Planning a wedding in France * getting married in France * arranging a wedding in France * planning a wedding on a small budget * low cost accommodation * cheap car hire * discount ferry travel

With the frightening prospect of 400 guests attending my daughter's wedding in France, the thought of planning her wedding on a small budget and her getting married with a simple ceremony is fast diminishing. At the end of the day it is her marriage and I have to bow to her wishes but if I had my way, I would rather give her the money than spend it on one day.

Start of article about getting married in France.

When my wife and I got married twenty five years ago we opted for small and simple affair. We had first fallen in love in our teens; but realising we were too young, had gone our separate ways with a promise that if it was meant to be, one day we would get back together and marry. Ten years later, I walked back into her life and a few months later we did get married.

In fact, we announced our plans and were married within three weeks. There was no time to plan a big marriage, we didn't have the money to waste on a big wedding and didn't expect our parents to pay for anything. The only thing that was important to either of us was each other. The event was just a ceremony to get out of the way and get on with our lives.

None of our friends believed that a whirlwind romance like ours would last, obviously not grasping the fact that we had been in love with each other for over a decade. All around us, friends were getting married and spending thousands on big weddings, yet twenty five years on, our marriage is the only one that has lasted amongst all our friends.

Getting married in France    Wedding in France    Planning a wedding in France
Arranging a wedding in France    Organising a wedding in France    French wines   
How to get married in France
Cheap accommodation in France    Budget car hire in France    Discount ferry travel to France

I'm a great believer in the idea that the more expensive the wedding, the cheaper the relationship. People who have to spend a lot of money on a wedding are often trying to convince themselves and possibly everyone else that they have a solid relationship that will last a lifetime.

The wedding day is just one day, the start of a marriage and it is the marriage that is important not the wedding. That is not to say that your wedding day should not be something special, I am just trying to emphasise that everything that comes afterwards is more important.

Now my daughter is marrying a Frenchman and he wants the whole day to be something special. The civil ceremony, the church service and an invitation sent to everyone he can think of to make their day memorable. As I am paying, I certainly won't forget it in a hurry.

For once, my daughter seems to be going with the flow, obviously caught up in the sense of the occasion and not, as she would normally do, looking at the bottom line. All hope of an elopement have gone and I am wondering how I am going to keep this wedding within a sensible budget.

Am I being mean minded and tight fisted? Maybe, but I would rather give her the 30,000+ Euros this is going to cost to invest in a new property than spend it on one day that will go past in a flash and which she is likely to only remember as a blur at the back of her mind.

So I am sitting here wondering how I can provide my daughter with the wedding day she wants without having to liquidate some of my assets. Plus, we are going to have to deal with the French bureaucracy that will undoubtedly accompany arranging a wedding in France.