The French Connection: The Wedding

Our first wedding invitation in France was to the nuptials of Angéline and Mathieu. In France, a civil ceremony at the Mayor's Office is mandatory - a church ceremony afterward is optional. Below is the office of the Mayor in St. Martin Le Beau, the bride's hometown.

As guests began to collect in the parking lot at 2pm, the groom's parents greeted us.

Then a procession came walking down the road from the bride's parents' residence, and there she was with her father Philippe ! !

Next everyone proceeded inside the Mayor's Office for the ceremony, which took all of 10 minutes.

Then the gauntlet of guests outside tossing petals.

This is followed by an entire cortege of cars all decorated and honking throughout the town for quite a while.

The brooms crossed are on the last car. Not quite certain of its significance, but someone said it was to sweep all the guests on to the reception. Below is another example.

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The new couple's initials served as a focal point for photos.

The reception was in a troglodyte - cave.

Our placecards were made from wood discs by the groom himself.

The wine was made locally in Montlouis with the bride's and groom's names on the label.

Skits and videos about the couple were presented.

We all went outside into the garden for a midnight violin romantic interlude performed by a friend.

Next the cutting of the two cakes.

For us the evening ended with everyone launching floating candles in small parachutes at 1am, but we are told that was when the dancing began and went all night long.