French Wedding

Yesterday, I came home from a mini vacation to the south.  I was invited to attend a wedding in Perpignan, so I went there for a quick two night stay.  It was very nice to be back to a place I considered home for a little while, and I enjoyed walking the familiar streets.  However, most of my short time there was spent with wedding preparations and at the wedding and reception.  It was interesting to see some of the differences between French and American weddings. Let me tell you about some of the differences.

1.  The Ceremony

All French wedding ceremonies must take place at city hall.  An additional church wedding is optional, but everything must go through the government basically.  The ceremony is quite short, and it's only the couple at the front of the room (the wedding party just hangs out on the side or in the seats).  The mayor (or a representative if they aren't available) thanks people for coming and reads some laws that the couple agrees to, they sign a paper along with four witnesses, and it's basically done!  The couple exchanged rings, kissed, and walked out to the crowd where we threw confetti at the newlyweds.

The ceremony at City Hall with the mayor

2.  The Cake

The traditional French wedding cake is nothing like the tiered, frosting-covered version we see in the US.  Instead, it's a tower of profiteroles.  It was great!

Just Married!

3. The Party

The French see a wedding as an excuse to throw a big party.  We drove to a cute venue in another village for the reception.  The party started outside on the patio, with little appetizers circling around such as cured ham being cut directly off the leg, calamari, mini burgers, and oysters.  There was music, places to sit and chat or a space to dance and a nice grassy area that made for good pictures.  Eventually, people moved to sit down for even more food and drink with seafood and other meats being BBQed right on the patio.  The couple revealed their cake and everyone was served three profiteroles from the tower along with a glass of champagne.  At this point it was getting quite late, and the DJ moved inside so as to not disturb the neighbors.  I was surprised how many people were still around at this point, old and young.  I finally left around 4:30 AM, but there was still a good crowd hanging out.

The evening venue

The next morning came much too early, and I was off to a two night stay in a town called Sète before returning to Grenoble.  I really loved Sète, and that's coming up next...