The short answer is that if neither of you lives in France, mostly likely, you can’t legally marry there. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a wedding celebration on the Côte d’Azur, as you’ll see!
There are some exceptions to the residency rule, like if you have a parent who lives in France or you have a second home in France. If you think you might qualify for these exceptions, it’s worth checking with a local notary.
And if these exceptions definitely don’t apply to you or your soon-to-be spouse, then you’re actually in good company. The requirements for a legal wedding in France are quite high and exclude most non-residents.
Who can get married in France?
In order to marry in France and for that marriage to count as legal, you must:
- Be aged 18 years or older
- Be able to freely consent to marriage
- Not be legally married in France or elsewhere
- Not be closely related to each other
So far, so standard. However, where many non-residents get caught out is that according to French law, a marriage is only legal when it takes place in the town hall (the mairie) of the commune where one or both of the couple lives (or at the town hall where a parent of one of the couple lives). If you don’t reside in France, you’re not associated with a town hall. Therefore, a legal wedding in France isn’t on the cards for you.
And before you think about trying to get around the system, ‘residency’ means that you have proof of address such as a tax statement, electricity bill or rent receipt and you need to show that you’ve been residing there for at least a month. Booking an Airbnb won’t cut it.
How non-French couples can marry in France
But don’t let your dream of eloping on the Côte d’Azur vanish before your eyes! There is still a way for you to get married in France. In fact, you’ll be doing what many French couples do: celebrating your wedding twice.
Because the only place you can legally get married in France is at the town hall, many French couples have an additional, symbolic ceremony at another location. So it’s entirely likely that the beautiful photos you’ve seen of French weddings are of the symbolic ceremony, not the legal one!
Unlike the formality and legality of the town hall ceremony, the symbolic ceremony is more personalised, fun and more representative of who the couple really are. It could be held in a church (church weddings don’t count as legal weddings either in France!), a vineyard, a château or on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It can be wherever and whatever you want it to be: a ceremony for just you and your spouse or a big party with the whole family invited. At a symbolic ceremony, there’s no need for witnesses, paperwork, proof of address and two forms of ID, just two hearts ready to commit to each other.
And whatever the date written on their marriage certificate, most French couples choose to celebrate their anniversary on the date of their symbolic ceremony, as this one was more meaningful to them.
Eloping in the South of France
So where does this leave you as a couple who want to elope in the South of France? If you’d like to be legally married, you would need to do this in your home country before or after your elopement ceremony. But in your eyes and heart, your South of France elopement, with a ceremony written just for you and beautiful photos to treasure forever, can count as your ‘real’ wedding, with memories that will last a lifetime.
If you’d like to elope in the South of France and make your wedding everything you dreamed it to be, get in touch with me. I’ll help you plan a ceremony that fits you and your partner like a ring on the finger.
