David is absolutely correct. A 'legal' wedding in France is only possible if you have lived in the country for more than 40 days or have family here. Please see below (an excerpt from my wedding planning questionnaire) for details:
Ceremony
Non-Residents - for those who don’t have a home or parents with a home in France.
As you may already know, it is only possible to have a ‘legal’ wedding ceremony in France if you have lived in the country for more than 40 days (and can provide proof or residence, by means of a utility bill) or have parents who already have a house over here. If, like the majority of our clients, you don’t fall into this category, we would advise that you do the legal part of the ceremony in your country of residence before coming out, then have a symbolic ceremony at the venue of your choice here in France. A symbolic ceremony looks and feels exactly like a legal ceremony, can be either religious or non-religious, and would normally be held by an Officiant – in some cases the Officiant is a close family friend.
French Residents – for those with a home or who have parents with a home in France
If you are resident in France, you are obliged to have the legal part of your ceremony in the municipal building (Mairie in French) that is closest to either your or your parents’ place of residence. As it is usually short and impersonal (approx 15 minutes; the majority of it spent verifying names and addresses, along with signing lots of bits of paper), most people choose to follow this with either a religious or non-religious ceremony.
Would you like us to organise (this includes helping with paperwork and translation – please state if you are in need of either of these services) your civil ceremony at the Mairie?..........
If any of my clients are eligible for a ‘legal’ wedding in France, then I am of course on hand to help out with any necessary paperwork and translation as I know what a nightmare this can be! For those who aren’t, we work with a lovely team of celebrants who can perform a symbolic ceremony here in a France, either before or after the legal ceremony in the country where the couple are resident.
Will make sure this is clear on my website. Thanks David.
Comments to taglines82@gmail.com
