Wedding in France

[diana.de.sousa]

Has anyone done a wedding in France? If so, I'd really like to talk to you! I'm having a wedding in France, sooner than I expected. Initially my fiance and I were just going to do a court marriage and ceremony later later when we have the funds, but his parents has offered to pay for our wedding AND they have even booked a place for the reception! Now I only have 4 months until the wedding and I have to announce the wedding as soon as possible for my friends and family to be able to make it. I know its not enough time, but it is what it is.....

What I'd like to know is.. what exactly does a French wedding entail?? Is it like an American wedding? How is the reception like?? Where do I even start?? How do I recommend places to stay when I don't even really know? Can anyone recommend a wedding planner? Or maybe even a travel agent?

Again any information is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Bevdeforges]

Wow - congratulations!

In France, the only legal wedding is the ceremony at the mairie - usually performed by the mayor unless you're in a really large town with assistant mayors. That's the one you need all the weird paperwork for (certificate de coutume, various bits from the US consulate, etc.). You do need to declare your witnesses (i.e. best man and bridesmaid) ahead of time and supply appropriate i.d. for them (generally a photocopy of their passport if an American friend is standing up for you).

The church wedding can only happen after the ceremony at the mairie. Assuming of course that you're having a church wedding. You can just invite folks to come for the ceremony in the mairie if you like. You still wear the fancy dress and all and usually the church bit is right afterwards, especially if the church is close by.

A church wedding in France is similar to a church wedding in the US, though perhaps a little less "free-form" especially if you're getting married in a Catholic Church. (I think the Catholic Church in France requires a certain level of pre-marital "discussions" with the priest ahead of the ceremony. You should check on this if you're going the church route.)

The reception is normally a huge blow-out, centered on eating, drinking and doing "cutesy" little sketches, stories and presentations documenting the bride and groom and their families growing up, or meeting each other, or any other particularly embarrassing moments the "friends" and family members can come up with. They don't do some of the US traditional stuff - like the wedding cake (as cake in France isn't at all as we know it). It can depend a bit, however, on the region in France that your French inlaws are from. Traditions vary.

AFAIK, they don't really have wedding planners, however the place where the reception is booked may be able to give you some names of florists, caterers (if they don't do the food themselves there) and other merchants you'll need, including hotels and auberges in the area. I'd have to say that there is perhaps a bit less "angst" connected with a French wedding than with the lavish choreographed affairs they throw in the US. Lean heavily on your in-laws-to-be (it will endear you to your future mother-in-law when you ask her advice!).
Cheers,
Bev

[kpetyt]

Hi Diana,

I'm actually a wedding planner here in Paris, and I write a blog which talks all about planning or hosting a wedding in France. Over the years I've posted a few articles which talk about the differences between French and American weddings, French traditions, etc. Here are a few that may be helpful to you. Best of luck!!

(oops! I'm new to this forum so I can't post urls, but if you take a look on google, the name of my blog is "parisian party: tales of an american wedding planner in paris") Hope this helps!!


Kim Petyt

[Doods16]

Hi Diana and congratulations

Hopefully you will be able to get a lot of the info you need from Kim's blog.
If your wedding is in the Charente, we know of an English speaking travel agent who may be able to organise your family and friends trips and accomodation.
He also has a Wedding Planner contact in the area if this will help.

Good luck

Christa