Officially Married in France and Parents of Two Kids

We are officially married in France! After few years of lockdowns, closed borders, and closed offices… Finally, we are officially Monsieur et Madam and now parents of two kids. When life happens during the pandemic. Exciting and surprising, isn’t it? Things were so busy back then the reason I never post updates about my family life but I introduced it first here last year in the same month.

How did the Marriage Ceremony look like?

It was an intimate and simple marriage or civil ceremony that only took 20 minutes. The town hall or the mairie was empty with one wedding officiant or the local mayor, four witnesses (immediate family of my husband: parents-in-law, sister-in-law and sis’s husband), the two kids, and the bride and groom.

A Super Practical Wedding – not so expensive at all getting married in France

A pandemic is a nice excuse to have a not-so-expensive wedding. I did not announce it on my social media before the wedding day because we were having birthday-week celebrations.

My wedding dress is just US$15 with easy access for a breastfeeding mom like me. Too bad, I didn’t get the 50% discount, ha!

After the marriage ceremony, we went back home and celebrated it with a bottle of champagne, a seafood buffet, and karaoke.

Legal requirements to get married in France

My husband is French, I am Filipino so I need to get authenticated documents from DFA-Cebu (Department of Foreign Affairs) with the help of my sister. My documents were sent through a courier (DHL) for three days delivery. That was very quick. Make sure your documents are still within 6 months validity before the day of the marriage ceremony. You can check the official website here.

• Proof of residency in France for at least one of the couple
• Valid passports for the couple
• Original birth certificates of the couple (PSA Authenticated birth certificate from DFA-Cebu in the Philippines)
• Certificate of Celibacy or Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR Authenticated from DFA-Cebu in the Philippines)
• Authentic documents translated to the French language done in France
• Livret de Famille or Family Record Book (when you have kid/s together before marriage)