France is one of the most popular countries in Europe to tie the knot, at an average cost of €19,921, according to a 2025 report by the website mariages.net.
Most foreign couples hold the legal ceremony in their home country beforehand. For a legal ceremony in France – which always takes place at the local mairie – at least one of the couple must be resident in the commune for at least 40 days before the nuptials.
People with second homes or well-established links to the town may marry there at the discretion of the mairie.
“From my experience, weddings in France offer far more flexibility because you can choose your suppliers individually rather than being tied into set venue packages,” says Scarlett Shellis, 35, a wedding photographer from the UK, who married her French husband Antoine in Brittany in 2023.
“That freedom often makes the overall cost much lower and allows couples to create a day that suits both their style and their budget," says Ms Shellis.
Here are some other tips to make your money go further:
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Set a budget and trim your guest list
“Set a realistic budget,” says Paris-based wedding planner Nancy LaTart, of Fête in France, who has 17 years of experience planning weddings in the country. “Too often couples start by booking the venue before mapping out the rest of the costs, and this really limits the planning.”
Paris-based wedding planner Nancy LaTartAude Lucas
Remember that the more guests you invite, the larger the venue required.
“And you’ll also need to feed and entertain everyone,” says Laura Montorio, aka The Paris Officiant, who has worked as a marriage celebrant in Paris for 10 years.
“In recent years, I’ve seen a strong shift toward smaller weddings. Not only does this reduce costs, but it also allows couples to spend meaningful time with every guest who is truly part of their lives, instead of inviting people they haven’t seen for years out of obligation.”
Choose your date and venue wisely
“Picking a midweek or off-season date can sometimes offer a price advantage,” says Ms LaTart.
In terms of venue, Ms Shellis favours keeping it small.
“For our reception, we booked a hotel restaurant by the sea and kept everything very relaxed. Because we didn’t book it as a ‘wedding venue’, we weren’t hit with inflated pricing,” she says.
“We simply ordered the food we wanted and enjoyed a lovely meal with our immediate family.”
Wedding planner Ms LaTart says the most competitively priced venues tend to be located in harder-to-reach areas, so there is a trade-off between budget and ease of travel and guest experience. Getting all your guests to the cheaper, more rural location could be an extra expense in itself.
Opt for simple décor
Careful choice of venue can reduce outlayKristin Sautter
“Social media creates pressure to replicate highly curated luxury weddings, but most couples marry for each other, not for Instagram. Simple décor can still be incredibly elegant without breaking the bank,” says Ms Montorio.
In any case, who needs to splurge on balloon arches when France has so much natural beauty for free?
“Whether it’s a dramatic coastline such as Brittany or a picturesque inland chateau, France provides stunning backdrops,” says Ms Shellis. “As a wedding photographer, I’ll add that the light gets even more magical the further south you go!”
Elope
“Eloping is significantly more budget-friendly than a traditional wedding. You save on the venue, decor, meals, entertainment and many of the logistics that come with a large event,” says Ms Montorio.
She adds that most couples do not choose it purely for financial reasons: “They often want to focus entirely on each other when exchanging their vows, without distractions, pressure or compromise.”
Stay up late and drink local
French weddings tend to start and end later than you may be used to, allowing couples a shorter daytime ceremony and to “party into the early hours without extra fees”, says Ms Shellis. She adds that regional wines offer incredible value, and crémant especially, from the Loire, is often “just as delicious as Champagne but much more budget-friendly”.
Invite strangers
A more novel way to save is to ticket the event. French app Invitin, launched in 2025, encourages couples to sell a certain number of places at their wedding to complete strangers. Guests pay between €150 and €600 depending on the length of the wedding and the venue.
Couples can decide which parts of the day to invite strangers to, and can view their profiles before selling the tickets.
Where should you spend
It may seem like an extravagance, but Ms Shellis says that hiring a bilingual wedding planner is her “number one tip”.
“They’ll handle venue booking, communication with suppliers and any translations – saving you multiple trips, stress and potential misunderstandings if you don’t speak French.”
