Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Because Today Marks 27 Years….

                     vintage wedding scrapbook

My Vintage Wedding Scrap book starts out with few photos.

Twenty-one years ago on this day, French Husband and I were married under a massive downpour. I wore my Grandmother (Ava) Amaro's moth-eaten, paper thin, silk wedding dress. My mother was worried it would fall off when I walked down the aisle. 

I didn't care I liked my Grandmother's wedding dress, even if it were shabby and not chic .

 

 

    vintage wedding scrapbbok            

 

French Husband wore the same wedding tuxedo that his Father wore for his marriage. Which was very chic. It was midnight blue. His mother came to California, from France, for our wedding. But his father could not because he was seriously ill.

We told each other we would write our own marriage vows. The eve before our wedding day French Husband hadn't penned his. I was not pleased. My bride-to-be-nerves kicked in. He told me he was going to say them in French. I cried saying he could be saying anything to me and I wouldn't understand. He told me to look into his eyes that they would speak clearly to me. Horrible as it might sound, I smirked at him. I still feel bad about that. 

I did look in his eyes they spoke thankfully since I did not understand one word of what he was saying.

 

vintage wedding scrapbook

  

We did not have bridesmaids nor groomsmen… we told everyone gathered that they were our witnesses.

My cousin Julie picked Calli lilies from a garden for my wedding bouquet. I tied an old lace ribbon around them and called it good.

 

 

IMG_2819

 

 

My father was horrified that his only daughter was "doing" her wedding like this… Threadbare dress, handmade wedding invitations, no professional photographer, flowers from a garden, no maid of honor…. no wedding register. What would people think of him! I told him it didn't matter because the wedding was exactly as I wanted it to be.

He nearly died when an Aunt called offering to buy me a wedding dress.

 

 

vintage wedding scrapbook

 

 

French Husband and I were married at ten in the morning in the Catholic church.

We had brunch.

Our family and friends read the readings, played the music, sang, danced, celebrated with us. 

 

 

 

scrapbook

 

 

To say that the last twenty seven years have been blissful would not be the truth. To say that it has been easy would be a lie as well. To say we have held on to the good moments and stuck it out in through the rough patches would be honest.

 

 

scrapbook

 

 

We returned to France shortly after our wedding day.

We lived in an attic studio, on the seventh floor, next to Les Halles in Paris.

  

scrapbooking wedding

 

What were the details of your marriage?

Comments

40 responses to “Because Today Marks 27 Years….”

  1. Alan

    That sounds like a great wedding, one that I’d like to attend. Most of the weddings I’ve been to are almost painful to me.

    Reply
  2. Star

    Sounds beautiful, Corey. Happy Anniversary to both of you!
    Our wedding was simple (what we could afford) and in the church. All we really wanted was to be married. Icing on the cake to have friends and family there. I was so stressed leading up to the day. Some things went awry, as often happens at big occasions, but in retrospect it is easy to set “the day” aside and concentrate on the years that have followed. Our marriage, as yours, has not been idyllic but has been give and take and honoring our commitment to each other and the life we choose to make together. I think the challenges have made us stronger than those who have had smooth sailing.
    Best wishes for many more years together, Corey & Yann!

    Reply
  3. Kathie

    Was your grandmother’s wedding dress from the Azores, or was she married in California? Either way, what a treasure for you.
    Farmboy Husband and I chose not to have any of that fancy stuff, either. Me: A simple white linen sheath. Him: His only suit. Marriage isn’t always easy, just because life isn’t always easy. But most of the time it’s sweet. Parabéns!

    Reply
  4. jackie

    Happy Anniversary! First I must tell you how I met my husband. I stalked him! This was 23 years ago, before it became illegal:) I saw him at a cafe and he was very handsome but I was too shy to make the first move. I knew the person he was sitting with so after (future) husband left I went over to the other person and said “Hi, I was going to come over sooner but I could not remember the name of the guy sitting with you.” He told me “Oh, that’s Steve” and I said “Oh, right, how is his wife?” The guy told me he was not married:) The next time I went to the cafe I walked by him and smiled and said “Hi Steve” and kept on walking. His interest was piqued! We got to know each other (our first outing was to a cadaver lab-but that’s another story.) We did not have much money for a wedding so we decided to take off, go to Europe, get married and travel around for a while. It was easiest to get married in Scotland-no residency rules, cheap and easy. We dragged two people off the street to be witnesses and I was so choked up during the 5 minute ceremony I could hardly speak. I laugh when I think about it (I totally gave two Scottish strangers a hilarious story about a weird weeping American.)

    Reply
  5. Dawn

    Sweet. I love the way you describe it.

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  6. Cindy

    Thank you Corey. Thank you for sharing your beautiful thoughts.
    Your words are like a candle in the dark.
    Like bright stars against the deepest night.
    Thank you for letting your light shine brightly in the darkness.
    Everyday that you have shared, through the years, has always been such a blessing.
    Somehow today, it is a treasure beyond measure.

    Reply
  7. g

    Happy Anniversary -May the next 27 and 27 after that be as happy as the wedding day-anything worth having is never easy! so bravo you two!!

    Reply
  8. Cathy J.

    My husband and I were maried at the courthouse. I only intended to have a maid of honor and a best man. Two of my closet friends told me I was not getting married without them being there, so they invited themselves. My old boyfriend decided he wanted to come too and there it was seven of us in a little small room in the courthouse.
    We had lunch at restaurant on the water that cost me less than $100 and it was perfect. The best man bought champagne for our toast.
    We came back to our place for cake and coffee and then we were off to Santa Barbara for our honeymoon.
    It was on the cheaps, but perfect for us with lasting memories! We’ve been married for 16 years, I’d say that was a wisely spent $200. I think this is the way to go!

    Reply
  9. Cathy J.

    I forgot, Happy Anniversay! Wishing you a lifetime of wedded bliss!

    Reply
  10. Diogenes

    The seventh floor, as in a walk-up, or as in an elevator?? Les Halles, at least you were close to shopping and the metro.
    Happy Anniversary, Corey and Yann, and wishing you many more!

    Reply
  11. Sugar

    My hubby and I have been married 33 years. We were married in a chapel which my father had a role in building. Being hearing impaired – I had a difficult time understanding the minister – I guess I did ok because after all 33 years to show so far. My ring size was a 3! My daughter is getting married this Spring and she’s wearing my dress, but altered to her tastes. Happy anniversary!

    Reply
  12. Janet with Eiffel

    I was six years out of an ugly divorce.
    Convinced I was completely over men.
    I went to a Valentine dance with my brother.
    At the door, standing in line, was the most gorgeous
    man. I ask him if he was alone. He said yes.
    I said not any more. I took his hand we danced
    all night. He took my phone number, called me
    the next day. We became very good friends.
    A year later we married in the side chapel
    of Zion Baptist Church where he was Deacon.
    About a dozen friends and family attended.
    I’m Catholic by the way.
    You know what that means !!!
    Oh, ya, this gorgeous man brought two
    teenage boys to the marriage.
    Blissful marriage ??

    Reply
  13. Bev S.

    We met at seminary both studying to be pastors. He knew immediately, I knew in 6 weeks. 18 months later we married at my home church in Washington State. We didn’t have much money and neither did my folks. My mom made my dress and all of the bridesmaids’ dresses (which were black and white, unheard of back then). My dad did the photography, my mom made 36 homemade blackberry pies for the reception. A friend did the flowers.
    My dad and I had an argument about the “giving the bride away.” I told him that I was not a sack of potatoes being handed over from one man to another. We finally agreed to have both families give blessings and prayers to us. Both of our fathers did the service as they are both pastors as well.
    25 years later we are still together and can’t imagine our lives apart. We have been through many, many tough times but I think that it has made us stronger as a couple. I cannot imagine my life without him.

    Reply
  14. Dee

    Happy Anniversary Corey and Yann 🙂 Corey, I am surprised that Amaro is your maiden name…it sounds SO French ! It would have been unusual 27 years ago to have kept your maiden name, why did you decide to do that? Did Yann mind?

    Reply
  15. Leslie in Oregon

    We were married twice: first, in a courtroom by a judge, and two months later, in our church by our pastor. The latter was on a Sunday, and our wedding was the church service. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen; instead, there was a flower girl, and everyone in our families had a role in the service. My husband-to-be and I led the procession (consisting of our families) up the aisle, with him singing “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” with a trumpet playing from the balcony. The reception was a barbeque on the rolling lawn next to a gorgeous tile swimming pool and below the manor house of the college at which we each were studying law. Three days after the wedding, I had to fly to London (I was a purser for Pan Am as well as a law student), so our honeymoon was a quick camping trip to the Cascade Range with my husband’s two best friends(who had travelled too far to provide instrumental music for the wedding to be left behind). It was a glorious harbinger of things to come, and we are looking to celebrating our 40th anniversaries this spring and summer.

    Reply
  16. carol

    Congratulations, Corey and Yann! Wishing you a very long marriage!
    After five years of off and on (high school sweethearts) dating we were married in the morning in a German mayor’s office and that same evening in an Army chapel. I had just turned twenty and he was twenty-one. My dress was my favorite color, pink and a simple design. Not like a wedding dress. He wore his Army uniform and was so handsome! Guests were a few friends and coworkers of my husbands, who were invited that day. Once we had the approval of everyone (Army and Germany) we were not waiting another day. The Army Chapln and his wife hosted our reception at their home. I carried red roses, twenty for my age and one for luck. It was the German custom. We loved our wedding and have been married fifty-four years. Has it been easy? No but we’re still together and deeply in love.

    Reply
  17. Tongue in Cheek

    Hi Kathie, My Grandmother was married in California, her wedding dress was from the States as well.

    Reply
  18. Tongue in Cheek

    Jackie! You sneaky girl, “Hi Steve!” I love that.

    Reply
  19. Tongue in Cheek

    With such kind comments like this I will never stop blogging! Thanks!

    Reply
  20. Tongue in Cheek

    A friend of mine, Julia, said, that there is a study that says the more you spend on a wedding the less chance of it succeeding. I guess we have the inexpensive wedding bliss on our side.

    Reply
  21. Tongue in Cheek

    Hi D
    Seventh floor with an elevator that was very fickled. It was one mighty straight up hike. I thought about what I bought, since carrying it up wasn’t that fun.

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  22. Tongue in Cheek

    Ring size 3!!!
    That is tiny!

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  23. Tongue in Cheek

    Love just strolls in and says let’s dance! Bravo!

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  24. Tongue in Cheek

    Black and white dresses, blackberry pies and not a sack of potatoes! Avant Garde! I wish I could see a photo 🙂

    Reply
  25. Tongue in Cheek

    Hi Dee
    Yann did not mind at all. I never ever thought to give up my last name. I love Yann’s last night, but it is not mine. That is all.

    Reply
  26. Tongue in Cheek

    Reading the comments I cannot help to think that those of us who did our weddings a bit off the beaten track were not doing so to be different, but doing so because we wanted it that way.

    Reply
  27. Tongue in Cheek

    PS
    At least you had a honeymoon…. We celebrated our a year later. We went to Spain, the first day there we got so sunburned we couldn’t sleep together. Honeymoon 🙂

    Reply
  28. Tongue in Cheek

    21 red roses and counting!

    Reply
  29. Jeanne

    Happy Anniversary to you two lovely ones. Here’s a toast to many more years of love and happiness.
    Love is all you need♫
    I love your stories Corey

    Reply
  30. Linda P.

    There’s no nice way to say this, but I vomited all morning before my wedding, from nerves. My parents were so horrified at a Catholic wedding that they hadn’t let me know whether they were even coming until a week before the wedding. There might as well have been a dirge playing as I walked down the aisle. If we didn’t have photos, I wouldn’t remember the wedding, but I remember driving to San Antonio afterward, where we would honeymoon for a weekend. The temperature was blazing hot and I was still sick, but my new husband refused to run the air conditioner. He was worried about taxing the car. He stopped to wash off the decorations because he was worried they would damage the paint! We honeymooned on the coins his father had been saving in a jar and given to us–about $50.00. It was not an auspicious beginning.
    I’m laughing as I type all this. I saw something in my future husband, and I went forward with the marriage despite his unromantic nature and the problems my parents caused although I was not of a nature to be a rebel in anything else. We’ve been married 45 years. My parents never really reconciled themselves to my marriage before their early deaths. My husband is still not the most romantic guy, but he has supported my aspirations and I have supported his. I put him through law school, and he supported me while I stayed home with my girls and wrote, finally achieving my dream of writing novels. I’ve had books published both here and in Germany. He was by my side when I had cancer, and I was by his when he had bypass surgery. Our granddaughters catch him sleeping and put barrettes in his hair and makeup on his face, and he grins when he wakes and they hold a mirror up to him, giggling. He flies RC planes with granddaughters and grandsons alike and teaches them all archery. Several of them sat in front of him in kayaks when they were younger and most love kayaking now.
    I’m now dealing with the effects of an autoimmune disease, effects that limit my mobility. The very traits of his that so maddened me when we were newlyweds have turned out to be the ones that make it easier for us to manage this new relationship when he is caretaking me. If I’d only known back then. This is marriage with all its ups and downs, and it’s been, on balance, a wonderful one. Sorry for the novel, but marriage is a novel and not a short story.

    Reply
  31. Linda P.

    Ah, I got so tied up in my own story, I forgot why I was commenting in the first place. Happy Anniversary!

    Reply
  32. Ann

    We had a formal wedding that was lovely and fun and took a year to plan. I thought I am doing this once and it will be everything I want and more. 20 years later it only gets better. We met at church and I call it a match made in heaven. Sure there are challenges but the blessings are what count. Just the other day I looked at DH and said “I love you” since I felt it deeply in my heart…and he leaned over and said, “Oh I get it, you’ve had two glasses of wine.” He makes me laugh… Like I said, it gets better and better and I thank God for this blessing.
    Happy Anniversary!

    Reply
  33. Camy

    Corey, Happy 27th anniversary to you and Yann! You two are such a wonderful couple!
    John and I were married 19 years ago this June, barefoot on the beach in Negril, Jamaica. My then 9-year old daughter Sophie was with us (of course!) and she was our ring bearer, using a big tropical leaf to carry our rings (her idea). After the sunset ceremony, we invited all of the guests and staff of the very small resort where we were staying to join us for a Jamaican feast on the beach with reggae music playing in the background. It was exactly what we wanted.
    After we got back home in Colorado, two of my dearest friends (one of the two introduced John and I) threw a party for us in our backyard with our family and friends, another wonderful memory. John is my soulmate and we have been deliciously happy. Thank you Corey for asking this question to your readers. It has brought back some beautiful memories.

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  34. Irene Thomas

    Happy Anniversary, Corey and Yann! Thank you for sharing your life with me.

    Reply
  35. Kay

    Happy Anniversary! We are in our 47th year together. I was the “girl next door” and he was my handsome “California surfer”. Met in our teens when I would visit my grandparents in Southern California (he lived next door). Wrote letters on and off. He came to visit me in Oregon and three months later we married. My mother amd grandmother collaborated on the dressmaking, cake baking and flower arranging. They hijacked me on our wedding day and deposited me at the home of my elderly aunt and uncle to keep my husband-to-be from accidentally seeing me before the ceremony. Freshly picked wild daisies filled the church. They were beautiful but stank to high heaven! It was all lovely though. We left the church in the middle of a thunderstorm and have lived happily (and stormily) ever after.

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  36. tammyCA

    Happy Anniversary! We also had a simple wedding because that’s what I wanted..in fact, I wanted it even simpler, like just go to a justice of peace, but this was a big deal for MIL & they had a lot of family & friends they wanted to come. I chose to have an outdoor wedding in a little tucked away local rose garden/park at an old rancho/adobe homestead surrounded by lemon & orange trees..and it drizzled rain. My dress I ordered from a magazine for $200 (that was the least expensive one I found I wish I had thought of vintage thrifts then). We had a beautiful harpist who played heavenly..we did request “somewhere in time”. Family & friends did the photography/video, flowers, homemade cake, finger foods (the reception followed in in-laws backyard), I had made potpourri sachets in tied up lace squares to hand out. This year will be our 25th anniversary (together 30) and no, it hasn’t been easy..we’ve had a lot of challenges thrown at us (stuff you see in soap operas) & we are opposites & have fights but nobody’s perfect & we carry on & do our best to take care of each other & the kids.

    Reply
  37. Leslie in Oregon

    I forgot the most important part of my message: Congratulations and Happy 27th Anniversary, Corey and Yann!

    Reply
  38. Mary

    Happy Anniversary
    I eloped lol. Wished family had been there and that I had a wedding gown but looking back it turned out ok 🙂

    Reply
  39. Gail

    Best wishes to you both.. Thank you for sharing your life and love.
    The stories are wonderful!

    Reply
  40. Diane Matula

    Love your story! Congratulations!!!
    Our first date, our first kiss…
    I told my sweet date that he would have to marry me after a kiss like that. He nearly fell down. Really.
    But marry me he did! Nineteen years of work, trials, and love!
    Thanks so much for sharing! I love it all.

    Reply

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