you up at night anymore because we have your answers.
Active Duty VS. Dress
As you might expect, military personnel in the field operate under a different set of regulations than those on leave or at formal events. Often, silicone wedding rings for men are used in place of higher-priced rings, but even that depends on the situation and the regulations surrounding it. If you’re really curious, you can dig into the regulations for a bit of light reading.
Dress Uniform Regulations
When in dress uniform, a service member can wear a watch, a wedding ring, and an ID bracelet. In certain circumstances, women may wear earrings with their dress uniforms, assuming they are simple and fit directly against the ear.
So, The Answer Is Yes?
Yep! Military personnel can wear wedding rings with their dress uniform. If you’ve got your eyes on a sweet tungsten wedding band, you don’t have to retire from the service just to wear it! As with all things in the military dress code, you’ll want to stray away from loud or distracting colors and patterns, but we don’t foresee that being an issue with your wedding ring. As cool as a lime green wedding ring might be, we just don’t see it matching well with your dress blues.
Technically, You Can Wear Two
While not as popular for men, women who wish to wear a wedding band set can do so. In fact, that wedding band set will only count as one of your two rings. If you have another ring — like an academy ring, for example — that you want to wear, you’ve got the leeway to do so.
That’s About It Though
As you probably assumed, military jewelry regulations are pretty strict. If you can’t have a beard on your wedding day (if married in uniform), then no, you can’t wear a giant chain like Flavor Flav.
You can wear religious jewelry, but any other jewelry you wear must not be exposed beyond the uniform. If you want to get really crazy, you could get yourself a tasteful, conservative tie bar. Body piercings, however (outside of the earrings mentioned earlier), are a no-go. Hold off on that sweet new septum piercing until you finish out your service.
The General Principle Of It
You have plenty of direct regulations regarding dress and accessories. However, the general principle behind it all (if you can’t find the specific regulation) is that your dress and accessories are conservative and in keeping with the rest of the uniform regulations. As long as you’re keeping things tasteful and classic (and not violating any specific regulations), you should be just fine.
If you’re on active duty in any capacity, you’re required to abide by these regulations, even if you’re in civilian clothes. While you probably won’t be in civilian clothes on your wedding day (though technically, you don’t have to get married in your dress uniform), it’s still interesting to note.
Retired military don’t have to play by these rules anymore, but active military do. You don’t want to wear anything that could inhibit your response to action should a need arise, even if you’re off duty and in your civilian clothes. Once you’re retired, you can wear as many chains as you like (unless you’re in your dress uniform).
If you’re here for anything other than useful trivia to pull out when the moment strikes, you probably knew all this. No faddish jewelry, nothing beyond simple conservative rings and watches. No cool gold chains. Really though, if that were something that was an issue to you, you probably wouldn’t have joined up in the first place.
Regardless, if your wedding day is fast approaching, rest assured that you will be able to wear your wedding ring without getting a dress code violation.
