Illustration via etsy
For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you may have read some of my tweets sounding off about the difference between French and American weddings and etiquette. Mostly how I'm discovering the subtle differences between the two.
With the wedding fast approaching, RSVPs are starting to trickle in, and we have opened our mailbox to a few surprises.
We have several groups of friends here in Paris and although we wanted to keep it small, we also didn't want to exclude anyone and invited every member of each group, even the friends whom I've only met once. Well kindness is biting us in les fesses because apparently there has been some kind of misunderstanding in regard to whom exactly is invited.
Because we're inviting groups of lifelong friends, we invited the singles sans guest. We even sent out an e-mail with the train schedule out to Fontainebleau with the idea that they could all go together in a group, fostering the idea of fun and breezy wedding.
Well that hasn't been communicated. At all.
Many of our invited singles have gone ahead and included a guest. Some added girlfriends and boyfriends that they just started dating a few weeks ago, a friend from work, two children that I didn't even know existed, and one RSVP even went as far to include a phantom boyfriend. The response read: "2 RSVPs, me and my future meetic.com boyfriend!". Does future boyfriend prefer chicken or fish? Or perhaps he will be in my 1% of vegan guests. I guess it will add an element of surprise to our day.
Had we been asked more than told I don't think we would have been as amazed, and surely we would have said yes. But including some dude who doesn't even exist yet is a bit cheeky. Or is it just me?
The French who are meticulous when it comes to detail and etiquette, I must say I'm surprised. Séb unfortunately hasn't been able to offer much insight because most of the weddings he has attended were for family members where he has gone stag. I would prefer if he had opposed my opinion so at least I could learn something, but he too found these assumptions to be forward.
We have since made peace with the situation and are going by the old saying 'the more the merrier' but it does raise an interesting question. Does the custom of reading the envelope to discern exactly who is invited simply not exist here in France? And is a "plus one" always assumed?
Also, for those of you in Paris, check out my contest! I'm giving away two tickets to see retro French pop singer Bertrand Burgalat and his group A.S Dragon in the Marais!
