Le Fete et Marriage – 21 Aout 2015. August 21, 2015

Bon Soir

Just back from the wedding.. it’s about 2 am here (about 5 or 6 pm your time).. Not sleepy so thought I’d just write this up tonight. It will be long.. so feel free to pass..

Left you off last night as we headed to the 50-person eve of wedding dinner… held at a local restaurant in Cairanne… just down the hill from Richard and Elizabeth’s house… Lovely — outdoors on the patio of the restaurant.. It was great to meet everyone before the big day. Food and drink were wonderful, of course.. All local wines from the village. Meal started with salmon tartare followed by an eggplant dish followed by a choice of pork or veal (not many vegetarians floating around France) with wonderful ratatouille and potato gratin followed by a flaky apricot tart (told you they are in season and they are everywhere)…

Met Hem’s parents (she was wearing a fantastic sari) — nice people who grew up in Tanzania but had British citizenship. Families migrated to London when the Brits were forced out of Tanzania. And they’ve lived there ever since the age of 18 or so. This was only their second time on an airplane and only their second time out of England. So this was all a big event for them and I was wondering what they were thinking… The mother has two brothers (Hem’s uncles).. actually she has 9 siblings but only these two brothers came. Anyway, the “uncles” seemed to attach themselves to Mike — stating some kind of natural affinity — uncles to uncle! Kind of cute.

The guests range in age from 3 weeks old (flew in from London) to late 70s or so.

After the dinner we headed back to our hotel.. which is now overrun by wedding guests — taking over all of the 5 or 6 rooms here — all young friends of Emma and/or Hem…. from Hem’s days at Bloomberg or university or Emma’s days at college or work. Funny guys.

This morning we headed to Orange (about 20 minute drive)… I had actually booked a shampoo and blow dry in a hair salon there (There isn’t any place in Cairanne, and this seemed my best shot. The women in the salon were pretty funny, but unfortunately my French is not at the level where I can have a decent conversation, so I’m not totally certain what the topics were. In any case, they did a good job.. although my coif is a bit “pouffier” than normal.. I was able to explain that I was going to a wedding and it was a special occasion. They are also pretty big on hair spray! Anyway, Mike had found refuge in a small chapel and thus was able to nap since he had no interest in sitting in the hair salon. Afterward we strolled through Orange, had a “salade” that included tomatoes stuffed with aubergine and a summer squash stuffed with couscous.. big enough to share (which we did, but which is clearly uncommon). Then off we went — back to Cairanne to get ready for the big event. Dressed and drove off in style in that Mercedes that the car rental company gave us (which feels comfy at about 95 MPH on the autostrada)… Getting kind of accustomed to such a cushy car.. what will I do when I return to my Prius and my Fit?

From here on in — choose the sections you might be interested in or skip…

Arrival to the ceremony and pre-ceremony activities

Arrived at the “donjon” as the old city hall at the top of the hill, inside the ramparts (and about 50 feet from Richard and Elizabeth’s front door) is called. It looks a little like a church, it’s small — probably only seats about 50 people (and the wedding had about 120 people — so it was more than “standing room only” — although as family we had reserved seats. The processional for the wedding in France is quite different from the US.. Here, everyone waits outside until you are summoned in… There’s a flight of stairs up to the donjon… so everyone mingled, lots of selfies and photographer snapping images.. got a sense of who was at the wedding.. and the attire which was pretty varied.. including one 8 year old who came in a pirate’s outfit (but I get the sense that he is always in costume).. big black cape and the hat.. and he had shoulder length hair.

Anyway, the mayor and the other officiant (who in this case was my sister-in-law and also the mother of the bride) wearing the official sashes of the Republique of France (red, white, blue sashes that go across the chest and back.. with the Mayor’s having gold stars and Elizabeth’s being pretty straight forward.. walk up the stairs first.. followed by bride and groom.. and then the parents of the bride and groom and then the wedding party and then all the guests.. But Emma switched it a bit.. and so she came in last and made a grand entrance.. although she had to squeeze between all the people.. I should also note that since the donjon is in the center of the vieux village (with only about 25 houses surrounding it.. ) anyone who wasn’t coming to the wedding was looking out their window to watch the whole thing. The setup is a “desk” at the front of the room with two chairs behind and two in front.. So the groom sits alone on one of the chairs after he comes inside.. The officiants are on the other side of the desk.. The groom’s back is to the audience. Then once the bride comes in, she sits next to the groom. (Until she came, it looked like Hem was facing an inquisition)

The Ceremony

With Emma and Hem seated in their chairs, the ceremony began. It’s quite official with a reading of a whole set of appropriate laws guiding marriage in France — took about 15 minutes. It was read in French and then roughly translated into English. Elizabeth (who I might have explained is an elected member of the town council — apparently a big deal… and interesting that in France property owners can be elected to certain offices even if they are not citizens — take that Donald Trump!) did the entire ceremony bilingually — very impressive and the French commented how totally proficient she is (Elizabeth is British). As the mom, she also got a bit choked up at the start which was totally sweet. There were three questions that required responses and they were said in French.. There was a lot of laughter when Hem said “yes” to the first question which asked (in French, which he doesn’t speak) if he has entered into another marriage contract.. This was all quickly corrected and the subsequent queries were all fine. Then the Mayor read some big declaration — only in French — and then it was over (kiss the bride…) And then the couple was presented with some official “gifts” from the village (which I assume all couples married in Cairanne receive) — a book on the history of the village; a booklet about the history of the donjon; and the “medal” of the city which has Cairanne’s seal on it.. And then they walked out and down.. and actually walked down the hill from the ramparts into the “lower village” (followed by most guests) to waiting buses to chauffeur everyone from the village to the wedding venue — vineyards about 3KM away.. Our car was parked close by so we drove to the venue (because we had some tasks assigned to us, including finishing getting the flowers on the dinner tables — they had been done earlier but it was windy and there was fear that they would fall over).. Oh… they throw lavender and do bubbles.. I was up close, and covered in all that lavender.. smelled good… and it was unexpected.. apparently there were little cups of it lining the steps of the donjon that you pick up as you leave.. but I didn’t know that.

The Wedding Dress

So, Emma is drop-dead gorgeous.. with long blonde hair.. about 5’11”.. and with impeccable taste. The dress — many of you have asked — mmm how to describe… a beautiful just off white sleeveless floor-length silk slip with V-neck front and low v neck back that just falls on the body.. On top of that she had a beautiful lace backwards “vest” that was also floor-length with a simple curved back part that graced the floor a bit. The lace “vest” had a silk ribbon at the waist that clipped in the back .. the lace part formed a V at the back all the way to the waist.. and then below the waist the lace part was totally open so that it fell comfortably to create a great shape.. I’d call the dress elegant, demure, and very sophisticated.. but also very very simple.. She had two gold hair clips flanking her hair that was pulled back and sort of braided into a loose long bun.. also wore gold sandals .. Oh the groom.. he wore a very sharp sort of dark greenish-blue suit with a great small polka dot tie that had just the right amount of blue and green.. Everything.. totally figured out.

The Guests

There were about 120 people including about 15 kids — they had a table for arts and crafts and games for the kids and two “tutors” to watch over the kids. And there were a few babes in arms, including a 3-week-old! and an 8 month old (where there was a lot of drama because the family is British — friends of Emma’s.. and somehow they got to the airport to board their plane and realized that in all the confusion they never got a passport for the baby.. and the airlines would not let them board — you know how terrorist those 8 month olds can be — Anyway, the father and the older child came to Cairanne on Wednesday as planned .. and the mother and baby started the process of appealing for an emergency passport which they got just in time to catch a flight for the wedding). The largest number of guest were in the 30-40 year age group..

Grooms Family

Hem’s parents are quite sweet.. a bit shy and slightly formal. His mother is beautiful and her sari was definitely elegant and fancy — bedecked with jewels. it was mostly red and white.. with layers of sheer fabrics.. In addition to his parents he had two uncles and aunts and some cousins.

Food and Festivities and Venue

The reception was held at L’Ameillaud in Cairanne (or just over the line into Raisteau).. It’s a vast working vineyard with an old — century or more — farmhouse and also a large contemporary villa that sleeps about 12 or more.. The grounds include a very large meadow, scores of sycamore trees and olive and fig trees. When we first arrived everyone was served a lemony water to cool down (weather wasn’t super-hot.. but it was warm). .. and then we proceeded into the meadow where they were serving an array of appetizers including gazpacho and local cheeses and crudité and miniature everything.. with champagne.. Eventually there were the toasts (including one by Richard).. While we were all having champagne and these incredible small plates.. the children were apparently served dinner (smart).. At about 9 pm (about three hours later).. we all walked to the dinner area.. The space (outside) was set up with two extremely long tables (place settings pre-determined) — about 50 people per table — 25 to each side.. The tables were clearly organized by age — with the 40 and under crowd at one table (with the bride and groom in the center of that table) and the hmmm over 45ers at the other table. I fell to the latter group. The place settings were sparkling… Imagine seeing a row of or a setting of 200 glasses on each table (4 glasses per person x 50 people at each table).. white linen table cloths and settings. At each place setting there was a carefully composed packet with the menu, napkin, silverware, a sprig of rosemary all tied with a simple burlap cord on which was a luggage tag sort of card with the name of the person sitting there — all calligraphy done by the bride,.. On top of this was a beautiful smooth rock (for utilitarian purposes to keep everything from blowing away).. Flowers were all wild flowers placed in all sorts of jars everyone has been saving for months.. and they were placed in the center of each table going the full length.. pretty much touching.. so maybe 250 jars of flowers?? and small tea candles everywhere…

Dinner menu: spit roasted lamb (which you could see them cooking earlier), baked new potatoes, seasonal vegetables including eggplant, tomato, etc., mesclun salad.. and bread… accompanies by local white or local red wines (or champagne).. This was followed by a wonderful cheese spread on each table (in many places) with fig jam and walnut bread.. Then we finally got up to stretch just long enough to walk to the dessert table where about 8 different amazing cakes and tarts were being served.. starting with the first slice cut by Hem and Emma.. with all sorts of very large sparklers going off everywhere..

Food was amazing.. needless to say..

Speeches and Toasts

Hem made a wonderful toast to Emma.. lots of great stories within the toast… and Hem’s business partner and best friend made a speech… more inside information about both Hem and Emma..

Finale

Finished dinner around midnight and then everyone (well really the 30-45 year old crowd– and some of the kids who stayed up — and of course Mike and I… strolled to the dance floor.. where a DJ blasted music and a bar with mojitos and several other cocktails were being served along with coffees.. We actually danced a bit (to I don’t know what music) to hold up the reputation of the over 50s… !! And at about 1:30 am we drove back to the hotel. The dancing was going strong and I was told it all ended around 4 am.

OK.. That’s the wedding..

Official stuff done..

Plan to sleep late; I have some work to do in the morning… and then we hear there is some kind of picnic tomorrow night. (Saturday)

Sorry for the length.. feel free to pass..

Au revois..

 

Fern