You want your wedding to be original, so you’ve started preparing as early as possible for this exceptional event. You’ve carefully chosen your reception venue, which you’re sure to adorn with wedding decorations that reflect your image. To share the good news with your nearest and dearest, you’ve already picked out some pretty wedding invitations. But what are you going to write on them?
An invitation card is used to inform your guests of the date and place of the ceremony. Before choosing this date, you need to know which union to choose.
Civil Ceremony
A civil ceremony, or marriage at the town hall, is a compulsory step if you want your union to be legally recognized. Your union will only be legal in the eyes of the State once this step has been completed. Civil marriage has only existed since the French Revolution; before that, only religious marriage was an option.
Today, however, even if you wish to be united before God, you’ll have to start with a civil union, as a religious representative has no right to unite you without your civil marriage contract.
In principle, the civil union should be performed at the town hall of your place of residence. A series of documents will be required to register your request, including a certificate of celibacy and a list of witnesses.
The publication of banns prior to your union is also compulsory for a civil marriage. The ceremony at the town hall is generally short and sober. While you can of course wear your lace wedding dress and wedding suit, you won’t have much opportunity to personalize your union, so many couples opt for another type of ceremony.
Religious Ceremony
Religious ceremonies are not legally binding, but they are a way for religious couples to unite before God. Whatever your religion, you can ask a priest, rabbi or imam to marry you according to the rites of the religion of your birth or adoption. The religious wedding must take place after the civil union, but both ceremonies can be celebrated on the same day.
The religious ceremony is a very important step for believers. It allows you to gather your loved ones in your place of worship, and perform the rituals inherent to your religion, so that your union is blessed by and before God.
It generally involves a few weeks to a few months’ preparation in the company of a religious officiant. The place of worship can be slightly personalized with a few bouquets of roses and other flowers and ribbons, without being transformed from head to toe.
Lay Ceremony
The lay ceremony is the freest of all. It is neither legal nor religious in nature, but it allows non-believing couples in particular to enjoy a longer, more personalized celebration than the short passage before the Mayor.
A secular ceremony is a pagan commitment ceremony officiated by a professional in this field, or by a close relative who will direct the various stages of the union. Symbolic rituals are often used, such as sand, candles, sealed wine and the tree.
Texts of love can be spoken by close friends and family, or by the bride and groom themselves. The music and decor of the wedding hall can be fully customized to suit the wishes of the couple, who will have the opportunity to build a celebration in their own image.
There’s no set time for a laic ceremony, so you can perform any ritual you like, and let your loved ones intervene as they wish for a beautiful moment of exchange and communion.
Whatever ceremony you choose, there’s no doubt that a wedding speech will be part of the program. When it comes to speaking, there’s nothing like a well-paced, humorous wedding speech to get your message across!