Wedding Bells!

The day of the wedding dawned clear and bright in Orange.  Debi left the B&B bright and early to go get her hair done while the rest of us wandered into town for some breakfast.  We visited some adorable little French bakeries, enjoyed ourselves, and headed back to pack up.  Debi came back to meet us, and we all headed out to the villa where her family was staying to get her ready for her big day.  

We crammed all the ladies into the room her cousin was staying in and had a blast froofing her up, dressing her, doing her make-up, and just being girly.  I had a chance to utilize my handy-dandy new camera to play photographer (since her actual photographer wasn't there during all this)--it was loads of fun!  Once she was all fixed up, she headed off for a photo-shoot with her soon-to-be hubby, and the rest of us scrambled to get ourselves ready.  After a brief interlude at McDonalds (at the request of the grandmas, who wouldn't be able to wait until dinner to eat), and a little run-around Orange, we made it to the Hotel de Ville (aka, the Town Hall).  

*In France, everyone has to be married civilly by the mayor.  People may choose to have a religious ceremony on the same day, or they may have their marriage blessed in a church later if they want to, but it is not a requirement--the civil ceremony is.*

The mayor of the town has weddings down to a science--they're scheduled every fifteen minutes and they churn them out like clockwork.  That being said, it was still tender and sweet and personal, and it was fun to be there.  When it was Debi and Nicolas's turn, we all piled into the big room where the mayor and his assistant (?) were waiting.  Debi and Nicolas waited outside, and much to his surprise and relief, Debi's dad was able to walk her down the "aisle."  It was very sweet.  The ceremony was, of course, in French, but it was clear they loved each other very much, and they were excited to spend their lives together.  Even though it was a civil ceremony, it was obvious they were entering in to something sacred.  It was beautiful.  The mayor invited people to come up around him so they could take photos of the couple as they made their vows, exchanged rings, signed the documents, etc.  

It was very different from a wedding like we usually see in the US, but it was awesome at the same time.  Everyone was very joyful and happy, the atmosphere in the room was full of love and excitement, and even if you couldn't understand the words, the meanings were clear to everyone.  It was beautiful.

After the wedding we all piled outside, they took a few quick group photos, and we started figuring out the details to get to the reception.  We headed to the cars to begin the trek...