Anyone get married in france?

Countryripple

Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on the nitty gritty?

We are getting married in a catholic church in France.

Now, we know that we cannot be 'legally' married in france as we wont be residents.

But you cannot have a religious marriage ceremony in France without having done a civil one anyway!

What we will be doing is getting the legal bit done here beforehand.

Does anyone know, do we just bring the cert we get from the regstrar at the civil ceremony with us to france? Or does it need to be an actual marriage cert that we need to get from the GRO after the civil bit?

Just wondering as need to figure out time wise when to try book this for!

Hoping that someone may have advice!!

Thanks

keyboardcook

I got married in France- legally- although my wife is French. I cannot see how it cannot be done. Knew non nationals who did it,

You have to make an application to a 'Marie' to be wed legally, and then off to the church.

EllieD

Hi there,

We got married in France. I wanted to get married in the church first, having my first 'walking down the aisle' in the church as I had always imagined it, but was informed by the mayor that this would not be allowed. That the priest would not have permission to marry us unless he had the form given by the town hall stating that we were already married legally. The understanding I got was that it was to avoid religious marriages that might not otherwise be legal (underage/already married?).

Not sure that this helps but PM me if you have any questions!

Countryripple

Thats great thanks.

What im wondering is i suppose, can we just bring our signed cert that we will egt in the registry office here, and take it to the priest in our church there and it can go ahead?

All the other required 'catholic' documents will be sent form my priest here.

Peregrinus

Countryripple wrote: »

What im wondering is i suppose, can we just bring our signed cert that we will egt in the registry office here, and take it to the priest in our church there and it can go ahead?.

You really need to put this question to the priest who will marry you in France. There's no point us assuring you that he will acccept the registrar's certificate and then you find out on the morning that he won't.

Peregrinus

keyboardcook wrote: »

I got married in France- legally- although my wife is French. I cannot see how it cannot be done. Knew non nationals who did it,

You have to make an application to a 'Marie' to be wed legally, and then off to the church.

In order to be married at the mairie, at least one member of the couple has to have been resident in the commune for at least 30 consecutive days before the publication of the banns (which must be at least 10 days before the celebration of the wedding). If you have a couple who reside in different communes, then they can get married in either commune.

But if you have a couple, both of whom are non-resident in France, then you have a problem. If the couple, or one of them, can take an extended holiday and stay in France - in one commune - for six weeks or so, then the residency requirement can be satisfied. If this isn’t possible, or if the couple don’t want to do it, then (unless there is an exception to the rule that I don’t know about) they cannot get civilly married in France. The French view is that, if they don't live in France, they should get married in the country where they do live.

They can have a religious ceremony in France, but French law forbids the conduct of a religious wedding ceremony unless the couple are already legally married. If they’re not being legally married in France, they they’ll have to have been legally married in some other country, and they’ll have to produce a civil marriage certificate to prove this before the priest will conduct their church wedding.

Jumpy

You will also need your civil cert translated OP.

Peregrinus they will already have had the civil ceremony done.

Peregrinus

Jumpy wrote: »

Peregrinus they will already have had the civil ceremony done.

Yes, Countryripple makes that clear. She's asking about what documentation, exactly, she will need to produce in France to prove her civil marriage in Ireland.

I was responding more to keyboardcook, who was suggesting that in general it should not be a problem for a non-resident couple to marry civillly in France. There is a residency requirement and, while it may be possible to satisfy it, doing so isn't trivial.

Countryripple

Hi all,

Yes we know all about the resedency laws etc.

And we will be legally married the week before here at home. Our preist has asked for everything in english.

Suppose we are just wondering when you get married in the registry office, do you receive something there and then to take away saying you are married?

marlenthapimp1

I am starting to plan my wedding in France, I already am civilly married in my country. I am trying to find a Catholic church that would be willing to marry us, since I have heard that it is very difficult to find a priest that will be willing to celebrate a marriage for a foreigner. Was it difficult to find a Parish?

Moonbeam

Countryripple wrote: »

Hi all,

Yes we know all about the resedency laws etc.

And we will be legally married the week before here at home. Our preist has asked for everything in english.

Suppose we are just wondering when you get married in the registry office, do you receive something there and then to take away saying you are married?

Yes, you can get your marriage cert there and then.