The wedding culture (1)

Recently I attended a French wedding at Alsace in the eastern France. The wedding was conducted in a very traditional way (now traditional weddings are almost extinct in those metropolitans) and I recorded this rare occasion here for those who still have the interest in the traditions.

In France, there are two types of wedding ceremonies. The wedding ceremony hold at Town Hall is a civil ceremony. This ceremony is obligatory for every newly weds and it gives the legal recognition of the marriage from the government. The other one is a religious ceremony hold at a Christian church for those religious people. This is optional. Because the newly weds' parents are very religious, they arranged two ceremonies. The civil ceremony was on the morning with the presence of the close family members. The religious ceremony was on the afternoon with family members and invited guests. When I arrived at the church, the car which carried the bride was just approaching with horns sounding.

At 4pm, guests were seated and the ceremony started. With “Bridal March” from Wagner, one extremely traditional wedding music played by an organist, the groom first entered into the church, accompanied by family members. After the groom arrived to the front hall of the church, the bride started to enter into the church, accompanied by her father. At this time, guests were standing to welcome both. The ceremony is guided by the priest. First, the priest gave a talk that conveys his best wishes and the meaning of Christian to newly weds, comprising singings together with guests and a small talk given by family members. Then, newly weds exchange vows ( at this wedding, newly weds read the vows themselves without the participation of the priest) and rings ( the ring is usually kept by a witness. At this wedding, it was kept by a youngest witness, a three years old kid. It was a lovely moment when the little kid stumbled to deliver the rings to newly weds.) The newly weds and the witnesses signed the register so that their marriage is recognized by the church. It also ended the ceremony. With “Wedding March” from Mendelssohn on, guests walked out of the church first and waited for the newly weds. When newly weds came out, guests threw rose petals to them and sent the congratulations to them. The ceremony lasted one hour.

After the ceremony, it was an apperitive at the second venue. After 20 minutes drive, we came to a countryside place. There is a beautiful lake surrounded by nice grassland and trees. Guests were free to enjoy Champagne and Canapies and talked with each other. It is also a moment to take nice pictures for newly weds against nice natural background. I liked this natural view a lot and stole the chance to take many pictures. :P