A guide to getting married in France with a wedding celebrant
If you are planning to get married in France, or to have a celebration of your marriage in France after a civil ceremony in the UK, you may think first about your venue - a romantic chateau, maybe? A beach? In the beautiful countryside - in a vineyard or a field of sunflowers?
You will probably want an English-speaking celebrant - a ceremony with a French ambience, but in English.
Then you will be thinking about the format of your day and the ceremony itself.
Non-religious but spiritual. Profound without prayer. Fun...A ceremony which reflects us...
...just some of the elements couples consider. If you are not religious, you will probably rule out a religious ceremony but you may still want something spiritual. A humanist or secular wedding celebrant can create the ceremony you want - with a choice of your readings, your music and your vows - they can help you to design your perfect day.
The legal bit...
Many couples who celebrate their marriage in France fulfil the legal obligation in a registry office in the UK or their country of residence first, then come to France to have the wedding celebration they want, witnessed by friends and family. Others choose to marry here at the local Mairie, because they live here , or their parents or friends do.
As it is a somewhat complicated process to outline, here is a link _ to an article, How to get Married in France, which describes the legal process step by step.
Your choice of celebrant...
Just as your dress, your music, your venue will be based on your personal choice, so will your choice of celebrant. So how to choose? You can look at what celebrants say about themselves - look at what they have done. Are they trained? Are they professional? And then, crucially, at what others say about them. Your choice is important as the celebrant, sets the tone for the wedding... this is the way one couple expressed it.
"Choosing the right marriage celebrant is important because the celebrant is key in setting the appropriate tone for a wedding. It was important to us to have someone with whom we bonded.
Moira gets around the sorts of challenges faced by couples planning a destination wedding by being very proactive and organised from the start. She gave us ample time to think about the key messages we wished to convey to our guests during our civil ceremony, and to ensure that she was the right fit for us.
From the beginning, we were immediately drawn to Moira's warmth, thoughtfulness and sincerity throughout the process."
(Estee 2015)
Experienced, professional...
As an experienced wedding celebrant, trained in the UK, you can be confident in my professionalism and integrity. Read what other couples and wedding planners say about my ceremonies and if you think you will like my approach here's a guide to what to do next...
What to do next...
Contact me using the contact/connect form
You will probably want an English-speaking celebrant - a ceremony with a French ambience, but in English.
Then you will be thinking about the format of your day and the ceremony itself.
Non-religious but spiritual. Profound without prayer. Fun...A ceremony which reflects us...
...just some of the elements couples consider. If you are not religious, you will probably rule out a religious ceremony but you may still want something spiritual. A humanist or secular wedding celebrant can create the ceremony you want - with a choice of your readings, your music and your vows - they can help you to design your perfect day.
The legal bit...
Many couples who celebrate their marriage in France fulfil the legal obligation in a registry office in the UK or their country of residence first, then come to France to have the wedding celebration they want, witnessed by friends and family. Others choose to marry here at the local Mairie, because they live here , or their parents or friends do.
As it is a somewhat complicated process to outline, here is a link _ to an article, How to get Married in France, which describes the legal process step by step.
Your choice of celebrant...
Just as your dress, your music, your venue will be based on your personal choice, so will your choice of celebrant. So how to choose? You can look at what celebrants say about themselves - look at what they have done. Are they trained? Are they professional? And then, crucially, at what others say about them. Your choice is important as the celebrant, sets the tone for the wedding... this is the way one couple expressed it.
"Choosing the right marriage celebrant is important because the celebrant is key in setting the appropriate tone for a wedding. It was important to us to have someone with whom we bonded.
Moira gets around the sorts of challenges faced by couples planning a destination wedding by being very proactive and organised from the start. She gave us ample time to think about the key messages we wished to convey to our guests during our civil ceremony, and to ensure that she was the right fit for us.
From the beginning, we were immediately drawn to Moira's warmth, thoughtfulness and sincerity throughout the process."
(Estee 2015)
Experienced, professional...
As an experienced wedding celebrant, trained in the UK, you can be confident in my professionalism and integrity. Read what other couples and wedding planners say about my ceremonies and if you think you will like my approach here's a guide to what to do next...
What to do next...
Contact me using the contact/connect form
- I will reply within 2 days and suggest we set up a Skype or Facetime call to discuss your initial plans, and so that we can find out a bit more about each other.
- I'll follow up with a questionnaire, which you can complete online - people usually find it good fun to do - and this will give me a better idea of who you are, and what, as a couple, you would like the ceremony to be.
- I will draft a ceremony for you and send it to you for your approval - you may know already what vows you want to make, the readings you want, the music you will have - and if not I will make suggestions for you.
- Then we will make any changes that you may want - we can do this until the ceremony is exactly right for you - it is unique to you.
- I work on the final copy. You can contact me at any time in the process - up until the day of the ceremony...
- On the day before, unless distance is prohibitive, I am happy to attend a rehearsal.
- On The Day, I arrive in good time to check in with the 'stars' of the day and their families, make sure that the ceremony venue is set up as we have discussed and run through the 'choreography' of the ceremony.
- ...and then between us we make a memorable, meaningful and enjoyable event
