Unless you are very wealthy or you or your fiancé is a resident of Paris it is very unlikely that you will be able to have a French wedding. Paris and other cities in France have rather strict laws on marriage. Every couple in the country must first have a ceremony performed by the French Civil Authority. Then they can have a ceremonial wedding. However, in order to qualify for a civil wedding you must meet some very specific requirements before they will perform the wedding. Paris requires certain documentation, such as a United States passport or French residency permit, a birth certificate and certificate of celibacy among other legal paper work. By the way a certificate of celibacy isn’t exactly what it sounds like. This simply shows that you are single or divorced and are legally allowed to marry. There is also one more stipulation, which could be a bit expensive if you are not marring a resident of Paris. In order to receive a civil wedding, Paris requires one of the two of you to be a in the city a minimum of 40 days beforehand. Without a civil marriage you cannot have a ceremonial wedding service.


You can create your own wedding Paris style. If you know about French wedding traditions you can create your own wedding in Paris. One very unique tradition in French weddings is that the groom escorts the bride from her home to the chapel on the way to the wedding. As they walk along the streets friends and children string white ribbons across their path and the bride cuts them along the way. You can make several variations on this idea. If the bride’s home is close enough to the church to do this it can be done easily enough. However, if the church is not within walking distance there are other options. It is possible to have the bride and groom meet at a location near the church and make their procession from there. If you’d rather keep the procession inside the chapel you can begin by stretching the white ribbon across the middle aisle. This way the groom can agree to walk down the aisle with the bride as she cuts the ribbons or if the bride would rather have a bridal party the groom can wait at the alter as someone in the bridal procession cuts the ribbon, it does not have to be the bride.



French tradition can also influence the decor of your wedding. Paris is the city of fashion so choosing your dress may seem difficult. Paris wedding dresses seem to follow certain fashion standards. Most of these dresses are either sleeveless or strapless. Bridal gowns and bride’s maid’s dresses also tend to accentuate the bust line and are tight at the waist. Corseted gowns are also very popular. Flowers serve their purpose in wedding tradition as well. On their wedding day brides commonly wear an orange blossom to symbolize virginity. Bouquets are often made of vibrant and fragrant flowers. It is believed that the sweet fragrance will ward off evil spirits. Among the flower arrangements there are other traditional decorations used in French weddings. In Paris the bride and groom stand beneath a silk canopy during the ceremony. This is meant to protect them from bad luck. Another common tradition is to scatter laurel leaves on the ground as the couple exits the church. In some cases people have also been known to scatter the laurel leaves along the center aisle rather than the petals of roses as is customary in many United States’ weddings.


The feeling of Paris does not have to stop with the ceremony though. You can continue the theme into your wedding reception as well. Your Paris themed wedding reception does not have to stop with Eiffel Tower centerpieces. By tradition guest to a French wedding bring small cakes for the bride and groom, which are stacked on top of each other in the middle of the table. To signify a long life together, the bride and groom kiss over the cake. You don’t have to have everyone bring a cake but many people like to substitute a croquembouche. This is a pyramid of crème-filled pastry puffs drizzled with caramel. Of course you can still have your traditional wedding cake as well. Another French tradition you may want to incorporate is a change in toast. Instead of the bride and groom toasting each other with two separate glass they can use the traditional two handed toasting glass to make their toast as the French do. Performing the toast with this special glass is a symbol of everlasting happiness. For that perfect Paris wedding you don’t have