Welcome to our wedding website!

First, a few random questions answered :






Here we are, Claire and Gaetan...


How did we meet?
I had just watched my very first rugby match and joined the team to celebrate (a victory?  I honestly don't know, I understood almost nothing in the game!) at Biddy Early's Irish Pub.  It happened to be Gaetan's birthday, so his teammates were keeping him entertained (and entertaining) with pastis (anise-flavored alcohol).  I had recently discovered this fabulous drink and so wandered over to that group of players to see if they would share.  To my great pleasure I was given a glass, but had to kiss Gaetan (a total stranger) to wish him a happy birthday.  The rest is history.

June 4, 2005

When is the wedding?



What is a Frenchman doing in Germany?!

Working at Bosch as a mechanical engineer.  And he not only plays rugby for Stuttgart Rugby Club, he's also the president of the club!  

What do we want as a wedding gift?







Where are the wedding ceremony and reception?

The civil ceremony is in the town hall where Gaetan's parents live, Wervicq-Sud.  (A bit of trivia : Wervicq-Sud is the French part of a town which also exists in Belgium [just across the bridge!], Wervik.)  The champagne reception is just down the road, in the hall next to the church.  The reception is in Hem, east of Lille and south of Roubaix (see the map below), about 25 minutes away.  We'll give more precise directions on the day of the wedding.
Since we've been living together for 2 years, we already have all of the traditional stuff, dishes, silverware, napkins...So we wanted to organize a vacation which everyone could contribute to.  But unfortunately we can't go until next year, and besides, we can't agree on a destination!  Hawaii?  South Africa?  Caribbean?  New York?  Greece?  A cruise somewhere?  You can help us by giving your suggestion (and money!) in an envelope in the box at the reception.
























Where is everyone sleeping?


Most people are staying in one of three bed and breakfasts near Wervicq-Sud.  Two are in Comines (just west of W-S), one is in Bousbeque (just east of W-S).  They are mostly quite typical of the region, old farms renovated as rooms to rent.  In the map above you get a general impression of where everything is.

What is the plan for the wedding weekend?


Friday night we're going out for beers in Belgium (as I said before, just across the bridge!), and everyone's welcome to join us!  Saturday the ceremony is at 4:30pm, followed by pictures in the garden behind the courthouse and the champagne reception in the parish hall.  Around 7:30 we'll organize a convoy to head off to Hem and Clos de la Source, also an old farm, now three reception halls.  There we'll eat, drink and dance until about 3am!  Don't worry, it's not a drunken brawl, just fun!  Around midnight we'll have the cake and coffee to give us our second wind...
Finally Sunday around noon we'll all get together again at the parish hall in Wervicq-Sud to have a relaxed lunch of salads and cold meats.