Getting married in France on a budget

TC123_3

Hi,

Has anyone got married in France ?
We're looking for location ideas and would like to keep the costs to a minimum.
Any suggestions ?

Many thanks,

Teresa

ellay864

Not sure that I can recall any mention specifically of France but why not pop over to see us on the weddings board. There's several people got/getting married abroad even if not France, and in any case you'll get loads of advice on general fun weddingy things

Curlywurli

Do you realise that one of you has to be living there for forty days before the ceremony?

CL

http://www.chateaudelaligne.com/corporate-events-and-weddings/wedding-packages This is a wine producing Chateau in Bordeaux that hosts weddings.

I know people who got married here and neither of them lived in France for 40 days.

Mupette

OH an me thought about it.

If you want a church wedding you must have registry wedding too... its the rules.

You must be a resident for at least 40 days.


What CL is on about is your typical package, but no church.

I attended a wedding in france a few years ago, my friend married her french boyfriend, beautiful as it was..quite an ordeal of registry wedding then off to the church for the church wedding, (but it was lovely)

Then the party after that went on for hours and hours with the most delicious food.


Will your guests be able to join you, funds for accomodations....?

maman

My nephew married a French girl and although neither lived there at the time it was held in her 'home' village so I suppose that's how they got round a 40 day rule. Being a small village in the Dordogne, the Mairie and Church were close to each other in the village centre so we walked in procession from one venue to another. It was a very different experience for the British guests and we loved it. Reception was held in the village hall using outside caterers and that was in walking distance too plus we were all accommodated in gites belonging to the Mairie. It made for a great holiday alongside the wedding.

CL

Mupette wrote: »

OH an me thought about it.

If you want a church wedding you must have registry wedding too... its the rules.

You must be a resident for at least 40 days.


What CL is on about is your typical package, but no church.

I worded my post incorrectly. The couple got married at the local church and registry office and had their wedding reception at the venue above. Neither were French or resident for 40 days. Not sure how they got round this, but the venue I sent a link for will be able to advise.

January20

Have a look at this website.

http://www.frenchentree.com/france-family-life/displayarticle.asp?id=40334

Sounds like a lot of hassle just to get married in France!

TheConways

We get married in Geneva next month, and considered having our wedding over the border in France, but there are several restrictions on residency. In France and also in Switzerland, you cannot have your legal wedding and church wedding combined... It is v. Awkward!

Have you considered marrying in Italy? It is beautiful and you don't need to be a resident to marry.

Definitely recommend doing lots of research. Good luck!!

chatnoir

We got married in France last September, we had a very small registry office service at out local reg office (with parents only) and then we went to a chateau in the Loire valley for a long weekend with 30 friends and family, where we had a wedding blessing by a local retired priest (English).

But....it wasn't cheap, we could have done it cheaper but we paid for all our guests accomodation as we didn't want anyone to miss out cos they couldn't afford it.
We visited a few english venues before deciding on france but they overchaged for evrything...£5pp for a bacon butty for the evening guests!

One other word of warning, beware of Chateau du Guerinet! We booked with them in 2009 to hold our wedding September 2010. In March 2010 we received an email from the owners saying they were seperating and having to sell up immediately so they could no longer go through with our wedding, and could not repay our deposit!!!!!! We have since found out it was all a scam and they had actually run off back to Oz with alot of peoples deposits and the venue is being managed by a "friend". Thankfully we were insured so got out deposit back from that, but I know some couples where not so lucky!

If you want any other advice just PM me x