An intimate mairie townhall ceremony in quaint Puteaux on one Saturday to legally bond Kim and Anthony in matrimony in France, followed by a religious ceremony one week later at the American Church in Paris, two dresses, and one perfect couple equals a recipe for a lovely Paris wedding! Kim and Anthony are absolutely adorable together. They are both laid back and calm. Anthony is from France, and Kim from the United States.
And indeed, after all the wedding celebrations were over, we agreed we have to meet up for a Friday aperitif at some point just to keep in touch. This wedding was first mairie ceremony in France that Doug and I have photographed. Since we are still learning French, we were a touch nervous going into it, but the employees involved in their ceremony went above and beyond to make sure we were also comfortable in our roles and let us know we could move about anywhere we wanted to during the ceremony, even encouraging us to come closer several times.
It was incredible! The walls of the beautiful room they were married in were covered with murals of muted colors. It felt as though I had taken a step back in time when we first walked in the room. My heart also skipped a beat when I saw the near floor to ceiling windows with light flooding in them. When it was time to begin, their intimate group of guests, took a seat along the benches.
Kim and Anthony walked in hand-in-hand and took a seat in the two oversized chairs, in front of a large desk, that reminded me of a more informal judicial desk. A few French representatives waited at the front to oversee the ceremony. The officiant wore a French sash across his body. To get married in France legally, it is required that the couple first marry in the town hall, but then they can also have a ceremony elsewhere if they wish to as well.
The formalities were all happening in French, but to my pleasure, I was able to follow along quite well. I heard the officiant reading aloud the precise laws dealing with marriage, I surprisingly recognized plenty of terms from my civics class. I learned more than I realized. After the legal formalities, Kim and Anthony exchanged rings and sealed the deal with a kiss!
