The Big Day

The day we'd been waiting for, the reason we came way across the ocean, had finally come--the wedding of Axelle and Nicolas. We spent the morning at the Affouard's, helping them prepare for the brunch the next morning. Various family members and friends began arriving and we enjoyed meeting all of them--especially Axelle's sister Armelle. And Francoise (Axelle's mom) was the quintessential hostess, as usual, providing us all with breakfast and lunch that day. That beautiful lady is amazing!

Axelle came back from the hairdresser and we had lunch together before the wedding. Then we all left the house to get dressed and get to the mayor's office (city hall).

The first part of the wedding was the legal ceremony at the town hall. All the invitees attended this part.


From the town hall, we drove over to the local church. Margaret got to ride with Axelle in the...

...decorated wedding car.

Axelle standing outside the church building, talking to Jean-Marc, one of "The Belgians." The Belgians--Jean-Marc, Sylvie and Julien--were family friends. Julien and Margaret were in the wedding together. The night before the wedding, we had a great time together walking through the streets and along the canals of Sete. We had delicious ice cream at a cute cafe that had seating next to the canal and had a wonderful time getting to know them. Jean-Marc is full of mischief.

The next part of the big day was the church ceremony. The church building--Eglise Notre-Dame Souveraine du Monde--was modern, but had a nice charm and feel to it. The ceremony lasted about an hour.

These are the ribbons that go on the cars in the wedding caravan. When driving through town, everyone beeps and carries on.

Cameron and his toothless grin enjoyed everything.

As is the tradition, when the ceremony was over, everyone left the building before the bride and groom. When they came out, we all threw dried flower petals and beautiful tissue paper hearts. A breeze came up at the perfect moment and scattered the petals and hearts everywhere. It was beautiful.

Next came the drive to the reception. The traffice was horrendous and it took a long time to get there. You should have seen Dad drive across the median when he discovered that all the other wedding guests were going in a different direction! His comment? "When in France, do as the French do!" Appparently, everyone else had done the same thing!

From the church ceremony, we drove to "the golf" (a country club) where the reception and dinner were held. Before the reception, however, lots of pictures were taken. Here is Axelle with her dear sister Armelle.

Axelle with Mrs. Affouard

This is the Affouard family--Armelle, Mr. and Mrs. Affouard, Axelle and Nicolas, and Marielle (a soon-to-be Affouard) and Ameryic who are to be married next summer.

The kids with Axelle (excuse the coloring--this was a print from the photographer that we scanned).

The Belgians--Jean-Marc, Sylvie and Julien with the Affouard parents.

After the pictures and the reception which consisted of hors d'ouerves and drinks came the dinner...a six-course dinner. Between almost every course there was dancing or games, causing the party to go late into the night (or into the early morning!). The food was fabulous! We will post the menu in a subsequent post.

The dance floor was complete with strobe lights and a disco ball.

Between one of the courses, Mrs. Affouard surprised Axelle and Nicolas with a fireworks show that was perfectly choreographed to music. This is not a tradition, but it was certainly beautiful.

This is what we like to call "the grand entrance of the cake." Everyone lights the two sparklers that are on their table, and then the cake comes in...

...with sparklers in it too!

Wondering how to cut it. :-)

The champagne tower

Everyone dance and ate and partied long into the night. We left at about 2 a.m. and they were still going strong. Here is Shannon with Mrs. Affouard.

(Posted by Shannon)