The one you’ve all been waiting for

Or, maybe you haven’t. But I have, so let’s go with that.

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I got married!

I’m still saying it because those words – just like “my husband” and “wife” – still has a funny feel in my mouth. I try rolling them around now and then just to see if it feels more normal yet. Status update: still feels funny.

On Monday, April 4th 2016, I married my Frenchman. Yes, I will continue to refer to him as “Frenchman.” Not everything has to change.

We got incredibly lucky with the weather and had a gorgeous, sunny, mild day. Leading up to it, the weather was all over the map vacillating between rainy and horrible and partly sunny and “okay”. I got ready at my parents’ Airbnb apartment around the corner and, with the generous chauffeuring of his brother, we met Frenchman and his family in front of the Mairie in the 15eme.

Inside, we were escorted to the Salle des Mariages – the formal room dedicated to wedding ceremonies – and we were married by the Maire of the 15eme himself who, incidentally, happens to speak decent English and is intimately familiar with Boston as he happens to own the company that runs the MBTA these days. Small world? The French Civil Codes were read (English translations as well, thanks to my handy program!) and we each said “Oui!”

After the ceremony, we made our way across the street to a little park where I had hoped we could take some photos. Stars aligned and it was sunny and warm, the fountain was bursting, and bright tulips were all in bloom. We also snuck in a quick trip to the Champ de Mars for some pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower because WHY NOT. When in Paris, eh? (Side note: we are definitely the highlight of some tourists’ vacation photos)

Finally we made it to one of our favorite restaurants, Chez les Anges, where a private room was all set for us and we had a delicious meal. Champagne was flowing, cat pictures were passed around, and an incredible cake arrived from the iconic Pierre Hermé patisserie to top it all off.

We ended the evening saying goodbye to Frenchman’s family who were kind enough to drive quite a long way to attend, and then the Americans (and new husband) took a stroll through the heart of Paris to the Louvre, a quick refreshment at Cafe Marly (one of my favorite spots, to be discussed another time), and watched the sunset over the Pyramide du Louvre.

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It took almost 2 weeks to get my hands on pictures of my own wedding. For those of you who kept asking, my apologies, but on the day of I was busy being in all the photos so I didn’t have any of my own, and then there was the business of my main photo-takers travelling internationally and across time zones (THANK YOU I LOVE YOU) so they get a bit of a break.

But now, I finally have access to a whole bunch of pictures and I get to share a handful of them with all of you. And that’s all this is going to be, so if you have questions or want to know more about the day please ask in comments!