Guide to prenuptual agreements

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage or civil union by the people intending to marry. Usually a prenup provides for division of property and spousal support in the event of a divorce.

In theory, prenuptial agreements set out before marriage how the wealth and assets of both parties will be split in the event that the relationship goes pear-shaped further down the line.

Many countries, including Canada (Quebec), France, Italy, and Germany, have matrimonial regimes, in addition to, or some cases, in lieu of prenuptial agreements.

As of 2007, England and Wales do not enforce prenuptial agreements, but agreements may be upheld at the judge’s discretion. These countries also do not have a provision for marital regimes.  But this is all changing.  There has been a “sea change”

The Crossley case  in the UK now highlights the fact that premarital agreements are being recognised in the English courts and, if properly constituted, are difficult to wriggle out of.  In the past prenups were perhaps entered into in the hope, rather than belief, that they would be binding. Now they offer real protection.

Courts “are looking closely at prenuptial agreements and want good reasons — such as children or significant changes in a person’s circumstances — to depart from them”.

So who should go for a prenup? They are suitable for a wide range of people, including:-

• second-time rounders, in their forties and fifties, who want to provide fully for children of the first marriage and protect their own assets (sometimes against gold-digging former husbands when they meet someone wealthy)
• professionals, young City entrepreneurs in their twenties making money through work, skill and some luck 
• business men and women used to binding agreements in their working lives
• international clients used to prenups in their home jurisdiction
• gay and lesbian clients who may have cohabited for years and now enter civil partnerships
• and those not necessarily “mega-wealthy” who favours “self-determination” and taking control of how financial issues might be resolved on divorce.

Lord Justice Thorpe, giving judgment in the Crossley case, suggested that it was time to look at legislation to make them enforeceable in law, given the lack of a marital property regime in England as found on the Continent. 

With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, Hollywood stars are not inclined to risk it all on what might be a very short and misguided marriage followed by a very expensive divorce.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas; Liz Taylor and Larry Fortensky, Jane Fonda and Ted Turner are just a few of the A-list couples who have demanded prenuptial contracts.

Of course it is not only Hollywood stars who need to think about prenuptial contracts – Paul McCartney and Heather Mills famously signed no prenuptial agreement and rumours are rife that this acrimonious split could potentially see Ms Mills walk away with over £100m from a court settlement.

In January 2008, the wedding of a billionaire’s daughter was called off at the last minute because of a change to the prenuptial agreement.

Miss Fisher, 28, is the lawyer-daughter of American hotel tycoon Jeff Fisher.  Mr Bailer, 33, is a Wall Street trader, wealthy in his own right, but not in the same league as Mr Fisher who last year sold his Innkeepers hotel chain for nearly £1 billion.  They had been dating for three years and engaged for 18 months.

The bride and groom along with 300 guests were left in limbo as the society wedding of the season ground to a halt.  In the end, the two families ended up having separate parties in adjoining hotels to ‘celebrate’ the wedding that never happened.

Late in the evening, the bride, Alexandra Fisher, put in a brief, tearful appearance among her family, dressed in black.  Meanwhile, the groom, Josh Bailer, glumly nursed a drink with his best man and his 80 guests.

Three days before the wedding, the couple happily signed a prenuptial contract in which it was agreed that if the marriage failed, both sides would walk away with no alimony payments.

But on the wedding day, Mr Bailer’s father, Joe, said Mr Fisher demanded that Josh sign a last-minute amendment agreeing to pay Alexandra alimony, no matter how much she inherits from her dad.

Joe Bailer, 65, said: “We’re middle-class people with middle-class values. We came to Palm Beach for what was supposed to be the best day in the lives of two human beings, and ended up with two full days of crass negotiations for a prenuptial agreement.

“It was like a business transaction. That attitude is foreign to us. There was such urgency on Fisher’s part, it bordered on desperation.”

So before you get married get up to date legal advice from a specialist family lawyer.  Get it all sorted and nailed down before last minute stress sets in. 

Most foreign couples getting married in France need to have a civil ceremony in their home country first and then their religious ceremony in France as the legal requirements for a civil wedding in France are exhaustive – 6 months (not 40 days as it was before thank you Sarkosy) residency requirement with proof of address and they now check it too.  Most guests at a french destination wedding do not even know that the ceremony is not a civil ceremony.  Sorting out a  pre-nup agreement before you leave home does not detract from a fairytale wedding in France.  If you are not mega wealthy you way want to consider a french wedding package at a romantic castle that will not break the bank.

Wedding Day Emergency Kit

It acts as a stress-buster and enables you to calmly deal with unexpected situations. Knowing that are prepared for any  unforeseen disasters at your french wedding will help you relax. Hopefully no matter what arises, you’re bound to have something in your kit that can deal with it!

Despite checking and double-checking everything…twice and military-like planning like in Mission Impossible everything…twice, problems can  will arise on your wedding day and even possibly at a french wedding. However, being prepared with a [spin]|bride’s[/spin] emergency kit will mean that whatever happens at your french wedding, you will be ready for it and you can carry on with your special day with out getting flustered.  

In simple terms, you don’t carry it all with you during the day! Have essentials like lipstick and tissues, close to hand in a small handbag or maybe in your bridesmaid’s/mother’s bag.   The rest should be kept somewhere accessible such as in your locked bedroom if you have accommodation at your wedding reception, or hidden behind a screen or under a clothed table if you are in marquee. Just make sure that your key assistants like your bridesmaids or immediate family know where it is in case of an emergency! 

Keep all items in a spacious box, bag or basket so it’s easy to find everything at a simple glance and you don’t have to rummage around.

Just in case your maid-of-honor prefers boy watching to boy scouting, you could either ask someone to help you put this bridal emergency kit together, or pull it together yourself or as a last resort delegate it to your wedding planner.  If she is going to be there for the entire day, drop her an email and check that she has all of these things in her kit and tick it off.  Especially on a destination wedding, if she has it covered you or your bridesmaid do not want to have to worry over it.

Your kit should include the following:-

Attire
‘throwaway’ garter.
clear nail polish for runs in hose
earring backs
emergency buttons
flat shoes or ballet slippers (if necessary)
iron
tights/pantyhose (extras in case anything happened)
safety pins
masking tape (last-minute ripped hems)
small sewing kit, including thread for all dresses, wedding party

Beauty/Grooming
dusting powder for before pictures are taken,
hair spray, brush, barrettes and/or bobby pins
hand lotion, handi-wipes
kleenex
makeup
perfume
Nail polish in shade worn, & remover
small hand towel
toothbrush and toothpaste

Health
antacid
antihistamine, cold remedy
any prescription medications
aspirin, Tylenol, or Advil
plasters/bandaids
hard sweets (better than medicinal scent or cough-drops)
smelling salts
tampons, pads
sun tan lotion (if significant activities will be outdoors)

Miscellaneous
directions to reception – extra copies
phone numbers of all service folks
small flashlight
spare change for phone
something to drink, like a bottle of water (particularly useful for lengthy photo sessions)

Bridezillas are never attracitve

There is an epidemic that is sweeping the country and plaguing recently betrothed women. It is infinitely nasty.  Symptoms include bouts of selfishness, controlling behaviour, mood swings and compulsive meticulousness. Its effect can last from a few short days to many months. 

Where the totally unexpected happens, try and stay calm – the following stress management tips may help you escape the dreaded Bridezilla Syndrome.  Try to do whatever you can to avoid crying uncontrollably before your wedding as it will not help your wedding photography. 

Evading Bridzilla Syndrome will also help preserve your judgment and wisdom and allow you to enjoy your special day.

The following stress management should help you escape the dreaded Bridezilla Syndrome.

1. Treat yourself and loved ones
Take time out from the planning to relieve the wedding pressure. Treat yourself to a massage or arrange to meet friends for a coffee. Arrange a date and remind yourselves of why you’re getting married.

2. Maintain a sense of humour
It’s best just to laugh off comments and not worry about people’s perceptions of what you should or shouldn’t do. Leading up to and on your wedding day, things can and often do, go awry just go with it. Make the best out of a situation and enjoy yourself.

3. Talk to your groom about his involvement
Some grooms like to be involved in the decision making processes that surround a wedding. Some just want to turn up on the day. This enables you both to know where you are in terms of the planning process from the onset.

4. Accept you can not control everything

Get a wedding planner to help with the fine detail in planning your french wedding. Wedding planners do the job for a living and will ease your worries without taking over. 
There are probably several people you know who would love to help you. and get the to  carry out some minor tasks. 

5. Keep everything in  perspective
It’s all too easy to get bogged down with the hundreds of details surrounding a wedding stress and panic take over. While there is no doubt that your wedding day is an incredibly important day in your life, it is just one day.

6. Dont sweat the small stuff too much

A year down the line, details like the colour of the tasssels on the order of service and the colour of the aisle runner really won’t matter and will have been forgotten.

7. A daily ‘wedding talk’ ban may save your sanity
Set yourself a time, say immediately after dinner after which there is to be no more wedding talk. This should happen on a daily basis!

Do not turn into a Bridezilla at your wedding in France.  It spoils your french wedding photography.

chocolate wedding cake inspiration

Chocolate Themed wedding

With the rise in popularity of themed weddings such as Renaissance/Medieval, fantasy, 70s, disco, beach, and fairytale weddings, among many others, weddings with a theme centered on chocolates are becoming common nowadays.

If you are having a french wedding you will have a fabulous choice of amazing chocolate desserts by expereienced chocolatiers. The french love chocolate. 

The great thing about a chocolate wedding theme is that it encompasses colour and taste and smell. 

Chocolate fountains are all the rage at weddings.  A chocolate fountain is a great conversation piece and a delight to all of the senses.   Before you get all excited about your chocolate theme and chocolate fountain check that your wedding venue allows them.  Because of health and safety considerations lots of venues have not prohibited them.  You can have one at our french wedding castle venue.

A variety of foods can be dipped into it to instantly augment your favorite fruits, cakes, snacks and whatever else you would like.   The fountain causes your event to have a mellow but lovely sweet aroma that will entice you and your guests to use and admire it. Then wedding favors with chocolates came next and eventually paved the path for modern wedding cakes to be designed and baked in new ways.   If you are having a french wedding you can select a croquembouche filled with chocolate custard as one of your chocolate deserts.

Chocolate is synonymous with romance.

Nowadays, the chocolate flavor does not stop at the wedding cake and wedding favors.

Things to consider are: 

• The wedding clothes that you, your spouse-to-be and entourage will be wearing. This includes the color that should follow the chocolate theme. You can choose from a lot of chocolate shades and you even have an option to have a chocolate theme mixed with cream, mint or strawberry.  The hot color scheme seems to be blue and chocolate. Some called it Tiffany Blue, others teal and even more referred to robin’s egg blue. Any way you cut it, the trend is definitely in.

We often browse the web for ideas, and the color scheme of chocolate and blue has hit mainstream.

If you’re looking for a different twist on your wedding day, perhaps this story may be for you.

Ian Stuart, the winner of Best Bridal designer 2004-2007 created an amazing looking wedding dress is made of white chocolate, and described as “cute, burlesque, contemporary, fashionable and 1950’s” – We describe it as “Tasty looking, with potential to melt, leaving a semi naked bride on a hot summer’s day”.  The creators both  agree that the dress should only be worn for a short while.

The collaboration between Rococo and Ian Stuart fits, because you have two different high profile brands, both cutting edge and both willing to try something new!

Technically brilliant, the dress looks fantastic, and being created by two parties at the pinnacle of their games, makes it a fascinating achievment.

• The design and color of flowers for your bouquet and decorations in the wedding venue and reception. You’ll have to find a flower shop or a flower shop that has chocolate colored flowers such as the delphiniums kissed by chocolate, hemerocallis Ed Murray, lilium asiatic landini, and the penumbra, Sherry Baby (Chocolate Orchid), black barlows, chocolate cosmos, dahlia-chocolate sundae, dahlia karma chocolate , among many others.

• It is easy to incorporate chocolate into all of your menu. You can consider foie gras with dark chocoalate, duck with chocolate sauce, chocolate-dusted scallops with vanilla butter sauce, chicken mole (chicken recipe with chocolate sauce), seared pork tenderloin with cocoa spice rub, and grilled New York strip with chocolate merlot sauce, among many others.

• A chocolate fountain will definitely be a hit for your chocolate-themed wedding. There are also a great variety of premium imported chocolates available, oftentimes available in most chocolate varieties. There are a variety of styles to choose from for your chocolate fountain.

• Chocolate Coloured Decorations – Because brown coordinates so perfectly with many colors—pink, turquoise, melon, lavender—it’s a great color to work with the chocolate theme for your wedding reception.  Chocolate and tiffany blue is very popular right now.

• One of the last things to consider can be the wedding accessories, decor, and favors. Ensure the design, colour and overall outcomes of your wedding accessories embrace the chocolate theme too.

Favors are easier to plan about because there are a lot of chocolate-inspired wedding favors to choose from. These include chocolate bars decorated with wedding themes such as those available from Hersheys line of chocolate wedding favors.

Chocolate wedding favors are a great option. They can be eaten or saved as desired, and almost everyone is at least marginally fond of chocolate. Almost everyone can appreciate fine chocolate treats and those who do not usually have a reason, such as a food allergy, that the couple will be aware of and able to substitute something else for those individuals.

Chocolate wedding cakes are nothing like traditional wedding cakes. Traditional wedding cakes have always had white icing on the outside, and usually filled with a traditional white or ‘fruitcake’ recipe. Chocolate wedding favors are always a lovely addition to the reception tables. Chocolate wedding favors have been used by traditional weddings to thank and appreciate guest’s support. This idea started with upper class people, who are wealthy enough to have elegant gifts to give for their guests.

Planning for a gourmet chocolate themed wedding will be fun and experiencing it will be quite exciting and a different experience which will definitely be the talk of the town and a great memory to share with your future children and grandchildren.

A french wedding is a great opportunity to showcase a chocolate wedding theme.

wedding inspiration boad

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, an inspiration board is a sort of collage that embodies the feeling and tone of your wedding. It is, just as the name implies, the inspiration for your wedding.  Also known as wedding story boards and mood boards, an inspiration board is basically a collage of pictures that helps you pull together color schemes, decorating ideas and other wedding details. You can show your board to your florist, baker, photographer and/or wedding coordinator to help them understand the look and feel you want your wedding to evoke.

Brides snip inspiring photos from wedding magazines and surf the net sometimes for years before their big day.   Your inspiration board is simply all of the ideas, and photos that inspire your wedding. Whether its your dress, cake, table settings, or flowers, its a collage of all the wedding images you love.  For a french wedding google google images for wedding in France, castle wedding and chateau wedding.

Wedding inspiration boards (also called a story or mood board, but let’s be honest – it’s a collage. Sheesh!) are a growing trend. Show your friends and family if you want their input or keep it private or anonymously published on the net if you do not.  Displaying it on your office wall, for example, will undoubtedly invite suggestions from your work colleagues.

You may miss the overall effect when you get down to the nitty-gritty of every fine detail. If you include pictures of everything from food to flowers to dresses to lighting, you’ll have a better idea of what your guests will see on your wedding day, when all of a sudden they walk in and see it all put together. And, as you will know how all of your different wedding elements come together ahead of time thanks to your inspiration board, it will be fabulous on your wedding day.

As you are making decisions it really helps to have a visual reminder of all your thoughts right in front of you. You can create it in Photoshop or a similar layout program or it can be real on a bulletin board o a piece of foam. Swatches, photos, even notes you’ve jotted down can be displayed all in one place, and changed around as you change your mind.

They can consist of dresses, bouquets, shoes, favours, placecards, receptions, programs, invitations. Create your board using pictures from magazines, websites or personal photographs. You name it, you can include it. Wedding Inspiration boards are also a great way to express your wedding ideas and vision to the many vendors who will participate in your wedding.     Scan images from wedding magazines and brochures.  Any wedding vendor you deal with will be delighted to see that you have an inspiration board. 

An inspiration board also helps you stay focused and avoid purchases that do not fit well into your overall vision.

 You can create them easily online without any graphics programes or knowledge.

Do not be intimidated into thinking you need a fancy program like Photoshop to make an inspiration board.

  Remember pictures speak a thousand words.  Our bilingual french wedding planner says most brides having a destination wedding have an inspiration board.