Paris, France Wedding

NY128

Hello,

My fiance and I have just started planning a Catholic church wedding and reception in Paris for April or May, 2012. We reside in New York but fell in love with l'Eglise St.-Merri in the Marais district during a prior visit, and are thinking a River Seine dinner cruise for the reception. We would also consider a small bistro with a room that could be rented out. We want to keep it simple and although we were hoping for no more than 30 guests, we will likely have somewhere around 50 to 70 people coming.

I have already sent requests to the the church and some companies that offer cruises.  Has anyone planned or attended a wedding in Paris before? I would love to hear suggestions on the planning or reception shttp://forums.theknot.com/default.aspx?path=http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideasites!  Thanks in advance!

bibliophile2010

There is a destination weddings board that might have some good, practical information about marrying abroad. I'm getting married at my home parish, so I don't have any personal information that can help.

I know it's not exactly the same, but I have a friend-of-a-friend who was married in Florence, and my friend was in the wedding. From what I hear and from pictures it was lovely. However, the attempt at a rehearsal was difficult, because it is not an Italian custom. Additionally, the couple's priest from the US sent the Italian priest the entire text of the wedding in English, which the Italian priest read word-for-word is a pretty monotone voice. As such, my friend said the mass lacked personality.

I also know that the couple married civially in the U.S. before leaving for Italy to avoid those hassles. They received their sacrament in Italy, though, and that is what they and their friends/family (who were told about the civil marriage) consider their wedding/anniversary -- even though those things are generally frowned on around the Knot.

Finally, I know that it was a very small wedding -- only about 50 people (out of over 200) were able to make the Italian wedding, so they ended up having an AHR.

Riss91

just wanted to add that there is an International board on the Nest that would likely have some married ladies that went through similar situations. Here's the link: http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/4110127/ShowForum.aspx