Posts Tagged ‘wedding France’

Have You Considered A Fairytale Wedding In France In A Luxury Castle

French Wedding

Saying “I do” in a french wedding castle is as fashionable as carrying the latest Chanel handbag for today’s Hollywood celebrity.

Destination weddings are a thriving business with 16% of U.S. brides choosing them last year, up 400% ten years ago.

Apparently the Material Girl Madonna (Skibo Castle in 2000) and Spice Girl Victoria Adams (Irish castle wedding in 1999) are credited with heightening interest in “castle weddings” with pomp and circumstance.

Last autumn, the castle wedding  of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes inspired many a bride to put a castle wedding on her wish list. Skibo Castle has a waiting list with hopeful brides paying a $40,000 initiation fee prior to a wedding booking.

When a celebrity wedding in an exotic location makes headlines people see it and want to copy it.

European chateaux are being booked by non-celebrities in hoardes.

According to Brides editor in chief Millie Martini Bratten, “The average U.S. wedding costs $27,850”. Away-from-home weddings can be cheaper, because there are typically are fewer guests to wine and dine. The guests for a hometown event average 165 and 47 for an overseas location. However, a destination wedding at a luxury lodging attended by 30-40 people might run to $20,000-$40,000 a day, not including airfare.

Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte was created by Nicolas Fouquet, then finance minister to Louis XIV and opened on August 17, 1661. For the King to witness such applause going to someone else, to visit a home more luxurious than his old palaces and a magical garden, were trials for his self-esteem that were hard to endure, and they fuelled Louis XIV’s desire to destroy Fouquet. He was arrested two weeks later and never left prison.

Typically only three weddings a year are held at the chateau. Renting the facilities for five hours will set you back upwards of $47,596. Eva’s lavish wedding will be splashed on the pages of OK! magazine for a reported 2 million dollar exclusive deal which will help cover the costs of their nuptials.

Anyone, especially non-celebrities can rent a chateau and get married in France and have a fairytale wedding chateau of their dreams.

Wedding Insurance - Ignore It At Your Own Peril

Wedding in France

Wedding insurance can cover you if one of your suppliers lets you down or if one of your wedding items is lost or stolen. It can pay for any damage or injury that occurs because of your wedding that you are found to be liable for.

Wedding insurance will give you peace of mind and allow you to enjoy your special day without the worry of losing money if something unexpected happens. It is definitely an item that you should not skimp on or ignore s it is fairly inexpensive for comprehensive wedding insurance and it gives such peace of mind and you can sleep at night.

Every wedding insurance policy is different.    {There are quite a few reputable destination wedding insurers to chose from.} You choose an insurance provider and level of cover to suit your own personal needs.

Here are a few of the elements of your wedding that may be covered by insurance:

• Deposits paid to any suppliers that fail to provide the required service
• Rebooking of reception venue if the booked venue fails
• Replacing or repairing outfits, rings, cakes, flowers, and other items if lost or damaged
• Rearranging wedding if cancelled due to the medical condition of a bridal party member or severe weather conditions
• Replacement of wedding presents if these are lost or damaged within a certain timeframe around the wedding
• Costs and legal expenses associated with any damage or injury sustained because of your wedding

Be sure to read the exclusions in your policy carefully; you may think you are insured for something that you’re actually not when you read the small print. They also won’t usually pay to rearrange a wedding that has been cancelled due to a pre-existing medical condition.

Ideally your wedding insurance should be the first item on your things to do list when you are planning your wedding. If possible you should take out a policy before you spend anything on the wedding, and certainly before you pay any large deposits.  Sit down with your fiance and work out your wedding budget before you start checking out insurance policies so that you have an idea of the level of cover you will need.

Some insurance companies won’t allow you to take out a policy more than one year before the wedding, but shop around if you want to take out insurance sooner as many providers will offer this. There are certain companies that cover destination weddings in France.  You are not forced to have to accept a french wedding insurer.  

Accidents happen and I pray it does not happen to you, but you just never know.  If your venue lets you down, your florist goes bust, your cake falls off the table, or your wedding is cancelled because of  bad weather, it is comforting to know that you can rebook or replace without any expense, or at least get your money back. 

As an aside it is usually good practice to pay for all of your deposits and any wedding expenses that you can with your credit card which may in some cases afford you extra protection if an unfortunate eventuality befalls you that is not covered by your wedding. insurance. 

We hope your wedding in France goes off without any hitches.

Destination Weddings - Factors For Your Consideration

French Wedding

A wedding in France has become the big rage recently. 

Eight out of ten brides would if they could. It is a considerable expense for guests to travel and usually only the bridal couple’s closest friends and family are invited.

And there is no question that this is your special day and having it as perfect as possible is absolutely what you should strive for.  However, there are many different definitions of perfect, and perhaps you can consider expanding yours.

Sometimes couples find that a number of our family members can’t travel that far and really can’t afford it. On the one hand it is very important for the couple to have them there, but on the other hand it is their special day and they want it the way they want it. 

When you choose to have your wedding far away from your family and friends, you are essentially forcing people either to have to pay a large expense to attend, or to forfeit having them at your wedding. Having a destination wedding in an exotic location could be the experience of a lifetime for some of your guests, but it can also alienate those who cannot afford to attend.

If a woman in London marries a man in Australia, at least one side of the family and friends will have a very expensive trip and hours of travel. Often in order not to make just one side travel and the other not, couples select a destination wedding spot in between their two respective countries.

The price of a destination wedding depends on several factors. How much a destination wedding will cost depends upon travel costs, the cost of the venue and how many people are coming to the wedding.  The biggest variable is the number of guests you invite.  This will greatly impact your french wedding cost.

The further in advance you purchase the ticket, the less expensive it will be.  With the wedding venue you will typically need to pay a higher deposit than if you were a local. Budget $2,000 to $6,000 for the wedding castle venue alone . Do not consider for a minute skimping on a destination wedding planner - they are worth their weight in gold because you are not even in the country for the planning.{This will add extra cost, but a planner will let you be able to sleep at night.|} {Although the planner’s rates will often depend on your wedding budget, you can expect to pay between $300 and $3,000.} Wedding planner fees vary depending upon whether or not you engage them to help with your venue selection. Other typical expenses  also include flowers, catering ($50 to $100 per person), wedding gown, tuxes ($100 to $1,000) and other items.

French Wedding Legal Requirments And Customs

french wedding

The legal requirements for a civil wedding in France is a mine-field.  Most of the time, the bride and groom (and the officiant) are the only people who know that the ceremony is a vow renewal and not the real deal. This way, you can still have your dream wedding in romantic France, but you can also avoid the residency requirements and the extensive amount of paperwork, rules, and regulations. ~}

In some cases, such as a couple living in France to attend school, or if you or your partner is a resident of France, and you wish to obtain a marriage license, here are a few of the requirements for a marriage in France:

• All marriages in France must be performed by a French civil authority (an officier de l’état civil) before any religious ceremony takes place.
• A religious ceremony may be performed after the civil ceremony. The minister, priest or rabbi performing the religious ceremony will require the certificate of civil marriage (certificat de célébration civile) as proof that the civil ceremony has taken place.

Residence requirement and place of marriage:

• At least one of the parties must have resided in France for forty (40) days prior to the marriage.
• The civil ceremony will take place in the town of residence.
  Publications of banns:
• French law requires the posting of marriage banns at the appropriate city hall no less than ten days before the marriage.
• The first publication of the banns can be made only after thirty days of residence in France.

Marrying couples in France are required to have a civil ceremony at City Hall. This generally occurs the morning of the wedding day and is very short. A longer religious ceremony, usually in a church even if the bride and groom do not regularly attend, follows the civil ceremony. All guests are invited to the church ceremony, but unless you are immediate family or an extremely close friend, don’t expect an invitation to the civil ceremony.

The city hall ceremony is required in France as the church and state are strictly separated.  French wedding vows at these ceremonies have been set in stone by the government since Napoleon times.  A typical French wedding often lasts all day with the ceremonies, cocktails, four and five course meals, late night snacks and into the next with a day-after breakfast, a Sunday brunch or even continue on until Sunday lunch.

Although nearly all couples in France still choose to marry in church, the religious service has no legal significance and, in order to qualify for a church wedding, the couple must show that they are legally married under a civil arrangement. If the couple are resident in a country other than France then the civil ceremony may take place there, but the marriage certificate, translated into French, should be delivered to the authorities before the church service. A couple who are not French and who wish to have a civil ceremony in France are subject to a residency requirement, under which at least one of them must be resident in France for a minimum of 40 days prior to the wedding ceremony.

For more information please refer to your home country’s embassy website.  Requirements change all the time so it is imperative to use a wedding planner to check all your french wedding documents.  All of your english documents will need to be translated. 

The wedding procession is a tradition which is still prevalent in some smaller villages.

For the ceremony, the bride and groom are traditionally seated on red velvet chairs and covered by a silk canopy. After they leave the church, the congregation shower them with rice or sometimes wheat. It is also traditional for the couple to leave under an arch made of flowers or to walk over laurel leaves which have been scattered outside the church.

  Some times, these events include caricature artists who create and give guests free caricatures, gypsy dancers, magicians, children’s entertainment with babysitters, clowns, fairies and even videos and of course the dance entertainment may be provided by DJs, live orchestras or jazz musicians, just to name a few.

~}Finally, the bride and groom can choose to have a traditional wedding cake or a pièce montée, which is a cream puff pastry that takes the form of a pyramid, basket, horn of plenty or dishes.  Bride and groom figurines are placed on top.  Some of them even feature lit sparklers.  Tradition goes that the bride is to cut the first piece.  She can be assisted by her groom if she chooses.  The story goes that if this tradition was not kept, the bride would not be able to have children.  Also, it is supposedly bad luck if the figurines fall down.

The tradition of the bride tossing her bouquet is common in France as in other Western countries, but the old tradition of the bride’s garter being removed and tossed still prevails in certain areas. The tradition is said to have originated with Jewish society, where it symbolized fidelity.

The wedding night of the couple was traditionally disturbed by pranksters clattering pots and pans, blowing whistles or ringing bells. Today this is replaced by guests travelling to the wedding reception performing several laps of the local streets blowing their car horns and shouting loudly from car windows, and is perhaps the most unusual and ‘colourful’ feature separating the French wedding from traditions in other parts of the world.

A wedding in france is a fantastic romantic celebration.

Spectacular Black And White Wedding Theme Ideas

wedding castle

A Black and white wedding theme is perfect for so many couples because there are many advantages to choosing these contrasting colours. With such as stark contrasts your guests will not miss all the attention to detail you put into the colour theme of your wedding.

Your wedding photos will be a reminder of your wedding day and with a black and white wedding theme you’re wedding photos will have a wonderful co-ordinated background no matter which wedding accessories you’ve captured within them. This is especially true if you’re wearing a wedding dress which is an alternative colour to white.

One of the best things about using black and white as your wedding theme is that accessories are so easy to come by you can buy them from pound shops or your local supermarket.Or you could place a single black calla lily in a tall white vase. Black and white ribbon is easily obtainable for decorating chairs and walkways.It is also easy to match the wedding accessories as different accessories bought from different ranges or shops will vary in shades but with black or white this won’t be as noticeable like it would be in your colour scheme was pink or green.

If you’re getting married or having your wedding reception in a stately home or historic building, a black and white wedding theme is more suited; if you’ve spent extra money to get married in a beautiful building make sure your wedding scheme compliments it not detracts from it’s beauty. 

Black and white themes really lend themselve to weddings held at a wedding castle and especially a french wedding chateau.  Ornate wrought iron staircases are a beautiful backdrop for wedding photography.  Devore cut velvet fabric on tables and laser cut cut cake holders.  Classic calligraphy compliments the scrolls in the iron work.  There are  no shortages of scrolls and flourishes in a french chateau to embellish a black and white theme.  Oak boisserie (french wood panelling) lends itself to complimenting black and white photos. 

Some couples choose to give them away to their guests in the hope they will be reused, not just thrown in the rubbish bin and added to landfill.

A chateau wedding is a perfect venue for a black and white themed wedding.

Legal Requirements For A French Wedding

French Wedding

As the requirements for a civil wedding in France is usually difficult to comply with, many couples opt to have a legal wedding in their own country, before jetting to France for a religious ceremony held at an amazing location like a fairytale chateau

Either a civil or religious wedding in France will offer you a romantic and picturesque setting for your special day.  You can have a fairytale french wedding in a luxury  chateau and then continue your honeymoon in France or the French Riviera.  Some couples have engagement photos taken by a professional french wedding photographer which they then have projected on a screen during the dinner.

A civil marriage is obligatory in France and religious ceremonies, which are optional, are not legally binding in any way and can only be performed after the civil ceremony. To be legal, a marriage in France needs to be performed by a French civil authority. In practice this means that the mayor or his legally authorized replacement performs the marriage ceremony.

For a civil ceremony there is a requirement of residency in France which one of the parties to be married must comply with. One of the parties must reside in the town or the arrondissement if in Paris, for the thirty days prior to the marriage. In addition to these thirty days, French law requires the publication of the marriage banns at City Hall for ten days which makes a total residency requirement of 40 days before the ceremony can be scheduled to take place at City Hall.

Documents for a civil ceremony are as follows:
1. Birth certificate not from a hospital but from the official government Bureau for recording births like the Bureau of Vital Records in the United States of America.
2. A notarized “Affidavit of Law” (Certificat de Coutume), drawn up by an attorney in law licensed in the State of residence of the party, stating:
- that this person is free to marry
- that the marriage to be performed in France will be recognized as valid in their home country
- and that publication of marriage banns is not required in their home country, neither under States nor Federal law.

3. In the case of previous marriages, a certified copy of the death certificate of the deceased spouse or a certified copy of the final divorce decree needs to be produced.

4. Prenuptial certificate of health issued not more than two months prior to the date of the marriage by a medical doctor after:
- serological tests for syphilis,
- serological tests to determine blood types and possibly the presence of irregular anti-bodies,
- and further for females also serological tests for rubella and toxoplasma.
It is possible to have these tests done in France.

Regarding prenuptial agreements, if no special measures are taken by the parties with a French Notary or an attorney at law in the States, prior to the marriage, then they are considered married under the communaute reduite aux acquets.

All foreign documents need be legalized prior to being presented in the French authorities. American documents can be legalized by obtaining the Apostille provided for by the Hague Convention which was signed by the United States on October 15, 1981. The apostille is usually obtained through the office of the Secretary of State of whatever state the document was issued in.

In all cases, it is recommended that the couple contact the Marriage Bureau of City hall upon arrival in France as extra documents may be required, such as a residence affidavit. All the documents above must be translated into French for presentation to French officials.

American citizens holding ordinary American passports are not required to obtain a visa for a trip to France as long as they do not stay longer than 3 months. The visa exemption does not apply to journalists or to members of airline crews no matter what the length of their stay.

Nothing Beats A Roaring 1920s Wedding Theme

wedding France

A french wedding chateau is a perfect venue for a roaring 1920s wedding.  The 1920s was an era of decadent fun celebration. Jazz was always in the air, the country was prosperous. Girls had the time of their lives wearing shorter hem lines and having cut their hair into a bob.

Coco Channel was all the rage at this time.

Art deco was big in the 1920s. You can decorate the invitations with art deco design. The inkblot test was made popular during the 1920s, so go ahead and give your guests a test while you invite them to the wedding. Use bold, geometric shapes adorning the invitation page to a 1920s theme wedding

You can also use pictures of the actors and actresses that were made larger than life in the 1920s; people like Rudolph Valentino, and Nita Naldi. You can make a replica of a Vogue cover as it was in the 1920s as your invitation.

Choosing what to wear for a 1920s theme wedding is the most fun part of decorating. It was filled with wild styles that the wedding party, as well as the guests, can take part in. Flappers come to mind when evoking the styles of the 1920s.

Everyone should wear wigs cut in the style of the 1920s. Short bobbed haircuts and Josephine Baker inspired cuts. Cloche hats are very stylish and oh so french too.. The Cloche is often made of felt so it can be small and shaped for a close fit to the scalp. The simple hats can be decorated with feathers, bead, and scarves. For a more glamorous look, pearls and diamonds can be used.   Cloche is the french word for bell.

The 1920s were a time of large inexpensive Costume Jewelry that the wedding party, or the guests, can wear. The men should wear zoot suits reminiscent of the gangster look of the 1920s. The suits should be matched with two toned, patent leather pointy shoes.  Think “Have Zoot suit will travel”. 

The fun and drinking that you plan on having at your wedding was illegal during the 1920s.   The whole fun was the way that people got around all the prohibition laws. For your wedding, a major part of the decoration is to duplicate the secretive feel of this era. If you want to go over the top, choose a place that has a large room for dancing, and you can decorate it in as a speakeasy.

Set up a projection of an old 1920s movie to play on the wall to tie in the ambiance of the era. An old Charlie Chaplin silent movie would work well.

Jazz should be the theme of the night. From the beginning of the wedding to the end, play Jazz age greatest musicians like Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. Whether you hire a jazz band, or blast it from an ipod to speakers, the 1920s theme wedding should be all about Jazz.

You can make Gershwin’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, or a song from one of the many orchestra bands of the time, the theme of the night. If you have to, hire someone to teach your guest dances like the Charleston, Fox-trot, and the shimmy.

If you do not want the horse and carriages then think Gangester Car. 

Flapper dresses, cloche hats, zoot suits, Gershin and a vintage cars for transport to the chateau all add that special wow factor to your french wedding. 

By integrating as many of the popular styles and music of the era as possible, your Roaring 1920s theme wedding will by a huge hit with your guests and not soon forgotten and all your guests will want to have their very own wedding in France at a chateau.