Despite guest restrictions, strict health guidelines and social distancing, Marine and Thibault have decided to maintain their civil marriage on June 6. As soon as they were deconfined, they got married in masks. Testimony.
Marine and Thibault have already been a couple for six years. In 2017, during a trip to Venice, he proposed to her. Pragmatic, the young couple decides to wait until the end of Marine studies to get married. The wedding date was to take place on May 30, 2020, she had been stuck for exactly two years. Everything was booked for a timed day: town hall, church, big party. With confinement, wedding organization shattered! But the two lovers decided to maintain union at the town hall. Story of a masked wedding.
Religious ceremony postponed to 2021, civil marriage maintained
“When the lockdown fell in mid-March, I started receiving messages every day: are you canceling? you report? my guests asked me“, Marine remembers this moment of double pain: as if the period was not already difficult enough to manage, she finds herself in great question as to the feasibility of her marriage at the end of May. Not the type to let go, she continues to believe in it. Until the day of the announcement of deconfinement, scheduled for May 11: “Religious weddings were already banned, but there, moreover, we learned that all restaurateurs would remain closed until June / July. At that moment, I told myself that it was a bad start“. Getting married in a small group? Not very exciting … “Especially since I didn’t want my marriage to turn into a giant discussion on Covid-19“, she jokes. With her fiancé, they make the decision to divide the marriage. The religious ceremony is postponed to May 1, 2021, but civil marriage is maintained on the scheduled date. “We needed at least one positive thing to tell in 2020!“laughs the bride.
“During the confinement, we accumulated the galleys: we spent our time worrying about the marriage, then postponing it. And here we are, our car lets go. To top it off, our house’s water pump died, leaving us without toilets and showers for several weeks! “ But civil marriage was not going to be easy either… “It started with a phone call from the town hall telling me that in fact, they will not be able to marry us on May 30 as planned “, says the young woman of 26 years. She then insisted on having the next free date. The town hall proposes to him on June 6, on condition that the Prime Minister’s speech is favorable. Immediately the time slot is booked, the guests informed. “Anyway, Marine, you know, we’ll have nothing better to do on June 6th, we’re free“some joke.
Four guests and a wedding Zoom
A few days before, comes the second phone call: “This time, the town hall calls me to confirm the date. Good news ! And tells me that the numbers are limited. We will have the right to be 4: the two married and a witness each.“Marine takes the news with humor: she had planned a civil marriage “in small committee“… with about 20 people. Missed! The idea of get married without parents and siblings pains his heart, but too bad: “we will do a Zoom!“ she adds. As the public highway allows gatherings of 10 people : the family will watch the signature on smartphones from the forecourt, pending the release of the couple.
Witnesses cannot travel on the wedding day
But a new problem arises: witnesses. Bad luck, Marine and Thibault both chose witnesses who live far away. The bride’s witness lives in Austria, and no longer has a plane. As for that of the future husband, he resides in Toulouse, he cannot move because he is considered “at risk” in the face of Covid-19. At the last minute, Marine and Thibault decide to switch their town hall / church witnesses to have someone on June 6. “We almost had to redo the complete wedding file at the town hall, to register the new witnesses!“she says.
Marine could not wear the wedding dress scheduled for D-Day
Two years thinking about the ideal dress for this unique wedding day … and everything to review, there tooi. “I had not received my dress. And it was scheduled for the big ceremony at the church“, so no question of wearing it … Backup option? The outfit she had bought for the day after the wedding. Only problem, it was too light for the wobbly weather of early June 2020, and “I had completely forgotten to buy the appropriate underwear, I had nothing that fit!“A rather conspicuous detail, especially when you wear white. After an order for pants and what to wear underneath, Marine is ready.
“We will have to come masked to the town hall”
But the phone rings, it’s the town hall. New announcement: “We forgot to tell you, but we will have to come masked! Each guest will be seated on spaced benches. But good news, you can finally come at 10 for the ceremony.“The new change of program is quickly adopted and the masks washed. The day before the big day, the stars align:”we got the pump fixed and we found a toilet! We thought it was a sign“remembers Marine, with humor. On the morning of June 6, they are the last to pass in front of the mayor. In the temple of” Yes “, a wedding is scheduled every half hour, with total disinfection between two weddings. The couple arrive at the town hall with some apprehension of the constraints related to the health protocol.
A “not very Covid” marriage
When going through the doors, the barrier gestures have disappeared! “We were not given hydroalcoholic gel throughout the ceremony. We were told to take off our masks right away. Whilewe were told that the signature would be done with disposable pens, we all used the mayor’s pen. And the icing on the cake: to take a picture of us, all the guests gathered around the deputy mayor who married us“, she says, a little bewildered, At the time, Marine admits not having thought about the epidemic at all. But looking at the Zoom, she becomes aware of the contradictions of the municipal service,”a little laxShe chokes on an embarrassed laugh when she realizes that everyone left their used mask on the bench… “What changed the marriage was not so much the barrier gestures, with absent subscribers, but rather the strange atmosphere“, continues Marine. No hug, no cries at the moment of” Yes “, no outpouring of joy or almost …”There was a kind of hubbub on Zoom“she admits.”It was a bit disappointing compared to what I had imagined. We were happy, but it was a bit dead “, confides the couple, who have lived his marriage “mainly by text“with his guests.
A little party without toasting
“Finally, we respected the sanitary instructions much better at home for the meal than at the town hall“. The couple have a large paella delivered, which arrives without any hygiene measures, “the restaurateur did not even have a mask“laments Marine. But the family is determined to be a good student in terms of prevention. First step when returning home: hand washing for all. The aperitif is placed on separate plates for each couple. The paella is served at the restaurant. plate for one person. Everyone has their own piece of bread. And … “we did not drink glasses with our glasses of champagne” specifies the young bride.
The real wedding, scheduled for May 2021
In a year, Marine and Thibault hope to get married in a large committee. Without canceled plane. Without epidemic. With outpouring of joy and hard banging glasses. After two years of hard work on the preparation of the event, the bride is pleased with one thing: “at least it’s going to be a quiet year! I only have a few candles left to buy.“A year for that should be fine.
