Monique Palomares from the French version of Mama Lisa’s World wrote to me about a game she saw played at a wedding in France. Some of the details below are specifically from the wedding she attended…

It’s a musical chairs based game. 13 people previously chosen by the couple are summoned. 13 chairs have been arranged in a circle, backs inside, seats outside. The leader asks them to fulfill a task when the music starts and removes a chair as soon as they’ve gone for their errand. The tasks are one per round and they can be: to bring back a wrist watch, a man’s belt, a cork, a wedding ring, a man’s black sock, lipstick, a tie… Some things you can take from yourself, some things are someone else’s. The last to arrive back from the task has no chair and receives a penalty.

12 of the 13 people get penalties over the course of the game. The 13th person is the ‘winner’ and has no penalty. Each of the 12 people with penalties have to do something special for each month of the newlyweds 1st year together.

At the wedding I attended, the first person had to take care of the first month of the newlywed’s marriage. She had to invite the newlyweds to a special local cultural event. Someone was sentenced with the February penalty which was inviting them for a crêpes dinner. It’s traditional to eat crêpes in France in February. The one for January got “buying a galette and sharing it with them”. July’s penalty was inviting them somewhere to have dinner while watching Bastille Day fireworks. etc. The one remaining after all the penalties have been given is the one invited by the newlywed.

Thanks for sharing that wedding tradition with us Monique. Sounds like fun!

Feel free to share your wedding customs in the comments below.

Mama Lisa