Thanks, again, Celia. Good clarification, and useful information.
Not true any more re the blood tests - thankfully !
I also have a question about marriage in France. Is it possible for a non-French, non-EU couple to marry in France?
In addition to what others have mentioned and if its been covered sorry. But at least one of the people getting married must be resident in the canton for a period of 3 months prior to the wedding. Your birth certficates if UK ones must be translated by a government approved translator and you both must have blood tests in advance of the ceremony so you'll need to get into to see a local doctor and go to a clinic to have the tests done all this is additonal costs. Church weddings in France are not legally binding so only a cicvil service at the Marie will be recognised. On the plus side if you return to UK there is no need to regsiter the marriage, unless you want to. That aside I got married in France and it was brilliant and worth the hassle and massively cheaper than in the uk for everything.
Tim is right, this is the easiest and least stressful way to go about it. The couple don't have to exchange rings at the register office if they want to feel that their celebrations in France will be the 'real' wedding - That's all I meant by that in my earlier post Sheila. Some prefer to think of the legal bit as just that, and the real part is where they state their vows, in English, before their friends and family. And that can take place in your garden or just about anywhere as it doesn't have to be a specially licensed venue (meaning for weddings, not for booze!).
There's probably a celebrant local to you who will be happy to meet with them and discuss the options for their personalized ceremony where they will be able to have Their wedding Their Way rather than the faceless Mairie contract signing.
As I said, I may be able to help, depending on your location, or I could point you in the right direction.
I think the ariticle explained it nicely:
How to get married in France without all that fuss and nonsense?
Very simple: don’t.
You can avoid it all by simply having a civil ceremony in the UK before your wedding in France and this removes all of the legal and administrative complications of the French system.
I can tell you that for our wedding (maire), we both had to provide 3 forms of proof (factures, etc) that we had lived in the village for more than 3 months - even though my husband had been a resident since birth! It may be harder to get round than you think - it's my understanding you cannot marry in france as a non-resident.
Good luck!
Thanks for both your posts Tim, and what you say above confirmed what I thought. We did a lot of conveyancing in the law firm where I worked, and the amount of times I had to explain to people who produced their church certificate of marriage (to register title) that it had no legal standing was unbelievable. In my country, marriages are conducted by the county registrar who is a sworn officer of the court. For convenience, most priests are sworn in as officers of the court, and can therefore preside over/witness the signing both of the church register and the State register.
I'm inclined to recommend to her that she get married in the Registry Office first and come over here for the celebrations.
Thanks, Lucia. I will include that in the letter, but don't for the life of me know why I have to write to him, but this is France and this is how it is done in my little village, so I will do as requested. In any case, my French is adequate but not fluent, and he will know I got help to write it. :-)
Just wondering what you mean by "European" passports, by the way? I'm guessing you mean a passport issued by an EU member country. So, yes, she is an Irish citizen and has an Irish passport, so as soon as I have given in the letter, Madame D. in the Mairie will give me all the paperwork, but was insistent that I wrote the letter first and reserve the date.
As a ‘conseillère’, town councillor, I have acted as official secretary at a couple of weddings and been translator also for English or mixed marriages. I was surprised by the request for a “formal” letter from your Mairie, as in our small village, we just note the date and give the folder (in French) to the couple which explains the procedure and lists all the necessary documentation. The info in the link given above is helpful but doesn’t explain all the docs and details needed for the witnesses as well! If your Mairie secretary is helpful and accommodating, you should be able to get round the non resident bit, so long as a parent is resident…just don’t shout it to the rooftops, her/his job’s on the line!
Just a wee list of what they will require:
http://www.confetti.co.uk/honeymoons-travel/a-guide-to-getting-married-in-france/
If she and the futur husband have european passeports they can wed in France.
But she's non resident, so ask the list of legal documents to produce ( in multilingual version if possible or traslated by an official translator).
I wouldn't write this kind of letter, it sounds a little bit short, expecially if the Maire ( or she) has to agree to celebrate this wedding. Add a little reason why the marriage is there, and a little paragraph about the benefix of local entreprises; io if you organise a lunch or dinner in the village, if many guests are coming and the occasion to discover and enjoy the village ( = income for hotels & shopping, and so on).
The legal wedding is at the Mairie and is the only ceremony of legal standing.
If they want to "get married" in a church (for instance) that ceremony will have no legal standing but will have "sentimental" (for lack of a better word) standing with the couple.
Just bear in mind there will be loads of paper work to get in order (and probably apostilled, translated, etc., etc...)
They may find it easier (less hassle and paper work) to have a registry office wedding in the UK and a celebration ceremony in France.
Thank you very much Steffi. It's actually for my husband's daughter, who is non-resident, but I'm hoping we can get around that!
Thank you very much Celia. Your offer of help is much appreciated. However, I am somewhat confused by "real" wedding. I had assumed that a marriage ceremony performed by the Maire had full legal standing.
Hi Sheila,
Date, lieu,
Madame/Monsieur le Maire,
[Nom, Prénom conjoint] et moi-même, [Nom, Prénom], souhaiterions nous marier le [date] prochain dans la commune de [préciser] où nous sommes domiciliés. Nous serions particulièrement honorés de votre présence si, ce jour-là, il vous était possible de présider cette cérémonie civile.
Dans l’attente de votre réponse, que nous espérons positive, nous vous prions d’agréer, Madame/Monsieur le Maire, nos salutations distinguées.
[signature]
Bon courage,
Steffi
Hi Sheila, I don't know about the specific wording you ask for but there are formalities to be observed re the format of the letter.
Your Address top left underneath which your phone number, then Object : (here the subject of the letter).
On the right the recipient's address underneath which Fait à : (eg. Fréjus) and Date.
This is, as you probably know, the equivalent of the Register Office wedding in the UK or the signature of the wedding contract at the Judge's office in USA. The couple can then choose to have their 'real' wedding wherever and however they wish according to local laws and permissions.
I'm a Wedding Celebrant in the south, there are others on the west coast and one in the Alps. Please pm me if I can be of further help.
Good luck!