French

Book a wedding date at a French town hall, hear the deadlines, take the time that is free, and ask what the file contains.

Go through the documents a French wedding needs, argue with a rule and lose politely, and promise the paper anyway.

Hear that your wedding will be announced on the town hall door, ask why, and learn what barring objection means.

Ask a friend to be your witness the formal way, hear her condition, and accept it with your eyes open.

Choose a wedding menu, ask what a cheaper one leaves out, list the allergies, and agree the deposit on your own terms.

Write a French wedding invitation line by line, with the formulas everyone uses, the time and place, and the reply date.

Introduce your parents to your fiance, welcome people formally, and be kind about a small French.

Translate between two mothers at one table, soften what was said, pass on a compliment, and let the wine do the rest.

Hear what the mayor will read at your wedding, what the Civil Code expects of spouses, and what you will have to answer.

Rehearse a civil ceremony with the mayor, take directions on where to walk, where to look and how loud to say yes.

Go out with your friends the week before, ban the wedding from the conversation, remember how it started, and raise a glass.

Decide on a wedding hairstyle, say what you don't want, ask if it will suit you, and take the hairdresser's one rule.

Choose wedding flowers with a florist, say what you want and don't want, plan the tables, and ask when it will be delivered.

Hear bad weather news from the mayor, take a plan B, agree when to decide, and find out who already has the keys.

Get through the morning of a wedding, admit to nerves, be told to breathe, and check that everything is ready one last time.

Stand in a French town hall and hear the mayor open the ceremony and read the Civil Code, word for word, the way every French couple has heard it.

Answer the only question that matters at a French wedding, hear yourselves declared married in the name of the law, and sign the register.

Give a short speech in French at your own wedding, thank the people who matter, and tell the room how it all began.

Hear a village toast, with a story about the bride and a tractor, and learn to raise your glass the French way.

Dance at a French wedding, ask for one more song, refuse to go to bed, and hear the band tell you it is the last one, twice.

Thank the people who made a wedding happen, the morning after, with the right words for a mother-in-law, a neighbour and a friend.

Board a ferry in Marseille, find your cabin, ask how long the crossing takes, and watch the mainland disappear.

Arrive at a Corsican guesthouse, be welcomed as newlyweds, hear what the room looks out on, and be told when breakfast is.

Ask about a mountain path in Corsica, how long it takes and whether it is hard, and be warned about the pigs.

Sit down to a Corsican dinner, be told everything is home-made, be made to take seconds, and hear the men sing.

Report a lost wallet at a French gendarmerie, list what was in it, give your details and get the paper your bank will ask for.

Take a call from work on your honeymoon, hear that everything is fine, be told to stop worrying, and hang up anyway.

Come home from a honeymoon, find that nothing has moved, hear what the neighbour did while you were away, and thank him the right way.

Write the thank-you notes after a wedding, formal for the mayor and warm for the family, with the set phrases the French expect on a card.

Look through the wedding photos with a grandmother, hear what she saw that day, and agree that it was a beautiful day.