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You are here: Home Moving to Getting Started A guide to getting married in France

14/01/2004A guide to getting married in France

France is a romantic place – and it offers two different ways of tying the knot, one a full marriage contract and another that represents a legally recognised union, including for same-sex partners.

France offers two different ways in which two people can tie the knot: marriage and an alternative type of civil union. Either way, here's an overview of how to get it done.
 
Foreigners can marry in France, either with a French spouse or with another foreigner, or they can take part in a more limited, yet nonetheless legally recognised union open to couples of the same or different sex. This is called the Pacte civil de solidarité or, more commonly, le Pacs.

Wedding ceremonies

It is the civil marriage ceremony that establishes a union before the law

All marriages in France must first be performed by a French civil authority before any religious ceremony can take place. The civil ceremony is held in a village, town or city hall, la mairie, in front of the mayor. It is the completion of the civil ceremony that establishes the couple as husband and wife before the law.

The legal age to wed without parents' consent is 18 for men, 15 for women.

The choice of mairie must be that where one or both of the couple to be married declares they have resided for at least one month. The necessary paperwork must be filed with the mairie at least 20 days before the proposed date of the wedding. In certain cases, the mayor may request proof that the participants are not already married; for a foreigner, this may be referred to as a certificat de capacité matrimoniale or a certificat de coutume.

Under French law, marriage banns must be posted at the mairie no less than ten days before the date of the marriage ceremony. The wedding itself can be performed by the mayor, deputy-mayor, or a city councillor.

It is not uncommon to have only the civil ceremony, which is treated with great solemnity and a certain amount of protocol, and guests may be invited to attend. Many mairies even have special wedding rooms that can be 'personalised' for the wedding.

The marriage certificate, acte de mariage, can be obtained from the mairie where the marriage was performed.

Homosexual marriage is not currently sanctioned in France. The first such wedding, conducted in Bordeaux between two men in 2004, was declared null and void by a French court six weeks later in a judgment that has since been appealed and upheld. After voi

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