An American in Provence

The menu was as follows.
For starters: Terrine de saumon en cœur de Saint jacques, quenelle de crème fouettée aux herbes. This was a kind of salmon paté with a cream on the side.
The main dish: Rôti de magret de canard, bordelaise Sa fine garniture.
Duck with potato garnishes and a vegetablish pudding.
Next course: Méli mélo de salades aux fruits secs,Fromage servi au buffet
Salad and cheese.
Dessert: Pièce Montée- traditional French wedding dessert- cream puffs that are normally stacked into a pyramid but can be made into other shapes such as cars, windmills, hearts, etc.
Champagne and Café

We were presented with a gift of a huge (magnum?) bottle of wine that was personalized. I guess we have to save it (can be saved for up to four years) for a special occasion.

I felt that the meal was very good, but had absolutely no appetite. I ate most of the starter, a bite or two of duck, no salad or cheese, and one cream puff. The rest I fed to the guys at our table.
During the meal we went around to each table and had a picture taken. After the main dish, we had our first dance to "Man of the World" by Marc Cohn. The lyrics:
I want to be a man of the world, With blood in my veins and a hurt in my heart
Out in the street with the noise and the dirt, And the ones still looking for a brand new start
Oh I've been sleeping far too long, Hiding out in a palace of gold
Show me one thing before I'm gone, That can't be bought and can't be sold
Show me how to come alive, Show me how to make you mine
'Cause if you'd only be my girl, I could be a man of the world
Then I could be a man of the world

After that, Dad and I did the Father/Daughter Dance to "Apple of Your Daddy's Eye" by Peter Cetera. The DJ announced that it was an American tradition beforehand. For the third dance mom announced the couples that were celebrating their anniversary in the month of May and asked them to please come up and dance to "Power of Love" by Celine Dion.

Rudy and Manon seemed to have a great time and loved being together. I hope everyone else did too. Around midnight the Pièce Montée was brought out, in the shape of the château with Megan and Alain written on it. Our little cake topper couple was dancing on the terrace of the château. It looked great when they brought it in as they turned off the lights and put sparklers on the Pièce Montée. The sparklers went out and they draped towels on our shoulders. I had no idea what was coming. I thought perhaps it was so we didn't get dirty when we cut the château. They released two white doves behind us, which were supposed to fly around and then land on our shoulders I suppose. Notice my look of shock and Alain's look of concern in the photo. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the dove on my shoulder. The château was served, toasts were given. After that, people began to leave. We left around 2:30, and Nicolas drove us back to the B&B. It was a great day and I am so thankful for everyone that was able to come and those that weren't able to come but were with us in spirit.

The reception was held at the Château de Richebois, a château that has been turned into a Restaurant/nightclub. It has an interesting history in that it's original owner was an admiral who helped save the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
We had booked the Château back in August. Normally weddings are on Saturdays, as in the US, but the curé already had two weddings for the next day, the 27th, so we decided on Friday. There are several different party rooms in the château, holding anywhere from 25-200 people. We were hoping that enough people would come so that we could have the big room on the top floor with the dance floor, instead of the smaller restaurant room. Luckily, we were able to have the big room with the nice murals.
Originally, the cocktail hour was planned to be outside on the terrace which they had just finished repaving. However, the wind was too strong apparently, so it was moved indoors. We had a punch and some appetizers served.
Alain's friends had planned a surprise for him- a slideshow of pictures from his Bachelor Party. Which was a two day hike in the Alps with his friends Guillaume and Thibaut. In French the Bachelor Party is known as the "Enterrement de vie de garcon" (Funeral of the Boy's Life) or fille- for woman.
At a little after 8 it was decided that people could go up to the third level, where the reception was. Everyone else went up ahead of us, and two of Alain's second cousins carried candleabras ahead of us into the reception room. The DJ was playing "It's a Beautiful Life". I didn't really expect it to happen this way, I was expecting that we would go up first, leading everyone else into the reception hall.

After we left the church ceremony, we went back towards the Mairie, and then across the street to a public park to take some pictures. It is traditional here to for the newlyweds to have pictures taken with the different groups of people who came for the wedding. It was somewhat unorganized, but we managed to get some nice pictures.
After that, we went with the photographer (and Lucie, Nicolas, and Manon who were helping us) back to the Moulin B&B to have pictures of just us taken. There were some stupid feeling moments- pretend like you are riding a bike! I don't want to pretend like I am riding a bike. I hate bikes. I hate biking. No one is going to honestly believe that I, a bike hater, would try to ride a bike in my wedding dress, which is impossible anyway. We settled for standing in front of it.
We had told the guests that we would be back in the square at 6:15 to ride in the procession over to the reception hall. So around 6:10 I started saying, "Okay, we should wrap this up. People are waiting for us." No, no, just one more picture of you on a bike. Okay, now go stand by the pool. Last picture, promise. Anyway, the pictures turned out great but a big sorry to everyone who was waiting for us. Our photographer, Jacques, was great. (all of these pictures, except for the one on the Intro blog which was taken by Aunt Shari, are his.) And I highly recommend him to the 0.0005% of my reading public who one day might get married in this area and need a photographer.
So then we went out to the square, got in Lucie and Nicolas's car which they had decorated for us. Nicolas chauffered us to the reception, horns honking and lights flashing. Unfortunately, driving through the town with all of the round abouts and stop lights, the procession got split up. Thankfully, everyone seemed to manage to find the chateau okay.

We walked up to the church, Saint Julitte, which was begun in the 14th century. It is quite charming. We were early, so we waited outside awhile for the priest. It gave us a few moments to relax and talk to some of our guests. Then the priest appeared and the guests were able to enter the church.
The processional started, first Alain and his mother, then his father and my mom, then Rudy and Manon, and finally dad and me. Rudy and Manon did a great job. Since we had already had the civil ceremony and Alain and all the guests had already seen me, I felt very relaxed and excited about the ceremony, not nervous at all. The priest started by welcoming all the guests. Then I was supposed to translate what he said into English for all of the english speaking guests. But at this point all of my (ahem) FORMIDABLE French skills had completely left me. After a few umms and ahhs I thrust the microphone at Alain, who couldn't really translate it either. Luckily we had written a Welcome speech, so we got that out. (Here is it, in case the people who were there couldn't understand my garbled murmurings.)
"Your presence here is very special to us. We would especially like to thank the following- M l’Abbe Delignère who has helped us prepare this wedding and celebrate today our union. Our parents who have surrounded us with their love and encouragement. We would like to remember those who are not with anymore but remain forever in our hearts. Leah, Lucie, Olivier, and Guillaume - you are the witnesses of our engagement and are here accompany us in this important step of our life. And finally all of our guests who have come to share with us this happy moment. Thank you."
I tried to read it but got too emotional at the "We would like to remember those who are not with anymore but remain forever in our hearts." part so I thrust the microphone back at Alain who finished it up.
Leah did the first reading, the "Love is Patient, Love is Kind" speech.
Next Olivier and Guillaume alternated English and French for the Psalm reading.
Then the priest read the Gospel (The Beatitudes) and gave the Homily.

Next was the exchange of vows and rings.
Megan, veux-tu être ma femme ?
Oui, je le veux. Et toi, Alain,
veux-tu être mon mari ?
Oui, je le veux. Megan, je te reçois comme épouse
et je me donne à toi pour
t’aimer fidèlement tout au long de notre vie.
Alain, je te reçois comme époux
et je me donne à toi pour
t’aimer fidèlement tout au long de notre vie.

Then we had to read another prayer we had written. Alain did fine but I got all choked up. He kept telling me "It is okay dear, Breathe" and I could hear his mother saying "It's okay Megan".
Then the Our Father, the Nuptial Blessing, the Prayer of the Faithful (read by his sister Lucie and Aunt Shari in French and English). We had the final blessing, then presented a bouquet of white flowers to the Virgin Mary, a Provencal tradition. So I exchanged bouquets, we walked down the aisle and to the side altar where the priest spoke to us for a bit, I placed the bouquet on her altar, then we came back to the front altar. Then there was the next signing of the register, again by us and all the witnesses (four of them).
Then all of the guests filed past us, giving their congratulations and went out of the church. After everyone had left, we came out and everyone threw lavender on us. The bells were ringing like crazy, which I loved. Right after us, there was a baptism to take place. (and that morning a funeral). The church was full of flowers, mostly white according to tradition.

So the first step (well, on the actual wedding day, not including the hours of legal footwork) of a wedding in France is always La Mairie (or Hotel de Ville- no you cannot stay there overnight). As I have stated before, the ceremony must be performed first at the Mairie in order to be considered legal, before any religious ceremony can happen. So we walked to the mairie in Lancon, where all of the guests were waiting for us. We filed into the city hall, where the mayor was waiting with his blue, white, and red sash. Very official. Everyone came in and sat down. He greeted the guests, then read the marriage act (considering property, raising children, etc.). I didn't understand all of it so naturally just said Yes Okay Whatever to a life-long legal contract. He then pronounced us husband and wife. I was caught off guard for this moment and was more moved than I thought I would be.
Then the Signing of the Paperwork began. Not to be confused with the Singing of the Paperwork, which would have at least been slightly more entertaining for the guests. First Alain and I signed, then all of the witnesses. Then Alain and I had to both sign all of the papers that we had submitted for our file. We had extra due to the fact that I am a foreigner. Silly me. He handed me the Livre de Famille, which is a booklet containing all important family events. Which apparently is the "having of the grandchildren"- up to eight can be noted in the livret de famille before you have to go back and get another one. This of course is a Very Important Document which is given to you at a stressful helter-skelter moment and you had Better Not Lose It. Thankfully, I didn't lose it.
Then we had some pictures taken with the Mayor and everyone filed out. From there we processed up to the church.