How to get married in France * planning a wedding in France * low cost accommodation * cheap ferry crossings * how to get married in France * French wines * budget car hire * arranging a marriage

More and more people are choosing France as the venue for a marriage and why not. Cheap wine and champagne, better and cheaper food, magnificent Chateaux and other venues all make it one of the best countries to organise a marriage.

However, remember the French invented the word bureaucracy, or rather, they invented a load of unnecessary paperwork and obstacles to overcome and then invented a word for it.

Start of article about getting married in France.

Don't worry, there are companies who specialise in arranging weddings in France who can handle the bureaucratic nightmare. However, if you are planning on handling the weeding arrangements yourself, as someone who is in the process of sorting out his own daughters wedding, here is some succinct but useful information.

• Civil weddings are the only weddings legally recognised in France.
  
  
• Most people have a civil wedding followed by a religious ceremony.
  
  
• A religious ceremony cannot be performed until after the civil marriage.
  
  
• A French civil authority (Mairie (Mayor), conseiller municipal or adjoint Mairie) performs the civil ceremony in the village or town in which one of the partners getting married has resided for at least 40 days immediately prior to the wedding.
  
  
• Publication of the banns in the Mairie (town hall) where the wedding is to be held is compulsory in France.
  
  
• Evidence of residency must be shown for example through a utility bill or a rent payment.
  
  
• Most Mairies take about 6-8 weeks to process a marriage application. Some are more organised than others and will do it faster.
  
  
• Documentation will vary for each Mairie, so it is imperative that you meet with them in order to determine their exact documentation requirements and terms of validity. Ask questions, if you are missing an essential piece of documentation on the day, you wedding plans may go up in smoke.
  
  
• Documentation, in some cases may need to be issued less than 3 months prior to date of the wedding or publication of the banns.
  
  
• You will be provided with a booklet which contains essential forms for you to complete and submit to the mayor.

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The forms which you need to complete are as follows:

1. Both partners need to have a medical with a doctor in France. The blood test is only obligatory for women of child bearing age. The French doctor will complete the certificate in the booklet mentioned above.
   
   
2. Both partners need to fill out the forms in the booklet which provide the Mairie with the personal details of each spouse as well as the names and addresses of witnesses (minimum of two, maximum of four).

You will also need to provide the following where appropriate to the Mairie:

• A full birth certificate, for both partners, with details of both parents and issued within three months of the wedding date.
  
  
• A translation of the birth certificate supplied by a sworn translator ('traducteur assermenté').
  
  
• A foreigner must also supply a certificate of law ('certificat de coutume')
  
  
• Decree Absolute (final divorce papers, if applicable)
  
  
• Death Certificate (if you are a widow or widower)
  
  
• Change of Name Deed (required if you have changed your name)
  
  
• Written consent from your parents or guardians (if either of you are under 18 years of age)
  
  
• And a celibacy certificate ('certificat de célibat').
  
  
• British citizens can obtain the certificate of law from the British consulate in Paris. You need to send the consulate a form which can be downloaded from their website along with your original birth certificate, passport and the appropriate fee.
  
  
• A celibacy certificate does not exist under British law. (Why would it, we all know that all British brides are virgins when they get married). Although this certificate is actually to testify that you are single and free to marry. You can obtain an official attestation from the consulate confirming this fact.
  
  
• Your passport or national identity card

Having produced all the above documents at the Mairie, the banns can then be published. They must be published ten days prior to the wedding ceremony.

The mayor or Adjoint reads the legal texts governing marriage in France, verifies whether an ante nuptial agreement has been written and if one exists, a certificate issued by your Notaire must be given to the mayor prior to the banns being posted) the Mayor will also need to ascertain that both parties consent to this agreement.

The couple then sign the marriage act followed by their chosen witnesses. You are then given a 'livret de famille' which contains a copy of the marriage act.

Once you have obtained your Marriage Certificate you must have it translated into English. Visit your nearest British Embassy and have the certificate translated. You can request the certificate then be forwarded to the General Register Office in the UK where it can be deposited.

And that's it, nothing could be simpler, well it could but this is France and they have a lot of people working for the government that need to be kept busy.