rench wedding

traditions

The civil service:

InFrance,theonlylegallyrecognized
weddingisacivilceremonywhichisheld
atthetownhall.Anapplicationshould
turnedintothetownhallanythingupto
12monthsbeforethedesiredweddingdate.
Themayorsofficewillthenreply
confirmingthedateandallottedtimefor
yourwedding.Thenumberofpeople
invitedtothecivilceremonydepends
onthenumberofseatsavailable,
bigfamiliescanoverflowoutsideinto
thecorridor.Generallyhoweveronly
closefamilyandfriendsparticipateinthecivilceremony.

The religious ceremony:

Catholicismis the number one religion in
France. Even if a family are not particularly big
church goers, they will more often
than not expect their children to have a
church ceremony to accompany the civil
ceremony. It is common to have
different witnessesfor the civil and
religious ceremonies depending
on their religious persuasion.

Le Lancer de riz
The French traditionally throw rice (le riz) over
the newly weds as they leave
either the town hall, the church.
The act of throwing rice or any other
confetti in France is, as in other
occidental cultures, to promote
fertility and to warn off evil
spirits.

Le Vin dHonneur'
Traditionally, the vin dhonour, literallytranslated
as wine of honour,is amini-reception
that takes place directly following the
civil or church ceremony. The Vin
dHonneur normally lasts a few hours
and isan opportunutyto relax after the
high emotions of the wedding ceremony
and for the married couple to invite
those with whom they would like to
share a part of their special day butwho
they will not necessarily invite to the
main wedding dinner and party.

 Often older guests such as friends of the

parents or grandparents will be invited to
the vin dhonneur as well as work
colleagues orneighbours. Champagne,
wineand cocktails such as the Kir
Royalare commonly the drink of choice at
the vin dhonneur.

Beeping of car horns

It is customary in France for the cars
following the wedding car to the reception
venue to beep their hornsall the
way. The tradition began as a way
to warn off evil spirits and the devil
but today its really just a way
to draw attention to the bide
and groom and to celebrate in a f
estive, fun way.

LApritif':
The aperitifor aperofor short, is
pre-dinner drinks (champagne
usually)
accompanied by savoury canaps
and verrines. The aperitiftakes
place after the vin dhonneur
and before the wedding dinner.

La Pice Monte
The pice monte is the French wedding cake. The
pice monte is brought out
in an extremely ceremonialway
after dessert and once guests have had
a chance to dance a little and is served
with Champagne. The pice monte
is traditionally a Croqenbouche, a
delicious cone-shapedcakemade from
pilingup cream filled profiteroleswith
hard caramel all round the outside,
decorated with spun sugar shapes, flowers or
ribbons.

Le Jeu de la Jarretire'
The Jeu de la Jarretire or Garter Game in
Englishis an auction which takes
at the wedding receptionto winthe
brides garter. An auction isconducted
by the DJ or master of ceremonies and
guests can bid cashto win the brides
garter.A pot or hat is handed round
in which people place money. The garter
either goes to the person who donates
the most money. The winner either
removes the garter by hand or with their teeth!

Pictures with French weddings