I touched the tops of the creamy roses to soak in their faint papery perfume. We had been too late to offer them at the church where other bouquets dotted the altar and so they were nestled against my knees. I smiled, thinking back to the ceremony echoing through the tiny, ancient church. How quickly it was over and our friends, Nathalie and Laurent were now married.
With a diva-worthy wave, Nathalie beckoned le cortège to follow their beribboned convertible and half of the village of Manou watched as we took our leave…
…through a countryside perfect for rolled-down windows and fingers splayed in the wind. The kind you can shout “Hello!” to for no reason.
With more than a dose of relief, we unfolded ourselves out of our lunch-box rental (a Ford!) and breathed in the open expanse of Le Moulin St. Agnes. Light shimmied through the leaves and across the lake, hinting of the evening to come.
For le vin d‘honneur, champagne flutes were presented to each new arrival…
…along with a warm welcome from the beautiful bride!
Ah, but there was also an oyster bar to tuck into…
…along with a truly impressive variety of hors d’oeurves and delicately layered verrines, spoons of smoked salmon, a mountain of crudités…
Brochettes of marinated chicken and shrimp were grilled to order à la plancha…
…and of course, this being France, there was much silky foie gras to be consumed…
…wines to be savoured…
…and even a tiny mini foie gras burger on a brioche bun to be inhaled tout d’un coup! Ah yes, thank you, don’t mind if I do.
As I am shy, I let my camera do the talking as I strolled the grounds, listening to the relaxed chatter of Nathalie and Laurent’s friends…
…and laughed as with a “Whoop! Whoop!” they took their turn for a boat ride across the lake. |
So many friends, so many loved ones, gathered to celebrate.
However, my nerves did a little twinge as we were called into dinner. Oh my, was a stuffy, more forks than you can count, prisoner of the table type of experience ahead of me? Would I be trapped next to strangers that would raise their eyebrows sky high at my accent?
I needn’t have worried. Within minutes, napkins were being twirled in the air, accompanied by boisterous hollering and pounding on the table. I knew that I was in the clear. The evening was by all accounts…really…fun…a word that is not so applicable in France most of the time! While the dinner itself was certainly excellent (émincé de veau accompagnée d’une verrine des champinons), what fascinated me the most was all of the delights sprinkled in between the courses–sing-a-longs (of which yours truly did a wee solo for the end of “Stand By Me”), musical jams (oddly called un boeuf de musique in French. A musical cow?) games, and seriously funny toasts. Unbeknownst to me, apparently weddings are where these folks really let their hair down.
Nathalie and Laurent beamed even brighter than their spectacular cake.
And then they opened le bal. Their First Song?
Now seriously, how fabulous is that?! It was exactly what I had been looking forward to dancing to (I know, I know, expectations…) and so we gave it our all. Then, I stuck to my motto as a former NYC Disco Baby–“Always Leave The Party When It Is Good”–and so that is what we did, bowing out immediately after, just past 12:30am.
At the brunch the next day (a relaxed affair sweetened by several chansons française delivered by an 80 year-old relative), we discovered that the dancing had lasted until 4 and that dawn was welcomed by many a guest.
Nathalie et Laurent, vous avez partagé votre amour et votre joie de vivre avec nous tous! And that, my friends is the Charm of a French Country Wedding. Long may they follow together on la route du bonheur…
My sincere thanks to les mariés for letting me share their big day with you all and I know that they will appreciate the lovely wishes that many of you have passed on to them.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone…
It looks like a wonderful affair. Such food!! Beautiful.
Oh my. Such a treasure to share with us. A glorious time captured with love and more love.
The setting…the bride and groom…the food…the wine….the guests…..how I enjoyed being there with you!!.
Thank you sweet Heather for bringing some magic to my day…..
The reception looks as wonderful as the wedding – you (quel surprise) captured it all so beautifully! It's nice to know that the French do let their hair down occasionally and I'm so glad you were able to attend – I'll bet the couple will love these posts, too! p.s. love the nail polish! : )
P.S. I once, when I was still teaching at Duke University, had to read an entire, dreary paper by a student who decided for herself (and everyone else, given the skoolmarmy tone of her prose) that Yeats's "rich horn" symbolized The Patriarchal Phallus (ooh!), and that his prefiguring of his daughter's wedding (she was about a month old when he wrote the poem)represented his eagerness to "sacrifice" her on some supposed altar of "patriarchal hierarchy".
She then, clever girl that she was and having acquainted herself with Greek mythology 101, ponderously proceeded to explain that Daphne (while being chased aroud the block by Apollo) had changed herself into a Laurel tree (somehow, she missed the point that Daphne didn't do this to herSELF….it was done for her at her request).
I kid you not….this girl's paper on "A Prayer for My Daughter" ended with a lengthy (if consistently ponderous) explanation of how Daphne had "re-created" her "Selfhood" as a "Vegetatively Female Entity" (thanks, I can quote entire paragraphs of this eye-poppingly awful essay), complete with a trunk….which, of course, constituted a "rival & victorious Feminine Phallocracy" (once again, I kid you not).
I recall (1) wondering if she was pulling my leg, so to speak, and (2)telling her that the "rich horn" was simply a reference to the horn of plenty….such as you see on every Thanksgiving card from Hallmark….and that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar….and that, if I were Yeats's grown daughter, I would, for better or worse, probably be very/simply happy to know that my father wrote those lines about my future wedding when I was still in my crib.
The student subsequently HATED me, of course. I did the only thing possible when your first reaction (which I successfully squelched) is to scrawl "This is complete BULLS**T!" across a student's essay…….I told her it was so "original" that I would like her to read it aloud to the entire class….which she did, much to the amusement of many of her fellow students. That young woman was impenetrably self-confident.
Oh well…I think those lines are a nice thing to send to a bride.
I still go to weddings now and then (Although, at my age, I hear more about divorces among my friends), but I stopped teaching a long while back.
david terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Absolutely charming. What is the custom of leaving the bouquet at the church? Gallivanta
"Charm of a French Country Wedding"
Wonderful.Wow.
Well, it was the same day as our daughter's! Nathalie and Laurent look a lovely couple, and so in love. And what fun…a true French wedding!
Dear Heather,
While I have some serious reservations rgarding W.B.Yeat's poem "A Prayer for my Daughter" (particularly in regard to its predictable assumptions about the "role" of women in this life), I do love the closing lines…..
Please send these to your friends:
"…And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where all's accustomed, ceremonious;
For arrogance and hatred are the wares
Peddled in the thoroughfares.
How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
Ceremony's a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree. "
I think that's lovely.
—-david terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
What an amazing wedding; the location, the people, the FOOD!!!
Just what a wedding day should be like: good food, friends and family, dancing and laughing, celebrating a union of love.
Love it, love it. All of it.
Oh my goodness, this was really a grand finale post to such an extraordinarily beautiful event. Beautiful photos – as always, Heather. Your words and photos transported me to the French countryside. . .
Have a great weekend. And thanks for stopping by our blog. xoxo J.