Improbable and Unusual Weddings: Stories from Thionville’s Deputy Mayor

In his capacity as deputy mayor of Thionville, responsible for civil status and service to the population, Pierre Alix likes to say that he covers all ages of life, from birth to death: “ There is obviously the birth certificate, but also later baptism or republican sponsorship. I organize it at least twice a month. »

Although he also deals with deaths and chairs the funeral home’s management board, he admits that weddings are the activity that keeps him most busy. “I must have had more than 1,200 celebrations since 2014, when I started as a municipal councilor responsible for civil status,” he estimates.

If, for the vast majority of cases, these moments of happiness are often shared – “as proof, my colleagues willingly agree to replace me” – it has happened that he has attended more or less surprising weddings. Here are his top 3 improbable marriages.

A hospital wedding

“It was in fact a remarriage, with his wife, of a hospitalized person. I was a little apprehensive because I had been told that the person was bedridden, at the end of life. But I must recognize that the staff at Bel-Air Hospital took matters into their own hands magnificently. They had decorated an annex room and the emotion of all the participants was palpable. The groom unfortunately died in the following days. »

A posthumous marriage

” I did not know that existed. This requires a request from the Minister of Justice. And it is the President of the Republic who gives his agreement or not. In this case, it concerns a couple who, a year before the date, had taken the steps to officially unite. But two months before the deadline, the spouse died. The survivor wanted to complete the process. An almost philosophical proof of love. Here again, it was very moving, with just around fifteen relatives and the groom, alone of course, whose consent I obtained. »

The double latecomers

“Weddings are all celebrated on Saturday afternoon. It can happen that we celebrate eight in a row, every quarter of an hour. The additional difficulty is to make them coincide with church hours. The organization must then not suffer any grain of sand that could stop the machine. This sometimes unfortunately happens, like this Saturday when the bride and groom expected for the 3:30 p.m. wedding arrived at 3:55 p.m., while the second couple to marry was already there. Finally, we put the latecomers first before realizing that their witnesses were also… late. We decided to make them wait this time…”