A “Vermontreal” wedding
Well, it’s been a while. I took a bit of a pause in my French classes, what with oodles of soccer games (both professional and the “semi-professional” league of our 6- and 8-year olds) and the wedding of our good friends, Dustin and Annie, which took place in Montreal in mid-October.
But it wasn’t a complete break, because as it turns out, the preparation for the wedding, and the event itself, both proved to be great opportunities for me to put my French skills to the test.
About 2 months before the big day, I realized I didn’t have anything in my closet that matched the invitation’s request for “formal attire.” Since formal affairs in Vermont, and especially in our little city of St. Albans, are few and far-between, we don’t have many local shopping options that fit the bill of a fancy Montreal event. (Yet another reason why more Vermonters should take advantage of the big cosmopolitan center just an hour north of us!) So my husband suggested I do just that; where better to find a Montreal-appropriate fancy dress than in Montreal?
So, one late-summer weekend when CF Montreal was hosting the Columbus Crew, we drove up early, and before we jumped on the Metro to head toward Stade Saputo for the tailgate and the game, we hiked up Rue St-Laurent to a fancy-dress shop I had found online. As luck would have it, I had just completed Module 7 in my French class, whose theme is “shopping,” so I entered the boutique with the words I needed close at hand.
Approached right away by a helpful clerk, I said, “J’ai reçu un invitation pour un mariage très formel, et j’ai besoin d’une robe longue” (I’ve been invited to a formal wedding, and I need a long dress). He pointed me to the rear of the store, I selected an armload of possibilities, and then I asked for a fitting room – all en français! And the shop clerks didn’t even answer me in English. I felt triumphant.
Unfortunately, that feeling of triumph left me once I entered the dressing room, where I found that none of the dresses fit me properly. (Perhaps there’s also an exchange rate between American and Canadian dress sizing? That must be it. Because those dresses definitely felt about 75% smaller than what I was used to.)
While I left the shop empty-handed that day, I did eventually find a dress online, so when the big weekend came, I was ready. Dustin and Annie, who live in our town of St. Albans, but are (like us) big fans of Montreal, put together a beautiful wedding and reception at the Centre des Sciences de Montréal. The ceremony was sweet, the toasts were funny, the DJ was awesome, the space was beautiful and the food was amazing – even including an unexpected course of late-night poutine.
The event made the hundred-some Vermonters in attendance fall completely in love with the city, some for the first time, some all over again. Throughout the weekend, different friends would say to us, “You guys come up here all the time, too, don’t you? Montreal is amazing! We really need to come up more often.” (This happened so frequently, in fact, that Dustin and Annie could probably have made a pitch to Tourisme Montréal to sponsor their wedding!)
Of course, we seconded our love for the city to everyone who would listen, and the conversation often turned to the fact that I was taking French classes. I was able to put in several plugs for the organization I’m working with – LRDG – for its combination of self-paced online learning and weekly Zoom meetings with a real-live tutor, which offer the opportunity to ask questions and practice conversation, as well as an all-important accountability factor. (My tutoring session is tomorrow! I’d better do my homework!)
Throughout the wedding reception, friends asked me how to say different French phrases, and my husband and I also gave an impromptu late-night tutorial on the proper pronunciation of “poutine.”
And before heading out into the cobblestone night of the Montreal Old Port, I had the opportunity to give my sincere compliments to Dustin and Annie’s wedding planner as the music wound down. “Tout était vraiment parfait,” I said. “Ce soirée a été le meilleur mariage auquel j’ai assisté.” (Everything was truly perfect… this evening was the best wedding I’ve ever attended.)
(Except, of course, for my own.)