A week before the wedding I caught the Herpes virus, which apparently 80% of us have, even if it has never surfaced before. What a shock! My T-zone turned into a mass of blisters and I got conjunctivitis in the eyes. I looked like a monster! I spent half of the week visiting the doctor and the opthamologist's office and the rest of the time in bed in absolute agony. And the worst part was, stress makes it worse which was horrible because I was really stressed worrying that I wouldn't be well enough for my own wedding. On top of that, friends from Scotland started arriving half way through the week and I had to cancel all of my plans with them. What a mess...
Anyway, the night before the wedding I was a bit better and able to come out and meet all of our Scottish guests for dinner. There were 12 of them and Yves and I took them out to a cosy little restaurant in the city centre. Just about everyone seemed to love it and have a great time, except for Mum and my friend Louise who both ordered something they didn't like by accident and spent the night grumbling about it.
After dinner we took everyone for a stroll along the river to show them the city by night and the oldest, prettiest, bridge called Pont Neuf (The New Bridge) and then we walked back into the centre and showed them around the Place du Capitole which is especially beautiful by night when it's all lit up.
The next day, our wedding day, we spent the day getting ready and socialising with Yves' family over a buffet lunch at home, then Gav, Louise and her husband Oscar arrived and they, along with my mum, helped me to get ready. (Louise and Gav were my attendants.)
An hour before the ceremony, the photographer arrived to take a few photos of me getting ready. I wouldn't let him though, because I had a terribly unphotogenic makeup process to go through in order to cover the hideous red blisters on my face. Instead, he had to settle for taking pics of me out in the garden once I was presentable.
About 20 minutes before the ceremony the car arrived, decorated with flowers. Shortly afterwards we drove about 5 mins down the road to the mayor's office (Mairie) where the ceremony took place at 5pm in Saint-Orens (the village where we live).
As with all French weddings, the only ceremony that is legally recognised is the one you have at the mayor's office. You can have a church wedding afterwards if you really want to, but we decided not to since neither of us are religious and haven't really been inside a church for anything but touristic reasons in our entire lives.
At the ceremony, the mayor read out a long speech about the law and what is required with regard to raising children, making time to stop and appreciate each other etc which was really beautiful (Yves translated for me) and then he gave us a bronze medallion with an engraving of a young man and woman looking forward together on the front and our names and the date of the wedding engraved onto the back. We exchanged rings after the papers had being signed, and then we drove off to the reception. The venue, Chateau Lastours, is a small castle which dates back 600 years and is located in a small country town called Baziege and surrounded by fields of sunflowers.
At the castle, the reception was preceeded by the Wine of Honour which was held in the courtyard. This is a French tradition where everyone toasts the newlyweds with a couple of drinks and amuse bouche. Amuse Bouche are arrangements of appetisers no bigger than a $1 coin, which are beautifully presented and designed to whet the appetite. In the background I had Bach and Vivaldi playing over the sound system, which apparently fooled a few people into thinking there was a string quartet hiding inside! This went on until just before sunset at about 8.30pm, when we were called to take our places inside for dinner.
Inside, the red brick walls and thick wooden beams were decorated with ivy and in the corner were large bouquets of fresh oriental lillies and white roses which made the room smell beautiful. All 7 tables were covered with white linen and the chairs in a deep burgundy coloured satin. On the tables there were silver candelabras which our florist had decorated with white roses, ivy and some other flowers that I don't know the names of. The white candles were all lit when we entered the room and the scene was breathtakingly beautiful and romantic. I wished for a moment that I'd brought my camera...
The 6 course meal was prepared mostly from fresh regional produce and game which the caterer (who also owns the castle) bought just days before the wedding from the local markets. We started with Foie gras mi-cuit in brioche with black pepper, followed by filet of Monkfish in a shallot sauce. The main course was a filet of duck in a sauce with cepes (type of mushroom) with a flan of vegetables and tomato provencale. This was followed by the cheese course which was a trilogie of assorted cheeses (Roquefort, a goat's cheese and I can't remember the other one) which was garnished with lettuce and walnuts. After a short break, during which Yves and I went around the tables chatting to everyone, the lights were turned off and La piece montee (the traditional French wedding cake, which is essentially profiteroles piled up into a pyramid and a sticky toffee drizzled down from the top) was brought in, alight with sparklers. When the sparklers died out, we made a toast with champagne. After the wedding cake we had gateau au chocolat and then coffee and chocolate truffles.
The meal finished at around midnight and then Yves and I had our first dance, to 'You Belong to Me' from the Shrek soundtrack. After that we invited everyone onto the dancefloor with the Eddie Murphy version of 'I'm a Believer' (also from the Shrek soundtrack).
After a couple of the oldies started leaving (French weddings don't usually include dancing, just lots and lots of food and conversation), we decided to liven things up a bit with a Ceilidh -- traditional Scottish dancing. A couple of our Scottish friends wore kilts and one of these guys, David, gave a quick run through of steps before the music started. We had everyone skipping about the room and giggling themselves silly in a matter of minutes and for the rest of the evening it was like we were back in Scotland at a real Ceilidh.