According to the French National Statistics Institute (Insee), in 2006, no less than 268,100 people said "I do" (actually "Oui", in France). Of course, there is a pretty fair number of divorces too (152,020 in 2005), but hey, no venture no gain! And do you know how much a wedding in France costs on average? According to this site (in French only), exactly €11,902. By the way, I found this beautiful wedding dress shop on rue Baumarchais. It's called Les Mariés du Marais.
The latest US Census Bureau reported fewer married women in the US than unmarried women for the first time in over 100 years. This is due to a number of reasons, like waiting longer to get married, cohabiting, and longer life expectancy for women.
ReplyDelete...and the average cost of a wedding in the USA is $25,000...
ReplyDeleteLovely dress -classic yet different.
Quelle coincidence! I am reading "Entre Nous - A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl" by Debra Ollivier.
ReplyDeleteThere is a chapter on French weddings, where the author says that everything wonderful about weddings is French.
3 cute examples:
"The fanciful style of wedding gowns is attibuted to Empress Eugenie, the bride of Napoleon III, and a major trendsetter in her time. White gowns became the custom after Anne of Brittany wore white when she married Louis XII in 1499."
"The bride throws her garter thanks to a 14th century bride who decided to toss her garter to guests for luck, rather than letting them tear bits of her dress, as had been the custom. Eventually, another French bride threw her bouquet instead of her garter and the now traditional bouquet toss was born."
"Finally, the reception was born of an old French custom known as charivari, where friends and family of the bride and groom stood outside the newly marrieds' home, singing and clanging pots until invited in for refreshments. That's right, what we know as the reception used to be a prank."
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I thought that was fun! Happy Dimanche! (It's still Samedi pour moi :) )
Just got caught up on all the photo's I've missed.
ReplyDeleteLove this black and white of the gown in the shop.
Wishing you all the best on the photo Festival....You sure deserve to win with all your great photos!
(Not to mention your devoted posting each and every day)
That was fun information, pont!
ReplyDelete$25,000! Whew, my whole wedding didn't cost that much! My dress was $600. Certainly not fancy designer or anything, but beautiful, simple, and classic, which suited me just fine.
It's good to hear that so many couples still want to get married!
ReplyDeleteAnd was good to hear too that finally French people are having more babies!
Oooh...did anyone click on the photo and enlarge it? Scarrrryyyy! I wondered if Eric had taken a photo of Annie Lennox at the Musée Grévin!
ReplyDeleteThe dress is gorgeous, you have such a good taste Eric! Although I'm not french, I said I do last year as well and enjoyed my honeymoon in Paris! Bien sure!!!
ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteI just read your bell ringer joke. Crikey, that was tres funny.
Must climb up for a look in Septembre. Can't wait.
Where is the Musee Grevin SVP ?
OK - DON'T KILL ME....
ReplyDeleteA young groom on the eve of his wedding night goes to his mother with the following question.
"Mom, why are wedding dresses white?"
The mother looks at her son and replies, "Son, this shows the town that your bridge is pure."
The son thanks his mom and goes off to double-check this with his father. "Dad, why are wedding dresses white?"
The father looks at his son in surprise and says, "Son, all household appliances come in white."
I SAID DON'T KILL ME....
Selling wedding gowns in the Marais, the hub of the gay area, is either blatant provocation, or a hopeless business proposition !
ReplyDeleteHow about opening a wineshop in Saudi Arabia ?
Merci Haxo, j'ont vu ceci sur la Google-Earth maintenant. Elle est dans le 9ème
ReplyDeletearrondissement. Une partie très belle de Paris. J'espère être là en septembre. Merci encore.
Michael; votre petite plaisanterie est très drole, Monsieur
Let's elope! It's making me faint to read the average price of weddings.
ReplyDeleteLove your lighting in this B&W. . .so many nice varrying shades of gray, black and white are present.
-Kim
Weddings have become big (risky) business. Of course they could always just elope. I wonder how many people who have eloped get divorced??
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telaviv2dailyphoto.blogspot.com/
nice shot eric...may i add a touch of red lipstick for that ooooh..la.la ?
ReplyDeleteMichael, I think I MIGHT kill you if only for the response from mon mari who apparently thought your joke was tres drole!
ReplyDeleteEric, you have no idea what you have done - not only is M.Benaut at the computer tous les jours et soirs mais moi aussi, reading all of the wit and whimsy of the blogging family.
C'est la vie! C'est notre vie, maintenant!
PS Hope you like our Koalas on Adelaide Daily Photo - These beautiful marsupials have very poor eyesight but very good hearing and sense of smell. They eat over 100 species of eucalypts. They very generously allow us to live beside them. "Pepsi Kola" is now about 9 months old and the breeding season is well and truly underway!
Though a large picture of Annie Lennox on my monitor would be scary, I don't think this doll looks like her!
ReplyDeleterofl@ your joke, though. Heard it before, but it's always funny!
Wow.. that's a lot of money!
ReplyDeleteAnd well... at the first moment it seems only a little Annie Lennox...
Good to hear from you Mme Benaut! Even if only to get M Benault laughing. I'll save the worst joke for later. As for your photo of the Koalas, they are so cute!
ReplyDeletedsole...I agree, it was a stretch to compare this ghostly figure to Annie Lennox (who I love), but you must admit, back in the 80's, she did set the trend for women with short hair!
I love the "Boutiques Marie's" in Paris...even in some of the smallest shops in out of the way neighborhoods one can see an absolutely chic dress in a shop window. In the US, some women[wealthy ones of course]will spend $20,000 or more just for their gown!! Absurd!!! Whatever happened to the "barefoot bride"??? LOL!!
ReplyDeleteLovely dress - I'm just scared of what's required in order to get up close and personal... heh
ReplyDeleteI am happy for the girls who succeed in being "queen for a day" all decked out in virginal white and beaming radiantly as they capture their mate-for-life in official matrimonial services. Even if the marriage doesn't last very long, the bride has a lovely memory to put in her boite des souvenirs. We have many bridal stores around Lexington with lovely gowns (size 4-6}. The brides I've noticed must have their gowns custom made because the "prete a porte" could only be used for scarves.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I think you have a joke for every occasion. Keep up the good work.
Michael, I don't get the part about the bridge..........
ReplyDeleteFunny joke Michael! My son would approve who told me one a while ago -
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you need to buy your wife a watch?
Because there's a clock on the oven.
Hmm.
Eric: mmmm what a fabulous letter thank you so much ! Really was gorgeous, i loved it. What a treat to read it, it really was and was worth the wait for you to visit my blog. Blushing delightedly, Lynn x
Nikon said..."Michael, I don't get the part about the bridge.........."
ReplyDeleteLOL
"bridge" = "virginity"
None the wiser, Michael... do go on.
ReplyDeleteThe photo is quite freaky close up, i agree, Michael. Gorgeous dress though... sigh...
ReplyDeleteHi Michael,
ReplyDeleteJust a feeble attempt at humor :)
Good joke Michael!
ReplyDeleteJ'ai dit aussi "oui" il y a peu.
ReplyDelete@+