Sabine and Glyn met while hiking, so the theme of their wedding was ‘tying the knot’ supported by a picture of two pairs of well-worn hiking boots with laces tied together. It was on the invitations, the website and on the menu at each table. Neither are very religious so they skipped the church in favour of a town hall wedding attended only by closest family and friends. The rest of us joined them at a chateau in the countryside. Rain forced us all inside, but that just made the atmosphere cosy.
I’d always thought of ‘chateau’ as meaning castle, but it’s more like ‘manor house.’ This one was three sides around gravel circle centred on a statue. Arrival drinks were held on the hall on the ground floor of the section facing the gate. People congregated on the balcony, under cover of the upper floors and screened from the rain by climbing vines. Sabine and Glyn had done a good job of creating an atmosphere of comfort rather than having people waiting around for the couple to arrive. We indulged in coloured drinks and hors d’eurves until their car pulled up. Photos and greeting first, of course, but the vows and exchange of rings, Sabine’s translated into English and Glyn’s to French by the best man and maid of honour. Sabine gave the ring saying ‘this is in recognition that you may never grow up.’
The dinner was held in one of the side halls, each table named for a trek the couple had done together. In typical French style, it was a series of small courses of rich flavours, broken up with speeches and slide shows celebrating their early years of life and the recent years together. Surprisingly, champagne was poured in time for toasts during the speeches, probably at Glyn’s insistance. When I’d been a best man at a French wedding, I’d been embarrassed to get to make a toast at the end of my speech only to find that no one had champagne yet.
The dancing didn’t start until after midnight, by which time the intercontinental travellers were wiped out. I hear that some of the English visitors walked back to their hotels at 4am.