A French Wedding

I was privileged to witness a beautiful French wedding ceremony this weekend.  (Anyone, including total strangers, can attend the Mass in the church. Virginie is the neice of a friend, and we had met her groom Olivier as well, and so I felt comfortable attending.)

In France--at least in this part of France, there are no pre-parties, no bridesmaid's luncheons, no rehearsal dinners here.  There is just one long celebration the day of.

At 10:00 in the morning, we begin to hear horns honking as the wedding party prepares for the day and family and friends arrive at the bride's house.  Residents of the town begin to gather in front of the church to see the bride and groom and all the people in their best outfits. (This is Lucie Jacques, Ida Jacques, and three ladies) 

At around 10:30, with lots of honking and all the cars decorated with tulle tied to door handles and antennae, the wedding party arrives at the town hall for the civil part of the ceremony:

(As we watched from across the street, a woman rode her horse through the center of town.)

At 11, the bride and groom (he's to her right in grey) walk across the parking area to the church, now legally married but not yet married in front of God. 

In the picture above, Virginie is escorted on the arm of her proud father.  Inside, the groom takes his place at the front of the church while the bride and her father greet the last-minute guests in the entry of the church.  (At this point, I took my spot at the back of the church with the other people who were there to witness the Mass but not invited guests.)

Just as in the US, whether or not the couple are believers is not critical to whether or not the ceremony is held in a church. But there is a different feeling when the Holy Spirit is a welcome part of the ceremony, and this was the case with this wedding.  One thing I loved about the ceremony was that it seemed to be for the benefit of Virginie and Olivier as opposed to being centered around Virginie and Olivier.  Some weddings can feel like a show with the bride as the star of the show.  In this one, God was the focus.  Virginie's father spoke; the priest spoke; Scripture was read; Communion was served; the choir sang.  Every part of it lifted the couple up to God; everything was about honoring and blessing the union of these two people, and they were joyful witnesses of the celebration.

When the ceremony ended 90 minutes later, the bride and groom came out to applause and more horn-honking.  You can just see the three yellow post office mini-trucks parked in front--Virginie is a postal worker.  (Olivier is a police officer.)

At this point, the first group of invited guests heads to the rented hall for an aperitif and appetizers.  As the afternoon wears on, everyone except the inner circle of invited guests (usually the immediate family and closest friends, plus the Godparents) leaves the "festival hall."  And the long celebration meal begins and lasts several hours, including party games between courses and a lot of celebration.  Several hours later, those who are invited, who left earlier, come back to join the "inner circle" for dancing and more of the celebrating.  It goes on all night--all night.  It was around 5:00am when Ren heard the some of the wedding guests walking (thankfully) home.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a French country wedding!  I love the way they celebrate, but I'm not sure I'm up to an all-night party anymore...