Marc and Joëlle were busy in the morning, so we tried to catch up with blogging.

Lunch buffet at the castle consisted of all the salads made here yesterday morning with other salads and desserts from friends and family. Such variety cannot be found in the US, at least not in my experience.

That afternoon, the ceremony was outside, under huge, leafy trees with a spectacular view of the castle. Audrey, Aurélie’s older sister and maid of honor, was dressed in a beautiful Medieval green outfit, while Nono, Simon’s friend and best man was dressed as a knight. These two administered the ceremony, while the four other witnesses sat towards the side. Both bride and groom looked fantastic.

Our friends provided us with an English translation of most of the ceremony, helping us know the details. The ceremony started with:“Hear ye, hear ye!” and continued with Medieval themes. The couple must pass one final test before being married. This was based on the board game all the younger people played last night. The idea is to solve a puzzle and build a map on your values, like humor, complicity, family, trust, support and tenderness. A unique and wonderful idea, which made both Aurélie and Simon happy, laughing a lot. Some of the speeches, by friends and family, were tied to this puzzle.

Professional photographs followed, with a cocktail hour in a different garden after that. One point of interest was that even though both bride and groom were in the military, and many of their friends were also, no one wore a uniform. This was the bride and groom’s choice — family and friends being more important than jobs.

Dinner was delicious, of course. And the games after dinner were new to us. A funny one involved young friends who had to race through the crowd to find particular objects, like salt shaker, belt, toilet paper. The last one back to the front was out, and had to promise to do something particular for Aurélie and Simon, like take them out to dinner, watch their cat when they were away, that sort of thing.

Another funny one was a list of questions that the audience knew but the bride and groom did not. People stood up if the answer was yes for them, and the couple tried to guess what the question was.

Table numbers were important because people were asked to write messages to the bride and groom which would be opened on their anniversary of that number. We had to think about what would they like or need to hear 17 years from now.

After the games came dancing, using a song list generated by suggestions from friends. Brian and Clare slipped away around midnight, but the party lasted until 04:00!

• Iceland and France