Legally Getting Married in France

France has to be one of the most romantic countries to hold your wedding ceremony but there is a lot more to it than turning up and having a ceremony.

If you want to actually tie the knot at least one of you will need to be resident for at least 40 days in the commune you are planning to get married in before you can legally be married. Thirty days in order to apply for the wedding in France and then ten days for local government to put up a notice about your wedding in the town hall.

For the marriage to be legally recognised it has to be a civil ceremony so it be performed by a French Civil authority (officier de l'etat civil) and this includes the mayor ('maire'), the deputy mayor (adjoint) or a city councillor (conseiller municipal). Most opt to marry at the local town hall ('mairie'). When you contact the Mairie you'll be given a booklet (Guide des futurs époux) containing forms that are essential you submit to the mayor.

The forms and documents you will be required to present to the town hall are as follows:

• You will need to get blood tests done in a legally recognised French clinic to ensure your blood types are not incompatible. This is only required for women of child bearing age, the doctor will need to complete the certificate in the booklet.

• Fill out the forms in the booklet with all the personal details of each spouse as well as the list of witnesses, there must be a minimum of two and a maximum of four.

• Full birth certificate (detailing the parents) issued within three months of the date of your intended wedding. If you were born in Great Britain, the local registry where you were born will issue this certificate for a small fee.

• A certificate of law known as Certificate de Coutume. British citizens can obtain this from the British consulate in Paris. You can download the website and then send the completed for along with your original birth certificate and passport along with a fee (roughly 50 Euros).

• You will also need a celibacy certificate known as Certificat de Celibat less than three months old. This is simply a certificate stating that you are single and legally able to marry.

• Proof of a death certificate or divorce documentation if you were previously married.

• A valid passport or carte de sejour (French residency permit).

• You will also need to provide a translation of all these certificates done by a sworn translator ('traducteur assermente').

Once all the paperwork is sorted you finally get to the day of the wedding ceremony. The bride and groom are then legally married usually at the mairie in the presence of the mayor and the witnesses, just a note but they also require proof of ID. The ceremony only takes about half an hour and depending on the size of the mairie you could have the whole wedding party there to help you mark the occasion. A livret de famille is then issued after the ceremony along with the certificate of civil marriage which is required should you then want to follow up with a religious ceremony.

But if you want to avoid this mine field of red tape then the solution is simple, plan to have a small legal wedding ceremony at home and then have a your fairytale wedding in France.

You should always seek specific information and instructions from French authorities to verify precisely what is required.